Works in Progress

Hey all. Since I haven't posted a craft blog in a while, I thought I'd catch you all up on what I've been working on.




The first thing is that I bought new roving at the Goshen Scottish Festival a couple of weeks ago. Huzzah!

I've been slowly getting through some brown roving and I picked up this blue to provide a second ply. I haven't started spinning that yet and I haven't finished enough of the brown to start plying the two together, but I'll get there.






As per usual, I nabbed some handspun wool from The Merry Little Lamb at the Connecticut Renaissance Faire. I've been learning to knit socks and thought I might attempt a pair of kilt hose (the knee high socks you wear with a kilt), but it looks like I don't have enough to do that. So, what you see in the photo above will be dismantled, but I will find a suitably awesome sock pattern to replace it.




I've also started a new afghan. I've been wanting to work on another big project for a while, but I don't have the money to buy all of the supplies. So, in a move to get rid of some of my scrap yarns, I'm making a scrap afghan. This is a very long term project, as I don't intend to buy any new yarn specifically for this blanket.



And this week I'll be putting together a Max (Where the Wild Things Are) costume for Lainey.

Where the Wild Things Are

This past Friday I went to see Where the Wild Things Are with some friends. I remember being quite fond of the book as a child, even though I didn’t quite remember what it was about until I went to go the see the movie. I remembered the pictures, and I remember that a little boy had run off to live with monsters for a while. I remember that he learned something important about himself. But I couldn’t remember any specifics. It’s been a long time since I read it, after all.

I absolutely loved the movie. The visuals were stunning, the soundtrack was haunting and beautiful, and the camera work was impressively creative. The acting was wonderful, especially that of the little boy who played Max, who displayed a quality of child acting that is rare in movies for kids.

This is a movie for everyone. There were both adults and children in the theater when I went to go see it, and everyone had a good time. There was applause at the end of the film. For us adults (and how I loathe to use that word in regards to myself, but I need to delineate this somehow), it was a lovely trip down memory lane back to when we were reading this book and learning the same things Max was. For kids, it was a beautiful story with a valuable lesson about consequences and what happens when things get out of control.

If you haven’t gone out and seen this movie yet, you should.

I Am What I Am

What’s this? Another autobiography by John Barrowman? Madness!

If you don’t know him - - I don’t know how you managed this, the man’s been doing EVERYTHING lately - - John Barrowman is an actor. And, of course, by actor, I mean actor/singer/producer/entertainer. For most of his career, he’s made his fame doing musicals, including a role in The Producers (he’s the blonde singing Nazi in ‘Springtime for Hitler’), and in the past couple of years he’s expanded that fame to include Captain Jack Harkness of Doctor Who and Torchwood.

Yeah, yeah. Another Torchwood related entry. You can deal for the sake of reviewing, right?

Good.

As I was saying, this is the second autobiography that Barrowman’s published. The first book, Anything Goes, was a straight out (oh the lulz¹) autobiography. He wrote about where he comes from and how he got to where he is today. You know, all the things you expect in an autobiography. His heroes, his influences, his mistakes…

And the fan response had enough questions and reactions to that book to warrant a follow up. Hence, I Am What I Am.

This book is a lot more relaxed than the other. There’s no obligation for him as a writer, and no expectation for us as readers, for a chronology of his life because he’s already covered it in Anything Goes. While both of them read a lot more like a conversation than a book, I Am What I Am is even more like a friendly chat.

It’s just a bunch of stories, most of which are hilarious. It’s a fun book, full of excitement and normal life and honesty. I haven’t read many autobiographies or biographies, but from what I’ve seen, this is probably the most fun you can have. I definitely recommend it to anyone who’s a fan of John Barrowman. Hell, even if you’re not, it’s pretty interesting.





¹ If you didn’t know - - I don’t know how you couldn’t, everyone makes a point of talking about it - - John Barrowman’s gay.

Tales from Wales

I was lent this book on the day I moved back into the college dorms. Of course, by lent I mean that my friend came up to my desk, slapped this book down on it, and demanded that I read it.

Close enough, right?

Tales from Wales is a collection of Welsh myths and stories retold by scholar and writer Rhiannon Ifans. This little book contains 15 short tales, along with a number of pen and ink illustrations by Welsh artist Helen Holmes. Judging from the size of the font and the shape of the book, I’d say that this is most likely a book for children, but since when has that stopped me?

I love old stories. Always have. I was raised on Arthurian myths and pursued stories from a number of ancient cultures during middle school and high school. Adding some old Welsh stories to the mix was great.

If you are unfamiliar with Welsh myths, or any myths from that area, Tales from Wales is probably the best way to start. The writing and storytelling in this little book are simple and direct. While there is still that odd focus on details that don’t actually have any significance that myths from the British Isles tend to have, there is less than in the tales written for adults. The stories are easy to understand and interesting to read.

Personally, I enjoyed reading the stories. As I said, I’ve always loved old stories and I haven’t read or heard as many Celtic myths as I would like. I’ve noticed that stories from a specific area tend to have similar themes and characters, so having an easy to understand basis for Celtic myths is nice. Having that basis makes encourages the reader to learn more and makes it easier to understand the more complicated stories.

I would definitely recommend this book for anyone at all interested in myths from the British Isles, especially if those interested are children. The stories are written in a way that is easy to understand, and kids would love these often silly tales.

I don’t actually know where anyone outside of the UK would be able to get this book (I believe Lindsay bought it in Wales at some point), but if you do find a copy, I recommend picking it up.