And the Envelope, Please!

This will be a quick post (I know, Me??? a quick post?)  But the Oscars are on and I want to watch! 

I finally finished an onerous work task this weekend, so I'm hoping to catch up on my KOTOTW projects.  I had time today to block a shawl I've been knitting during bus trips to work and back for more than a year; it is a Monet Shawl from Morehouse Farms Yarn, in their amazing laceweight merino, one ply and yet strong and sturdy, in color Van Gogh's Haystacks:

I'm hoping to have a quiet workweek so that I can finish the flowers for the Senorita's Floral Pullover; we are having a knitting night on Thursday, so I will have friends to take photos of me!  And then onwards, to see if I really can finish the rest of the projects before the end of this year.

My son Nathan and I spend an awful lot of time at Target.  There is a massive Target store less than 2 miles from our house, and I do most of my grocery shopping there.  Since grocery shopping reminds me of my mom and childhood, I end up spending a lot of time there when I'm feeling anxious (which is mostly always).  I can tell I've been overly anxious lately because I have enough food in the house to live through a month-long snowstorm. 

Anyway, some things I noticed there yesterday sort of wierded me out.  First, walking past the toys, I saw this:

That's right - it is a Darth Vader plush toy.  Oh, and it talks.  So, this is what you give your toddler, so he can cuddle it and it can whisper things in his ear and lure him to the dark side????  Really?? They tried to make him cute by giving him a huge head and a tiny body, but still.  Darth Vader.  For a small child.  Words fail me.

And then, walking past the baby aisle, this caught my eye:

 

I just looked at this little activity center, and felt really sorry for the modern baby.  Look at all that stuff!  How confusing, overwhelming, and intimidating!  It is like the visual and tactile equivalent of a radio tuned to statuc!   Is this what you give your baby when you don't think she is multi-tasking fast enough?  Poor baby must feel like it is having hallucinations or something.  I think the one Nathan had, had just 3 little spinny wheels.  Red, Blue and Yellow.  That was it.  He was perfectly content. 

In other news....

We are expecting an honest-to-goodness snowstorm this week - they are predicting snows from Tuesday into Wednesday of up to 10 inches, heavy winds for drifting, the whole shebang!  Bring it on - I'm due for some serious knitting time!

BOOK GIVEAWAY!!!!

Oh yeah - we are WAY overdue for a book giveaway.  I have 3 more copies of Nicky Epstein's Knitting On Top of the World.  If you would like one, send me a comment and let me know what your 3 favorite movies of all time are!

XOXOXO,

Mary

 

Comments

[Ann Agrimson]

Ok, my three favorite movies are as follows:
On Golden Pond - Katherine Hepburn and Henry Fonda and the kid! I love every moment of it.

Never Cry Wolf - I love the scene where he's eating mice. Wolves, Northern Canada, Brian Dennehy (even though he plays a scum bag) and Charles Martin Smith, "Utek say Good idea!"

And third I'm a little embarrassed to say is Dirty Dancing - Jennifer Grey before her nose job and Patrick Swazye (sigh). If I could have one magical night, I would dance like they did. They wouldn't stick me in a corner!

[Steph]

Wizard of Oz! (but don't enter me for the book!)

My answer for the other two movies would also be the Wizard of Oz. Because I would watch it, rewind the tape, watch again, rewind the tape and watch a third time. Good thing it's a short movie :o)

[Linda S. Williams]

My three favorite all-time movies are Ghost, Gone With the Wind, and Brian's Song.

[Barb]

I love that the Monet Shawl is knit in VanGogh's Haystacks colorway - very artistic! and very beautiful!

Don't you think that Darth Vader plush toy is just kinda creepy - who'd give that to their baby?

I'm so looking forward to a photo of the Senorita's Floral Pullover - a lot of anticipation of this piece.

Hopefully, your workload has eased and you'll get in as much knitting (or whatever else makes you happy) as you want.

Thanks again for sharing with us!

[Cynthia]

The shawl is gorgeous! I suppose you have another plan for working on the bus. Me? I avoid driving whenever I can, just so I can knit! I'm looking forward to seeing your Senorita's Floral Pullover. It's a very beautiful pattern. Darth Vader for kids is not my idea of a good choice. I thought the little seat for the kids was fun, but I think agree with you. It's way to much. Not only is it confusing for little children, it prevents them from crawling.... This is one reason I like to knit for my grandkids. I believe in simple toys that they need to use their imagination to play with.
I already have a book, but if I won one I could donate it to the Quilt Barn. They are a bunch of quilters that have started to sell yarn here in our small town. They started about a year ago and have been picking up speed and going strong. I love old movies, so it's hard to pick only three. But I'll give it a try.
Fiddler on the Roof.(and other musicals)
The Secret Garden
It's Wonderful Life

At the moment we are getting a Blizzard! Hope you enjoy whatever weather you have!

[Jeanine]

My three favorite movies are The Way We Were, Titanic and P.S. I Love You. I didn't watch Titanic until at least 10 years after it came out (the Leo mania at the time was too much for me), but fell in love with it immediately! I believe I bought the yarn and pattern for the Monet Shawl from you last year about this time - I am now inspired to start it - yours is lovely!

[Jo-ann]

My three favourite movies of all time:
Dirty Dancing: Patrick Swayze is gorgeous. I love the setting too at the big hotel in the catskills. Why can't real life still be like that.
Top Gun: I admit to seeing this three times in one week my first year away from home all by myself. I used to think tom cruise was cute (before he went all scientologist.
Star wars: The empire strikes back: the best star wars movie.
(looking at the list I think I am showing my age).
Honourable movie mentions to: The Lord of the rings trilogy, Harry Potter's 1 through to the end. any roger's and hammerstein movie musical and Mulin rouge