So Many Things!

Lately, I have definitely felt that at last, it's summer! I've been trying to be outside as much as I can while also trying to avoid the heat and such. I try to watch sunsets often and get to see fireflies out at night. It's really great. I love summer. It kind of makes me sad already that the days are getting slightly shorter, but oh well.

I was watching a sunset on the lake the other day and there were a good number of people around doing the same thing (along with taking pictures and ohhing/ahhing). Of course I love taking pictures of the sunset, but it's also funny to see people's reactions when the sun actually sets. Kids will say things like "BYE SUN! See you tomorrow!" which is adorable. The other day, people started clapping when it set because it was a great sight, but it was kind of humorous on the other hand because the sun sets everyday and we're just now clapping for nature, I guess. Also, we usually aren't able to take the time to appreciate little things like sunsets or other beautiful natural sights. I love sunsets.

In the knitting world, I made a pair of socks for Bundles of Joy. They are trying to collect as many socks and slippers they can for the elders on Pine Ridge Reservation. I made size 11 men's socks out of Fishermen's Wool. I used the Thuja pattern that I've used before, because I LOVE IT! It uses worsted weight yarn (a bigger yarn) and they go much faster than normal sock weight yarn socks.





When I finished these socks, I still had a good amount of wool yarn left. I decided to use some of the Easter egg dye I got on clearance a few months ago to brighten up the "oatmeal" colored yarn! I based it on the June theme of the "Kool Way to Dye" ravelry group which was "Fairy Light". When I thought of fairy-type things, I thought of bluish/purple hues. I liked how this turned out, even if I almost accidently dyed my kitchen in the process!





Additionally, Easter egg dyes use vinegar as the acid and I used the microwave for the heat source.

vinegar + wet wool + microwave = "EWWWWW" smell

Luckily the smell didn't stay around long :)

A recent project has come up and taken a LOT of my time lately. I'm putting together an afghan of blanket squares to give to a young man with leukemia that I graduated high school with. I have a few people from a ravelry group and our local knitting group doing squares. We have already reached the original goal of pledges for squares, so it's going along very well. The blanket size has been increased because so many people have pledged a square for it. I am making a few for it, of course, but I needed to do some improvisation on a few of them.

I wanted to make a University of North Carolina (UNC) blanket square, but oddly enough, there weren't really any patterns for a blanket square with the interlocking NC logo on it. I charted out a picture of the logo onto a grid, and knit a blanket square out of it. Easier said than done, but I decided to take my hard work and put it on ravelry as a dishcloth pattern! I never thought I would submit a pattern because I don't have the creative "designer genes" (see what I did there, haha), but I figured that people would hopefully appreciate an interlocking NC logo.



And here are two more squares I've completed.

University of Texas



University of Michigan



I'm very excited about this blanket. Mainly because I've been meaning to do something like this for a while and it's finally taking shape. People have responded very positively to the idea and I can't wait to put it together. I feel it'll be a great thing for the young man and his family to know that so many people have come together to support him in his battle. I'll post pictures when blanket squares start coming in and things come together for that.

And one of these days, I'll get back to the double vision blanket, I promise! :D

Lastly (on a totally different note), I recently watched a documentary called "Stranded: I've Come from a Plane That Crashed on the Mountains". It's intense and about a group of Uruguayan athletes whose plane crashes in the Andes. A group of them are able to survive for TWO MONTHS before they are able to be rescued. It's incredible. The group returns to the area of the crash thirty (I think) years later with their families. I can't imagine going through something like that. If anyone has Netflix, I recommend it! Not for children AT ALL though because some of the subject material is really intense.

Izzy sat behind me while I wrote this, so here's a webcam pic of her (bad quality, sorry!)



That is all :)

The Lost/Dixie/Rainbow Connection

Tonight is the airing of the second to last episode of Lost. It answered some questions (more so than most of the episodes so far) and, I think, did a decent job setting the stage for the series finale this Sunday. Although I'm not a Lost fanatic, I do have some theories that I wonder about for the finale and will try to be concise in explaining. I believe that Jacob and the Man in Black are, in addition to being a "good and evil" pairing, that they reflect both the obsessions with human nature (MIB) and the innate goodness of humans (Jacob). Also, I believe that Kate is going to play an integral role and end up being the "protector" of the island in the end. All of the survivors ended up on the island by accident, so why can't the protector of the island become the protector by accident? Additionally, out of the "flash sideways" sequences, Kate has the least to live for off the island than the other candidates, so it would makes sense that she would rather be somewhere she belongs rather than a pursued criminal off island. In the present time, she took care of Aaron after leaving the island, but without him, there's no reason to go back. That's the end of my Lost rant. I just wanted to write all this down before the finale airs. I'm sure I'm completely wrong on all counts, but at least this show is getting wrapped up before it gets even more complicated (if that's possible).

In random news, I made my first phone call to Indonesia to my friend Diana today. Talk about crazy. I joked with her that 20 years ago it would be much more difficult to even think about making a phone call that far away. It cost me less than $2 to talk with her on her cell phone for 10 minutes. With email, skype, and other technological advances, it makes it feel like she isn't that far away since I can just call her up on my computer (well it's a little more complicated than that, but still, this technology stuff is really great).

The last Netflix documentary I watched was "Shut Up and Sing" about the Dixie Chicks. This documentary follows the group from the time of the start of the scandal to the tour and album afterward. I think the whole debate brings up a great argument of freedom of speech in that an offhand comment at a concert can cause a culture (country music) to boycott and turn their backs on one of their beloved groups at the time. Regardless of how you view the original comment, the media circus that followed and blew things out of proportion threatened to ruin the careers of these women. The comment had happened on their world tour, so it took a while for the group to perform in the United States due to the international tour schedule. Despite their worries, the first concert was greeted with cheers and applause by the audience while a group of protesters practiced their right to free speech outside. Instead of ruining their careers, they come back with a Grammy award winning song and album. The scrutiny surrounding this album put a lot of pressure for them to even decide what kind of music they wanted to pursue. One of the parts in the documentaries describes a death threat Natalie Maines had in Dallas and how they still went on with the show despite the risk. Interesting documentary.

Here's one of my favorite songs from them that is lesser known (from what I can tell). Slightly depressing, but I think it's thought provoking about things like faith, how we treat those around us, and our legacy after we are gone. It describes a man who was mistreated by his mother, thus taking out the lack of love on his wife and daughter. Even without the music video, the song is really hauntingly beautiful (duh, good music shouldn't need a video). With just the song, it can be a lyrical take on someone who didn't have faith in their life (to a higher power or what have you) and is realizing that they should have done things differently in retrospect.


Top of the World by the Dixie Chicks



This week marked the 20th anniversary of Jim Henson's death (May 16) and the 30th anniversary of the Mount St. Helen's eruption (May 18). I put one of my favorite Dixie Chicks songs up, so now I am putting my favorite Henson song here.

Rainbow Connection with Kermit


And to end this post, I'll add two songs that were sung at Jim Henson's memorial service. I watched a few of these videos and the whole service is incredibly touching. It's both a celebration and a mourning of someone's life.

I Lessthanthree Neil Patrick Harris

Recently, I have been on a documentary kick with Netflix. Although I love my docs, I found something completely different yesterday. I had the privilege to discover and watch Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog. Neil Patrick Harris is so incredibly adorable and likeable as the sinister Dr. Horrible. I didn't know what to expect, but I saw it on netflix and decided to give it a go. It had been made and posted during the writer's strike a few years ago and is a mix of a superhero plot, some catchy songs thrown in the mix, and a great cast to make a fun miniseries. It was definitely a great find, and supposedly there's a sequel in the works. That would be fabulous and I'll for sure go to see it whether it's posted online or made into an actual movie.



I'll say that sometimes it's hit or miss when it comes to netflix, but every great movie makes up for (most of) the awful ones. Especially when it involves Neil Patrick Harris.

Kool Aid Art, Ghana, and Disability

As I mentioned in my last post, I dyed some yarn with Kool Aid. I made it into a little sleep sack that can be used for a baby. I was happy with the finished product.



I really like the color variations in the bag and how the lighter colors seem to "wrap around" the bag. The yarn is 100% wool, so that will be nice for someone to use. I'll include this in the next box I send.

Recently I've been on a sort of documentary kick. I get them from Netflix because there are TONS of them available from the website and I really enjoy watching these informational films. One that I recently watched was called "Emmanuel's Gift" about a Ghanian man who was born with a deformed leg. This caused him to be labeled as "disabled" which is, in many ways, viewed as sub-human in the country of Ghana even though as many as 10% of the population is disabled in some way. Through hard work, a supportive family, and refusing to succumb to the plight of the many disabled people in Ghana who have to resort to begging, he was able to bike ride across the country to raise awareness about disability. This led to a trip to the United States and a subsequent surgery to allow him to be fitted for a prosthesis. Withing a few weeks of the surgery, he participated in a triathlon relay. He helped to change the plight of people in his home country by giving disabled people wheelchairs and change perspectives of the common people. It was an empowering film and really brought to light how much perspective can affect a person or group of people.

I also heard about the story of Nick Vujicic who was born without arms and legs. He's a motivational speaker who's only 25 years old and has a following all over the world. There are many videos on youtube about him, but mainly he speaks about his experience and how perspective is very powerful. "Attitude is altitude". He stated that he didn't see having no arms as no legs as a big disability. He defines the word "disability" as something that stops you from doing what you want to do. One of the most interesting things he said is that the biggest disability to everyone is their mind. I thought that was a very big statement. He talks about being thankful for what you have and your opportunites rather than focus on what you can't do. The videos are very inspiring and leave you feeling better. It's refreshing.

On a completely unrelated note, I just realized today that the cereal "Froot Loops" was spelled "FROOT Loops" and not "FRUIT Loops"! For some reason, this completely blows my mind. I don't think I realized the misspelling of "fruit" because I was always distracted by the delicious looking cereal o's that replaced the actual o's on the package. Whatever. I just can't seem to wrap my mind around it.