Grevillea

I’ve done quite a lot of work on Jamesey this weekend – the body is completed, and it looks great! I learned quite a few things finishing it off, too, not least of which was a sewn bind-off (I used the one described in Vogue Knitting). It’s a bit of a pain, but the results are undoubtably worth it – beautiful finishing for ribbing. I may never cast off a rib any other way again! What amazes me about the sewn bind-off is that someone, somewhere worked it out. It’s actually a pretty complicated thing, and while I think I understand why and how it works, I can’t imagine that I would have come up with it. Not in a million years. There are clever people out there.

With the body behind me, I was ready to take on the sleeves. Sadly, I think I’ve discovered a pattern mistake. The first two rows for the sleeves read:

Row 1 [RS]: K4[1, 2], p0[1, 1], k3,
[p1, k3, p1, k3, p4, k3, p1, k3] twice, p1,
k3, p0[1, 1], k4[1, 2].

Row 2 [WS]: P4[1, 2], k0[1, 1], p3,
[k1, p3, k1, p3, k4, p3, k1, p3] twice, k1,
p3, k0[1, 1], p4[1, 2].

I think they should read:

Row 1 [RS]: K1[1, 2], p0[1, 1], k3,
[p1, k3, p1, k3, p4, k3, p1, k3] twice, p1,
k3, p0[1, 1], k1[1, 2].

Row 2 [WS]: P1[1, 2], k0[1, 1], p3,
[k1, p3, k1, p3, k4, p3, k1, p3] twice, k1,
p3, k0[1, 1], p1[1, 2].

To make things even more difficult, the email address for the pattern author given on the pattern page doesn’t seem to be valid. I am, however, working on an alternate plan to get in touch with Mary Neal. When I have some feedback, I’ll let you know.

This afternoon (which was rainy and grey) Nate, Courtney, and I went to MFA, mainly with the goal of seeing the Laura McPhee photographic exhibit. The exhibit featured photographs from several years that McPhee spent in Idaho, and I was amazed at how beautiful the Idaho countryside is. I think I fall into the trap of remembering that Idaho produces most of America’s potatoes, but forget that there are also sections of it that are quite mountainous, and are used for ranch-style farming (I’m also always amazed at how far west Idaho is!). We have vague plans to head back some time soon (on a Wednesday evening) and take in the Americans in Paris exhibit.

I’ve watched more movies this weekend than I’d really like to admit, but I actually am beginning to feel like I’m finally caught up on what’s in the theaters at the moment (it’s slim pickings, let me tell you). Last night Solar and I went to see The Illusionist, which is terrible. I think it’s the dialog and the directing that is really at fault – the actors really don’t have a great deal to work with, and actual idea behind the whole thing isn’t bad. It’s just really poorly executed.

The Talented Mr Ripley isn’t the world’s best movie, but it really isn’t bad either. Matt Damon and Jude Law do a great job, and I’m beginning to become a fan of Gwynneth Paltrow. Who knew it was possible to get over her behavior at the Academy Awards? But again and again I see her do a really nice job – in this film, and in Proof (I’m sure there are others, but these are the ones I’ve seen recently).

I finished Joan Didion’s The Year of Magical Thinking this weekend. It’s a reasonably quick read, and quite self-indulgent, but it’s a fantastic book. It’s a reflection on the year that followed the death of her husband (and during which her daughter is quite ill – she actually died after the book was finished), so it’s about greif and mourning. Thankfully, I don’t have a great deal of experience with the death of people who are close to me, but I found the book thought-provoking. If nothing else, it made me realise new ways in which greif manifests itself.