Early Birthday Present, Part One

My mother always gives me some money to have fun with around my birthday, so when I was looking at some project bags and couldn't choose between two fabrics, I told myself, happy birthday, and got both!

The first is this:

Obvious choice for me, what with cats and books and rainbow colors. Perfect!

This one is more subtle:

"But ccr," you say, "that's just a pretty blue and white pattern!" 

Look closer...is it? See the Tardis? The Weeping Angels? That's right, a tribute to my favorite episode of Doctor Who. (Hint: if you haven't seen it and plan to watch it, don't read the Wikipedia entry on it: it's a mess of spoilers that takes the fun of the puzzle out if it.)

Anyway! These are the large drawstring bags from KnitSpinQuilt on etsy, and are well made and capacious. Remember the three skeins of yarn I'm trying to choose between? They fit in a bag with room to spare.

Did I need more project bags? Absolutely not. Am I happy to have these? Totally!

New Wheels---Well, Not "New" New

After her car was totaled, and we talked about what to do about replacing it, Mom lamented that what she really wanted was what she had had. Her car was a 2011 Toyota Corolla, which she bought new, so she knew exactly where every control was and didn't have to think about it. At 86, she didn't want to learn a whole new car with all the bells and whistles that have come along in the last decade, no matter how great the safety features might be. 

Considering how well even the 2011 protected her, I wasn't too worried about putting her in another "old" car, and in fact I wasn't wild about the idea of giving her something newer that she would struggle with, because it would be so distracting, which is the last thing she needs when driving. I checked the used cars at the local dealership, and look at this:

A 2012 Corolla!

It had one owner, and only 88,000 miles on it, not bad for its age. The dealership checked everything out, brakes and so on, put on four new tires...it's in very good shape for its age. The most obvious difference to Mom was that the clock was in a different spot, and even that was better.

Well, the other difference was that she said it drives smoother than her old one, but hers had about 50,000 more miles on it, so not surprising! 

And now she can run out to Publix, or go to lunch with a friend, any time she wants. 

Decisions, Decisions

I mentioned that I'm going on a trip in October, and I'm now firmly in the "thinking about what knitting projects to bring" stage of planning. The perfect project is one that not only appeals to me, in yarn I like, but also:

• Is in that sweet spot between so basic it's boring, and so large or complex it's not travel-friendly
• Has been started, to avoid any surprises starting it, but is closer to start than finish (because it's not like you want to finish it and have nothing to knit)

Of course, I am almost certainly going to succumb to the lure of Shiny New Project, rather than working on something already started. Though I may bring one of those as a second project (because obviously I won't only have one project with me on the trip, duh). At the moment, I'm taken with the Unicorn Luck pattern (Ravelry), which looks like a good "do these two rows until you're almost done" kind of pattern, just what I want.

As to the yarn, I think one of the long gradients from Wendy's Wonders would suit it well, and I happen to have three to chose from:

From left to right, that's Spring Tulips, Summer Citrus, and Sweet Sunshine, all in 80% merino and 20% silk.

Spring Tulips will knit up like this, according to her Instagram:

And Sweet Sunshine like this:

I don't have one of those for Summer Citrus, as I bought that one in a yarn shop, not online, but I know it will be glorious too.

So...which one? 

More Movie Ratings (part two)

And here is the second part of the movie rating catch-up, as promised.

The minion one, not surprising, but the second part made me laugh!

Ohhh-kay then.

Not a surprise, I guess.

But which meaning of dirty?

Good one.

Can violence be snide? Discuss.

You need to think of the Boston accent for that first part.

Again, sound like an R rating.

Makes a difference, I guess.

Irish rap?

Scary accents? Huh?

Well, okay, I won't be going to that one.

Oh, no thank you.

Looking on the bright side!

I don't mind profanity...gore depends...but the first part is a definite no.

Simple and to the point.

Hmm!

Did anyone see this? Want to weigh in?

Zero stars! And yet someone I know (but not well) posted on FB about how much she enjoyed it. Perhaps it's one of those where it really depends on the audience.

And again with the simple note. I guess I should say that most of these ratings are funny, but not all of them!

More Movie Ratings (part one)

Wow, I haven't done this since May? I have been screen-shotting the funny ratings the Boston Globe puts in their movie reviews, but, well, apparently instead of posting them here, I've been reading in all my free time lately (and in some time that shouldn't be free as well). I'm going to break this into two parts, so here's the first half-ish. Away we go!

Mercy, that's vivid! I am anti-gender reveal parties, anyway, even the ones that don't explode. Maybe I would feel differently about it if I had been pregnant, but I don't know, celebrating the baby specifically by what's under the diaper seems odd to me.

That's oddly specific, isn't it?

I have to admit that, putting this post together, I read the rating before the movie title, and was briefly very, very confused. Well, I'm still confused about the offscreen cow sex part. 

Sometimes that's what you want! Right? (I wonder why this one is center-aligned when they're usually left-aligned? Oops?)

As long as you know what you're in for.

Not my thing, but again, there's a time and place for it.

Ouch, all that and one star.

I don't actually know what they mean by that, but:

Not for me, thanks!

I do love bilingual cursing, myself.

Another one star, and oof, another not for me.

Umm, okay?

Good to be warned about that. So many movies I don't want to see!

That sounds like an R rating, all right.

I did think about going to see this one, but didn't make it happen.

Scary spiders...English whispers?

About time the men got some of that, right?

Oh, animal cruelty is an immediate no. Is it for you? Do you have automatic yes or no features in movies?

It's Coming!

I know it's only just September, but guess what that means? Hockey season is coming!

The Bruins (as I assume other teams do as well) have a few informal practices this week, called captains practices, when players start getting on the ice together and playing around. Next week, the rookies will report for their training camp, and the week after that, it's full training camp. The first preseason game is September 22, which is less than three weeks away! 

Yayyyy! Hockey season, hockey season, hockey season.

I'm a little excited. Hey, I'm only a fan of one sport, and summer can feel pretty long. Bring it on.

Look at this flower

I was at Fresh Market on Friday and saw this cool flower, which made me think of artichokes.

It's a pink ice protea, apparently, and after thinking about it, I went back today and bought some. 

I'm looking forward to seeing how they open up!