It's been quite a while since I did one of these random posts, but it seems like a good time for one since I've been feeling scattered lately. The past several weeks have been a little strange. I've been off from my babysitting job because of health issues in the kids' family, so I've had a lot of free time. I've been trying to use the time wisely, to get ready for craft fairs this fall: knitting, spinning, dyeing yarn, and making lots of soap. (If I end up not selling much, my family will probably have enough soap to last us for the next year, ha.) But there have definitely been days when I feel like I'm just going in circles...making lots of lists but not actually accomplishing anything.
Knitting: Hats. Lots of hats. That stack shows the eight hats (varying from baby sizes to adult) that I've knitted over the past two weeks. It feels like reasonable progress until I look at my list and see how many I still need to make (and realize that the first festival is less than six weeks away!). I'm running out of larger quantities of yarn now (yarn that I'm willing to part with, that is), so I'm having to get creative with stripes. I weigh little bits of yarn and calculate how much I can squeeze out of leftovers. My favorite hat so far is one that uses leftovers: yarn from my first sweater and handspun from this hat...it made rainbow-ish stripes and worked out much nicer than I anticipated.
Reading: Right now I'm reading Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None. (So good! Probably my favorite of her novels so far.) I'm still doing my summer reading list...I'm giving myself through the first day of autumn to finish it. I only have four books left so I'm determined to follow through. :) But I'm so ready to be able to spontaneously pick my next book instead of having to choose it from my list! Especially because I recently got some new (used) books and I'm so excited about reading them. The Ginger Rogers book wasn't a recent purchase, but I can't separate it from Fred Astaire's autobiography because they look so darn cute together. I love that their books were rereleased in matching covers!
Listening: I've mentioned Look Homeward's debut before, but I still love it (and it's still free on Noisetrade). And then there's Holly Arrowsmith's new album For The Weary Traveller. When I first listened to a few of the songs, I thought it was a little too traditionally "folk" for my taste, but no. This music is gorgeous! I tend to get obsessive over new music that I love, so I've been listening to this album every day for most of August. Her lyrics are really beautiful. My favorite songs are Lady of the Valley, Flinted, and Voices of Youth (but let's be honest: I love them all).
Watching: I'm rewatching two of my favorites through again: Sherlock and Gilmore Girls. Sherlock still amazes me each time. And even though Gilmore Girls has some little things that bug me (the constant bickering between Lorelai and Emily gets on my nerves), I still enjoy it. I've also been watching Foyle's War through Netflix and really liking it so far!
I saw Paddington last weekend and thought it was adorable. I didn't like the trailer at all...I haven't read the book yet, but I remember thinking that they'd probably dumbed it down and made it too modern. But the casting looked really good, so I decided to check it out and wow, it was ridiculously charming! It had a quirky, timeless feel, and the humor was great. It would be the simplest things, but something about how they framed certain shots and set up situations just cracked me up. The escalator bit was my favorite (I can't remember the last time a kids' movie made me laugh that hard).
On a slightly random note, have any of you seen The Man From U.N.C.L.E.? I'd always heard of the show but never watched it. But I really want to see the new movie. I'm partial to 60s spy films, anyway (though generally on the kookier side, like The Glass Bottom Boat), and it looks like they did that well in this film...the sets and clothing look amazing. I probably won't see it until it releases on DVD, but I'm curious as to what people have thought of it.
{Linking up with Ginny's Yarn Along}
love the colour of the hats. I would love how to make soap, maybe one day!
ReplyDeleteSoap making is easier than I expected it to be! Using the cold process method, anyway. :)
DeleteI like the stripes on the hats....very custom looking!!! Haven't seen the U.N.C.L.E movie yet....I loved Illya Kuryakin (David McCallum) so much in the show, I'm afraid the movie might ruin my memories!
ReplyDeleteThanks! Yeah, I know what you mean. When you're attached to something, a new adaptation is always a little weird. :)
DeleteI loved Paddington too. Your hats are gorgeous, I especially love the striped brown one.
ReplyDeleteIt was such a charming movie! :) Thanks.
Delete8 hats sound like a lot to me, they really are looking good.
ReplyDeleteThanks. :)
DeleteWonderful hats! Great reads and love the shows you are rewatching!
ReplyDeleteThank you!
DeleteYour hats are so neat! I'd love to learn how to knit, crochet, or sew, or make soap, or something crafty and useful. :) Maybe this winter, when I have more time... (ha!) Travels With Charley is on my to-read list, so I'm interested to hear what you think of it. And Noisetrade looks like a wonderfully fun site to waste time on -- I might end up with some new music this weekend. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteI'm looking forward to reading Travels With Charley! I love travel memoirs, anyway, and I've been wanting to read more Steinbeck (I've only read Of Mice and Men so far). This one seemed much less intimidating than some of his novels. :) Noisetrade is an awesome website! Basically all of the new music I've found over the past two years, I've found on there.
DeleteThe hats look like a lot of fun. I knit hats for charity and do the same thing of using up all the scraps to make more hats. It's really fun to see how they turn out. Good luck getting all your knitting done!
ReplyDeleteIt has been interesting trying to find scraps that match. :) I'd like to start knitting hats for charity, but I'm not sure how to go about it...do you have any recommendations?
DeleteLoving the hats! And I've been re-watching Gilmore Girls, too! Getting some cute baby hats, a sweater, and a blanket done while I watch. :)
ReplyDeleteI love that show, even though it drives me crazy sometimes. :)
DeleteBeautiful stack of hats! So lovely!
ReplyDeleteThank you!
DeleteVery nice hats. Sounds like you use your time very wisely, how could you not with so many crafty hobbies! Thanks for the music mentions too, my kind of music!
ReplyDeleteHa, sometimes I think I have too many crafty hobbies! :)
DeleteGreat hats, lovely pile of gorgeousness x
ReplyDeleteThanks! :)
Deletelovely looking collection of hats, I like the pompoms :)
ReplyDeleteI'm partial to a good pompom, myself. :)
DeleteYour stack of hats is lovely, Kristin! The handspun one is particularly lovely. :) I like hats, I just don't know if I could knit as many as you do! I really should knit more, since it gets so bitterly cold here!
ReplyDeleteThanks! It's been nice to use up bits of my leftover handspun. I like knitting hats, though it does get a bit repetitive at times. When I'm knitting them for myself, I'm using different patterns and yarn weights and such, but with these to sell, I'm basically using the same pattern over and over. So it does get monotonous. :)
DeleteJust wanted to say thanks again (very much) for mentioning Noisetrade, I'd never heard of it before but now I'm hooked!
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome! It's a lovely website. :)
DeleteArgh I love that pile of hats up there! The multi stripe one looks fab. Also I really want to see The Man from UNCLE - I'm having a bit of an Alicia Vikander obsession at the mo, she's just awesome :)
ReplyDeleteThanks! It looks like an intriguing movie, though I'll admit I'm more drawn to the look of it (all of that 60s prettiness) than the actual plot, ha.
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