Hooked on Stranded Knitting

So, reporting from the bird in hand bandwagon, I completed my first mitten.  I haven't blocked or steamed yet, so sorry for the bumpiness.  Here is the back of the right mitten:

Here is the palm (still need to embroider the bird parts):
Not too shabby for a first attempt at a mitten and stranded knitted, huh?  Unfortunately, below you will see a glove that is my hand size:
The cascade 220 on US 2 needles knitted up a bit too large.  My friend suggested that I felt it a little and use it as an oven mitt.  I may just do that!  I am not giving up on the BIH, though.  I went to the LYS (Fiddlehead Yarns in Kenosha, WI-Hi Mindy!) and got some Mericash solid by Punta del Este yarns.  80% Merino and 20% Mongolian Cashmere.  This yarn is YUMMY!  I didn't like the reds available, so I picked up some Sage-y green (SOL 339) and cream (SOL 311). I cannot wait to knit this up!  

Here is a progress pic on my Ivy League Vest:
I am using Jamieson's Shetland Spindrift fingering and the variation of thickness is not driving me crazy yet.  I love knitting on this, but I am a little apprehensive about steeks.  Here is close up of the corrugated ribbing:
And a closeup of the pattern so far:
And now for something completely different...I always have some socks in progress:
Hedgerow Socks by Jane Cochran in Dream in Color smooshy sock yarn, Strange Harvest.  It is a great color!

Freezing A** Cold

I know it is january and it is supposed to be cold in the Chicago area, but two weeks ago it wa 65 degrees!  It is now 2 below.  YIKES!  I am SOOOOOOOOOO glad that I will watching the Green Bay game from the warmth and comfort of my home and not in Lambeau (sorry if I spelled that incorrectly-too lazy to look it up).  I am totally psyched that my parents retired to Tampa, FL and that I will be visiting them in February.  OK, end of my rant.

100 Greatest Movies

I was reading Annalea's blog and I was intrigued by the movie list so, here is my list.

1. Citizen Kane (1941)

2. The Godfather

3. Casablanca (1942)

4. Raging Bull (1980)

5. Singin’ in the Rain (1952)

6. Gone with the Wind (1939)

7. Lawrence of Arabia (1962)

8. Schindler’s List (1993)

9. Vertigo (1958)

10. The Wizard of Oz (1939)

11. City Lights (1931)

12. The Searchers (1956)

13. Star Wars (1977)

14. Psycho (1960)

15. Sunset Blvd. (1950)

16. 2001 : A Space Odyssey (1968)

17. The Graduate (1967)

18. The General (1927)

19. On the Waterfront (1954)

20. It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)

21. Chinatown (1974)

22. Some Like It Hot (1959)

23. The Grapes of Wrath (1940)

24. E.T. The Extraterrestrial (1982)

25. To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)

26. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)

27. High Noon (1952)

28. All About Eve (1950)

29. Double Indemnity (1944)

30. Apocalypse Now (1979)

31. The Maltese Falcon (1941)

32. The Godfather Part II (1974)

33. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)

34. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)

35. Annie Hall (1977)

36. The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)

37. The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)

38. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)

39. Dr. Strangelove (1964)

40. The Sound of Music (1965)

41. King Kong (1933)*

42. Bonnie and Clyde (1967)

43. Midnight Cowboy (1969)

44. The Philadelphia Story (1940)

45. Shane (1953)

46. It Happened One Night (1934)

47.A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)

48. Rear Window (1954)

49. Intolerance (1916)

50. Lord of the Rings : The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)

51. West Side Story (1961)

52. Taxi Driver (1976)

53. Deer Hunter, The (1978)

54. M*A*S*H (1970)

55. North by Northwest (1959)

56. Jaws (1975)

57. Rocky (1976)

58. The Gold Rush (1925)

59. Nashville (1975)

60. Duck Soup (1933)

61. Sullivan’s Travels (1941)

62. American Graffiti (1973)

63. Cabaret (1972)

64. Network (1976)

65. The African Queen (1951)

66. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

67. Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)

68. Unforgiven (1992)

69. Tootsie (1982)

70. A Clockwork Orange (1971)

71. Saving Private Ryan (1998)

72. The Shawshank Redemption (1994)

73. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)

74. The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

75. In the Heat of the Night (1967)

76. Forrest Gump (1994)

77. All the President’s Men (1976)

78. Modern Times (1936)

79. The Wild Bunch (1969)

80. The Apartment (1960)

81. Spartacus (1960)

82. Sunrise (1927)

83. Titanic (1997)

84. Easy Rider (1969)

85. A Night at the Opera (1935)

86. Platoon (1986)

87. 12 Angry Men (1957)

88. Bringing Up Baby (1938)

89. The Sixth Sense (1999) 

90. Swing Time (1936)

91. Sophie’s Choice (1982)

92. Goodfellas (1990)

93. The French Connection (1971)

94. Pulp Fiction (1994)

95. The Last Picture Show (1971)

96. Do the Right Thing (1989)

97. Blade Runner (1982)*

98. Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)

99. Toy Story (1995)

100. Ben-Hur (1959)

57 out of 100. Not too shabby. But I think I still have a lot a movies to watch!

A walk in the woods...in 2007 and some FOs

I have no excuses for not blogging. But here it is 2008 and I have not blogged since last december and a pretty lame one at that. But Bob and I went for a woods walk last november and I have to say, I love my camera (Nikon D40X).


I also did complete a sweater, Mr GreenJeans (makes me think of Captain Kangaroo!). Here is a detail of the cables (love cabling without a needle-Thanks Grumperina!)

and here is my finished product before blocking:

Yarn-Dream in Color Classy in Chinatown Apple I think about 4 skeins on bamboo needles recommended by the pattern. I LOVED knitting this sweater! It was so much fun to knit and I think I got it done in about 2 weeks. This was my first topdown sweater and there were NO seams to sew up! I did make the 2nd to largest size and I left the sleeve length alone (not 3/4 on me--full length) and I made the torso section a little shorter. Instead of a button, I made buttonholes on both sides of the sweater and I fasten with some i-cord I made out of some similar sock yarn. All in all, a FUN project.

Fair Isle fun:
What you see below is the start of my ivy league vest from interweave winter 2007. I am using smith and jameson fingering weight on size 3 addi turbos. I have gotten a little further along but I need to take more progress pics.

But before I started the vest, I took a fair isle class from Fiddlehead Yarns shop (a great lys in Kenosha, WI). Mindy was a GREAT teacher and I loved the class. It was a two parter, and, overacheiver that I am, I finished this hat before the next class.

So I spent my time adding a lining. It was fun. but the shop is 26 miles from my house! However, Mindy is great and I would drive all that way again to shop and take another class. If anyone is in the Kenosha area, you MUST check it out!