Review: Gnomeo and Juliet

A good friend, her two small daughters, and I all needed to get out of our respective houses yesterday and go do something.  As luck would have it, we had a children's flick showing at the post theater this week.  Success!  So, here you go: my thoughts on Gnomeo & Juliet.

Plot:  As you might have guessed from the title, this is based (loosely) on Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet.  You know the basics - feuding families; daughter of one house falls in love with the son of the other and vice versa; romance, drama and tragedy ensue.  The variation this time is that the story is told set in the world of lawn decorations.

It's a fun movie.  It's not a classic, but I was never bored during it, and I laughed out loud several times. Can't ask for more than that. :)

There are going to be those annoying Shakespeare purists who will consider this 'butchering the Bard' and all, but honestly, it's a story about garden gnomes; how accurate a telling did you expect?  It's aimed at kids, and judging by the audience when we went, the target is reached well.

There were definitely things that I thought were clever in the film.  Like most good kids' movies nowadays, the filmmakers include jokes for the parents, those extra layers of humor to the story.  With this one, there were tons of Shakespeare references and quotes woven in.  Addresses, signs ("R&G Moving"), little quotes slipped into the dialogue, license plates... I honestly came out of the movie wanting to watch it again to try and catch them all!

I liked some of the little details too.  The paint on the gnomes that looked less than perfect, some of the sound effects... I really liked the noises that the gnomes made - they sound ceramic!  When the characters touch or kiss, it sounds like ceramic pieces touching!  A nice little detail that pleased me :)

The voice acting (always a high priority for me) was... interesting.  James McAvoy and Emily Blunt are the leads, and gave good performances.  Nothing too remarkable about either voice to listen to (not like Michael Caine as Lord Redbrick, Juliet's father, or Patrick Stewart as the statue of William Shakespeare) but they give solid performances.  Most importantly, I wasn't irritated by either voice, nor did they seem out of place.  Yes, for those who know me, that is a reference to my rant about the casting in the English dub of Princess Mononoke... still don't like Claire Danes' voice in that.  Dolly Parton was interesting as a voice, as her country twang is un-sheddable, but thinking about it, it kinda works.  She was announcing the start of the lawnmower race between Tybalt and Gnomeo, and, let's face it, even in Stratford-upon-Avon, that's a pretty country activity.  Ozzy Osbourne was a little mumbly as Fawn, the deer in the red garden, but he's a little mumbly in real life too.  And since Fawn was kinda a spacey character anyway, I didn't mind.   The voice I liked was the growly Tybalt, which I should have recognized - Jason Stratham.  Guess I shouldn't be too hard on myself for not recognizing it though - he does so many action films, not really a genre of intense dialogue.  He does play a good British tough, though, doesn't he?  Guess I have to watch more of his movies so I can place the voice more solidly, but did I really need an excuse for that?  :)

I think my biggest complaint was the music.  The Elton John songs I honestly felt were out of place.  I realize that Shakespearean theater doesn't immediately scream "Elton John," but remember: garden gnomes.  It's not that having songs in the movie was out of place, just some of the choices were, I dunno, odd feeling in the movie.  I realize that Elton John has connections to the film (his husband's one of the producers), and he does have experience working with movies before, but for Elton John songs in a kid's movie, I'd say watch Lion King instead.

Oh, and as a final thought, the bunny statues in the Blue garden are absolutely adorable!

Overall: 3.5 of 5.  I liked it.  The music was odd to me, and did drop down my rating, but I had fun watching.  It's not a classic like the Toy Story series (for a comparable CGI inanimate-objects-come-to-life movie) but it's a good afternoon at the theater.  Would definitely watch it again - like I said, I still want to catch all the Shakespearean references hidden in it. :)

Knitting and Crochet Blog Week: Day 7

I made it!

 

Day seven: 3rd April. Your knitting and crochet time.

Write about your typical crafting time. When it is that you are likely to craft – alone or in more social environments, when watching TV or whilst taking bus journeys. What items do you like to surround yourself with whilst you twirl your hook like a majorette’s baton or work those needles like a skilled set of samurai swords. Do you always have snacks to hand, or are you a strictly ‘no crumbs near my yarn!’ kind of knitter.

Tips: Last year we had a topic asking about the actual location of where you knit or craft, this is similar but not the same. Try and concentrate on all of the little aspects that make up your knitting time. Maybe you always head for for your Flaming Lips CD when taking on simple knitting but prefer a bit of Brahms when tackling more intricate work, or maybe you enjoy knitting with audiobooks or complete silence. Perhaps your crochet time is never complete without a cuddle from Tiddles the cat.

Knitting time for me falls in one of 3 places - at home, Knit Nights, and while traveling.  Each has their own subtle differences, of course, allowing for differences in location and company.  So I'll break them down here.

Wherever - the Essentials.  Not really the Environment, so much, but definitely a part of my Knitting Time:

• A tote bag of project and supplies.
• I have a large pouch of my accessories that travel along as well - stitch markers, tape measure, needle gauge, pencil, etc.

At Home:

• A movie going, or a TV show - almost always.  I'm slowly getting into audiobooks, but as I've mentioned before, I'm a visual person, so I zone in and out of my listening.  When I have an audiobook going, it's gotta be a story I know very well or a book I've read before.  That way there are no surprises when I focus away from the story and come back - "Wait, who is this character again?  What just happened?"  The more complicated the pattern I'm working on, the more familiar the story needs to be, so I can tune it out and count stitches without losing the plot.
• Nestled into the couch or easy chair, TV table at the ready for my supplies.  I like having a table at the ready to set cable needles and the pattern and similar essentials
• Defense measure take to protect my project from Scruffy.  He likes sitting in my lap during a project, but he also likes chewing on the yarn, the needles, the needle cable for circulars, the row counter, the stitch markers... anything dangling close to his nose as he occupies the lap - which is pretty much everything but the worked piece.  So, I have to be prepared!

At Knit Nights - usually at a friend's place or at Starbucks (closest we have to a cafe here):

• A drink of some sort.  At Starbucks, obviously something coffee or tea related (my favorites are the Mocha and Caramel Light Frappucinos when it's hot, and Vanilla Chai Lattes or Skinny Caramel Macchiato when it's cold).  At my friend's place, usually a White Russian.  She makes great ones!  No complicated patterns on White Russian Night, though ;)

On the Go - This is usually in the car or the airport.  I just don't take the bus or subway in the areas where I live (not available!)

• Just the tote bag of essentials.  If I'm knitting while traveling, Zach (or someone else, but usually him) is driving, so I just chatter instead of listening to something.

And such is my knitting!  Always need the project and accessories, obviously, but I rarely knit while it's quiet,  needing either chatter or a movie/audiobook going.  And I don't have qualms about food or drink near the knitting.  I do try to keep it neat, though - a mild "no crumbs" rule.  And depending on the project, it might be stricter.  I Do, for example, worked in white cotton, did have a pretty strict no food rule :)

And such is my Knitting Environment!

Knitting and Crochet Blog Week: Day 6

Day six: 2nd April. Something to aspire to.

Is there a pattern or skill that you don’t yet feel ready to tackle but which you hope to (or think you can only dream of) tackling in the future, near or distant? Is there a skill or project that makes your mind boggle at the sheer time, dedication and mastery of the craft? Maybe the skill or pattern is one that you don’t even personally want to make but can stand back and admire those that do. Maybe it is something you think you will never be bothered to actually make bu can admire the result of those that have.

Tips: If you think you have learned all you ever want to in your craft then say so. Maybe you have been knitting for nearly 30 years and yet never learned to purl (many my think this is impossible, but I met a woman on the bus who told me exactly this once… Maybe she was following the E. Zimmerman school of thought to closely?).

There are lots of techniques and skills that I wish to learn, but most I still consider on a To Do list, rather than an aspiration.  Things like Fair Isle and entre-lac I know that I'll be able to pick up with a little practice.  I understand the concept behind the effect and have played with them a little, but just haven't gotten to those specific projects that would give me a chance to practice and refine. But these things on my queue just don't have the awe-inspiring connotations of something that I aspire to.  However, there are those techniques and projects that do have that mind boggling effect.  For example...

Shetland Lace!!  Thousands of lacy little stitches blossoming into gauzy white patterns.  Maybe a wedding ring shawl - 6 ft square of lace so fine it can pass through a wedding ring...  I don't know what I would use such a piece for, but they are beautiful and delicate and impressive and I love them.  Definitely something to aspire too.  Maybe for my 50th wedding anniversary?  Only 46 1/2 years to get there - plenty of time! ;)

My biggest aspiration, though, would probably be speed and finishing skills.  Not things like seaming, but simply completion of projects.  I'm still very distractable and regularly subject to Cast-On-Itis, so I'd love to have the focus to just knock out projects.  There are just so many things I want to do on the needles,  not even just all for me, but also projects to teach and ones for gifts and for charity, so I want to have a little more focus and be able to get through my list more quickly.  Not a huge goal, and not one with a specific role model, just the idea of those folk that just settle in and can complete projects so simply :)  For that, though, I think I might just have to be a little more organized and dedicated, but that applies to a lot of aspects in my life right now... reading, work-outs, and yes, my knitting.

Knitting and Crochet Blog Week: Day 5

Blast it!  Creativity needed!

Day Five: 1st April. And now for something completely different

This is an experimental blogging day to try and push your creativity in blogging to the same level that you perhaps push your creativity in the items you create.  There are no rules of a topic to blog about (though some suggestions are given below) but this post should look at a different way to present content on your blog. This can take one of many forms, but here a few suggestions:

• Wordless, photographic post
• Video blog post
• Podcast
• Cartoon/sketch of an idea
• Write about a subject from a different perspective (for example, you could write about a day in the life of a knitted sock from the point of view of the sock).
• Interpretive modern dance (why does someone always suggest this?)
• A poem or piece of rhyming verse
• Stop motion animation

Tips: The actual subject matter of the post might be quite dependent on the media method(s) you choose to use and as such there is no specific ‘topic’ to blog on. You could blog about a recently completed project, a knitting experience, a trip to the LYS or anything else that takes your fancy. The point behind this post is to get people thinking about using their blogs in different ways and pushing he boundaries of what they use their blogging platform for.

PS: Yes, it is April Fool’s Day, so have fun with the post.

I decide to do haikus.  Because I can.  And I'm not creative enough for Modern Dance or techincally adept enough for animation or a video post :)

Yarn. Yarn, yarn, yarn, yarn.

Wool, cotton, alpaca, silk.

My stash, so much yarn.

Noro.  Pretty stripes.

Beautiful color repeats.

Why is this pink here??

Cables weave in, out.

Stitches knit out of order.

Pretty knitted knots.

Wedding band lace shawls,

So fine, through a ring they pass,

Beautiful madness.

One more new project.

Hello, my name is Lara,

a cast-on addict.

Misread patterns, or
Projects not quite as planned.
Off to the frog pond!

Knitting and Crochet Blog Week: Day 4

Over half-way now!

 

Day Four: 31st March. Where are they now?

Whatever happened to your __________?

Write about the fate of a past knitting project. Whether it be something that you crocheted or knitted for yourself or to give to another person. An item that lives with you or something which you sent off to charity.

There are a lot of different aspects to look at when looking back at a knitting project and it can make for interesting blogging, as much of the time we blog about items recently completed, new and freshly completed. It is not so often that we look back at what has happened to these items after they have been around for a while.

How has one of your past knits lived up to wear. Maybe an item has become lost. Maybe you spent weeks knitting your giant-footed dad a pair of socks in bright pink and green stripes which he then ‘lost’. If you have knit items to donate to a good cause, you could reflect on the was in which you hope that item is still doing good for it’s owner or the cause it was made to support.

Tips: This topic is similar to one we used for the first Knitting and Crochet blog week. This is purposeful and is intended to help the blogger to reflect on past items and refer back to previous posts and projects once in a while.

I guess my favorite project-with-a-story would be Mom's blue sweater, the one I've made for her twice.

WHICH I STILL NEED A PICTURE OF YOU WEARING, MOTHER! HINT HINT! (End subtle reminder)

But as I just blogged about that in December for Z is for Zimmerman Sweater, I'm going to look at another project instead for this post.

I thought about I Do, the lace shrug that I made for my wedding 3 years ago.  I do still wear it occasionally, and it has lasted beautifully.  I still get compliments on it too!  But with the bell sleeves and overall laciness, it's not a frequently worn piece.  So, aside from the main one, it's not a project that has many stories attached.

So, I decided on my first sweater ever.  (It's Raveled here).  The pattern is appropriately named Our First Sweater.  It's by  Ann E. Smith and was first published in the premiere issue of Knit It!  I used Lion Brand Homespun yarn - "Mediterranean" colorway, if you're interested.  It's browns and soft greens and some terra cotta thrown in - a good fall time colorway.

Why chatter about this sweater now, almost 10 years later?

• It's the first garment I made.  I'd made hats before this sweater, but this was the first project I made where it required multiple pieces, seaming, some shaping, an actual idea of fit. Not that this is fitted, not by a long shot.  It's a big boxy, comfy sweater, no shaping in the body, little on the arms, and just a boat neck opening.  Very easy for a nervous knitter tackling her first sweater (like I was).  And no, I didn't up with the stereotypical one-arm-way-longer-than-the-other sort of dilemma.  It's actually a First Sweater that I'll wear out in public!
• I still wear it.  It's a little baggier than it was when I first made it, but it's still a very cozy sweater for chilly days.  It has lasted very well, actually - a plus to being out of an acrylic yarn.  A little sticky-warm on some days, the flip side of being, but it's perfectly cozy.  It's kinda my go-to Snuggle Sweater, really.
• It's the first project I made where I realized I knit oddly.  The sweater is a stockinette body with garter stitch edges at the cuffs and neck line.  As I was starting it, I realized that I was creating a piece that was the reverse of the picture - stockinette border and garter stitch body.  Upon which, I did a little research and learned that other knitters turn their work, something I still don't do probably 90% of the time.  The projects that I'd made up to this point had been ribbed - K the Ks, P the Ps.  It didn't matter what the wrong and right sides of the fabric were.  With this one, by not turning my work, the "knit every row" garter stitch became my stockinette, and vice versa.  It was a great lesson in learning to read my work :)

And how's it doing after 10 years?  Still alive and kickin'!

It's a little more stretched out after a lot of winters now (you can see how boxy it is below) but since it was never fitted to begin with, that's not too much of an issue.  The biggest thing is that it's a little pilled now.  That's the flip side to using soft and snuggly yarn that's lightly spun like Homespun is. The same thing happened to a scarf I made with Homespun - the areas where it gets the most wear develop little pill of fiber rubbing away with the friction.  So, every so often I take the sweater stone to the bottoms of the arms and along the sides, the areas that get rubbed the most.  And after almost 10 years, still able to wear my first sweater!

Knitting and Crochet Blog Week: Day 3

Rollin' right along!  Though typing would be easier if the cat wasn't sitting on my arm...

Day Three: 30th March. Tidy mind, tidy stitches.

How do you keep your yarn wrangling organised? It seems like an easy to answer question at first, but in fact organisation exists on many levels. Maybe you are truly not organised at all, in which case I am personally daring you to try and photograph your stash in whatever locations you can find the individual skeins. However, if you are organised, blog about an aspect of that organisation process, whether that be a particularly neat and tidy knitting bag, a decorative display of your crochet hooks, your organised stash or your project and stash pages on Ravelry.

Tips: Many people use their blogs partly as an organisational tool – logging and cataloguing projects and newly attained skills, projects and modifications. Did you bear this in mind when you began blogging?

So I have to talk about the size of my stash and how it's organized?  Wow, that's a skeletons in the closet sort of post!  Or tubs of yarn, as the case may be...  And no, I'm not brave enough to photograph it all, but I will discuss it.  :)

Well, my name is Lara and I am a yarn addict.  First step, right?  I will admit that I have a large stash (but what long-term knitter doesn't?).  Part of it is inherited from others downsizing their stash into mine, and part of it is what I've accumulated myself.  Either way, it's enough that it took some thought for organizing.  Needless to say... yeah, I'm on a yarn diet...

I would love to have a craft room with a set of shelves for my knitting books and shelves for some of my yarn - the projects that are next on the queue, pretty skeins that I haven't decided a project for yet, ones that I can grab for quick'n'easy charity projects...  I'd love to arrange them neatly by project, or weight, or color.  I'd love to have them out on display, useful decorations in my own little knitting realm.

In reality...

Yeah...

Well, really it's not quite that bad, but I definitely don't have space in our apartment for a Craft Room totally  set up on my own.  Right now I kinda have 'my room' which is the library/craft room, and where Joey's pen used to be - almost there but not quite.  It's one of the things I'm hoping for when we move this summer! 

I do have my yarn sorted pretty well, though, all things considered. I depend a lot on Rubbermaid tubs :)  There's one for sock yarns (just a small one), and one for acrylics (the charity yarn tub), and two for total projects (complete with copies of the pattern, if I've made them already), and one of odds'n'ends.  I've used Ravelry to help inventory my stash, with reminders which tubs things are in, which projects different yarns will be used for, that sort of thing.  Makes it easy to "shop from home" too - browse my stash to get that yarn store experience. 

Once a project is begun, it's moved to a tote bag.  Makes things easy for Knit Night transportation, as well as keeping project, pattern, and notions all together and free from meddling kitten toes.  It was a hard day when I realized that I'm turning into my mother, organized by tote bags...

I honestly didn't start blogging with yarn or project organization in mind.  Really, I wanted a place to chatter about things that drive my husband up the wall if I talk about them too much, and I wanted a way to keep in touch with friends and family on what we're doing as Zach and I move about.  So, that's what you see here - chatter about knitting, beading, books, movies, running, travel... all the things that I try and stay busy with to help keep myself sane!

As I've gotten into the blogging, though, I've tried to make my posts (well, my knitting posts at any rate) somewhat helpful.  I depend on Ravelry a lot for information about yarns, projects, pattern alterations, that sort of thing.  It always frustrates me when I see project entries on Ravelry that are in my size, with the perfect alterations... and no information on needle size or yardage used or other similarly useful information.  I know not everyone uses their Ravelry pages the same, so I'm not mad, but I don't want to give others the same frustration.  I wanted my Ravelry gallery and my blog posts to be helpful, if there are other folk like me looking for information.  Not that I'm a wealth of information, but I do try to share what I know or have learned.  I try to post lots of pictures of my projects, to see stages of a piece as well as the final project.  I try to give feedback on the pattern too: was it clearly written and easy to follow; did I make any alterations; were there any particularly challenging steps; did I learn something new in the process.  And any links that I found that were useful - both for my own future use, as well as anyone else trying to find the same sort of information.

So, I guess that's my knitting organization, from stash to final posts.  Yarn tubs to tote bags, with lots of pictures in between.  And maybe, that gloriously organized Craft Room waiting ahead in the future :)

Knitting and Crochet Blog Week: Day 2

Day 2, here we go!

Day Two: 29th March. Skill + 1UP

Look back over your last year of projects and compare where you are in terms of skill and knowledge of your craft to this time last year. Have you learned any new skills or forms of knitting/crochet (can you crochet cable stitches now where you didn’t even know such things existed last year? Have you recently put a foot in the tiled world of entrelac? Had you even picked up a pair of needles or crochet hook this time last year?

Tips: Don’t be abashed at admitting your own skill and progress. If possible, include pictures of projects that you gained new skills from.

Ok, I just have to state now that I read that prompt title in the Popcap games voice, slightly high and sing-songy, "Level UP."  Signs that you play too many silly computer games, I suppose...

Anyhoo, embarrassing dorkiness aside... I learned a lot last year, mostly because I was able to make it up to Stitches West last spring and take a week's worth of classes!  Some of the things I learned at Stitches I haven't been able to put into practice yet, like steeking, but I still count it as a lesson learned.

So, lessons learned...  For starters, like I mentioned, the steeking.   I haven't dared a whole project with steeking yet, but this was an accomplishment for me just to take the class.  There's something count-intuitive about knitting something (and for steeking, it's usually something detailed too) and then taking scissors to it.  I know in the class I saw that my knitting did hold together after being cut, but I'm still not ready to try a whole project.  Maybe I'll take another class on it, at a LYS or something, and brave it from there...

I also got to take a class on colorwork, where I learned how to Fair Isle and improve my intarsia.  I also played with mitered squares in the class.  All sorts of ways to play with colors!  I haven't had a chance to use these techniques yet, but there are projects coming up on my queue which will use them.  "Patience!," I have to tell myself.  I came back from Stitches having to fight the urge to cast on everything all at once! 

I also had 2 crochet classes at Stitches, HUGE steps for me.  I've always been one of those people who became useless with yarn once 'you took away one of my needles.'  This I've been able to actually put into use in a project, too, as the hat I made for a friend has a crocheted edging and ties.

   

I also tried my first provisional cast on last year.  I had grafted before, several times actually, but had never used a provisional cast-on.  This little headband was a perfect place to practice it - only 6 stitches!

 

Not related to Stitches (other than having roomed with a sock-knitting addict!) is that I gave sock knitting another try, this time toe-up.  Yup, she finally got me to brave socks ;)  I have yet to finish the second sock, as I'm knitting it tighter than the first, so I might frog it and re-do it, so as they match.  Still on the fence, though, as frogging often seems to take a great mental effort ("all that work, just gone!").  We shall see...

 

Also only-sorta related to Stitches were the efforts in dying last year.  Sarah bought her dye kit at Stitches, and we were certainly inspired by all the pretty hand-dyed yarns we saw there!  The yarns below are the one I Kool-Aid dyed, when we were playing to first try dying.  The other 3 are the ones I did with Sarah's dye kit.  You can read more of our adventures with color here and here.  Not really knitting, but definitely fiber related learning!

 

 

Learning to make some of my own knitting accessories was an accomplishment too.  I have pretty stitch markers now!  And yes, learning to bead was a gateway craft into making jewelry for myself, but that's the risk you take.  Again, not knitting learning, but certainly knitting related.  A lot of my notes on stitch markers are here, here, here, and here.  I've just posted pictures of some of my favorites :)

         

So, yes, lots of new adventures last  year!  But that's honestly how I like to craft.  I don't like staying "safe" with my knitting.  I like comfort projects, nice and mindless when you need a break from things, but I like challenging myself too.  I remember that the first few years I was knitting, I would try and choose projects that made me do something new in each - a new stitch pattern, a new garment, a new technique.  Whatever it was, I wanted to learn something in each project.  That mindset still kinda carries over now.  I mean, I could stay with garter stitch scarves for years until I think I'm "ready" for something bigger, but wouldn't that get boring?  And you can always do more than you think you can.  Sometimes you learn that you're not quite ready for something, but you still learn something from the project, right?  And sometimes something that you didn't think you could do, turns into one of those projects that was exactly what you were picturing.  Worth the risk, right?  I just wish I could be that brave in the rest of my life :)