My new sweater!

More on this later :D

Some Things Are Done For a Reason...

First of all I will preface this entry by saying that I will never take short cuts with my knitting again. Even though, this time I simply forgot to do one small step that many, many knitters skip, the effect on the finished product might be obvious.
For my Cabled, I actually did a lovely 4 in x 4 in swatch. I measured it carefully and did all the math to customize my Cabled (Why oh why did I choose a non-set (customizable) pattern for my first sweater ever?? I don't have any basics of sweater construction but I thought, 'Oh well, its worth a try..." So today I finished the body and the shoulder/neck straps to form the V neck of the sweater and I was a bit worried because it looked small because of all the curling stockinette. So I decided I would block the body before I picked up the stitches so it would all be easier. I soaked it in softener while I took a shower and then blocked it 20 minutes later. At first I was really happy because the yarn really bloomed and the openness of using 5.5mm needles and fingering yarn was now obvious. However, I didn't realize that when the stitches open up it changes the size significantly. When I did my swatch, I didn't think to wash it and block it first to check this phenomenon. Plus I wasn't sure I had enough yarn to finish so I didn't want to "waste" any. I tried my best to block it to the dimensions I wanted it to be but we're just going to have to see after I finish the sleeves and put it all together. If I can't fit in it, I probably know someone who can :(

Movie Reviews: The Ugly Truth + Gamer

*sigh* Gerard Butler ... what can I say? I was a sucker for him since The Phantom of the Opera. He's also the main reason why I went to watch The Ugly Truth and Gamer in the past 2 and a half weeks so I thought I'd give my little personal review (not that it means much) of the 2 movies that are so very different from each other but I'm so lazy I will do it in point form.

The Ugly Truth
- I would not watch this with my parents.
- Gerard Butler is hot
- It is a pretty funny movie but like most romantic comedies, totally predictable. (but that's ok)
- Gerard Butler is hot
- Katherine Heigl is almost too good as the uptight, attractive, controlling protagonist (makes me wonder if that's just what she's like in real life...but it doesn't matter because she gorgeous in the movie)
- Gerard Butler is hot

So I give this movie a 7.5/10

Gamer
- Don't watch this IF : you get motion sickness or can't bear to watch extreme violence (ie. bits of people flying everywhere)
-Action was very, very good
- Plot was a bit too straightforward maybe
- Agreeing with Danny, the writing could have been better
- Themes are quite clear and I was quite disgusted by the very possible future in gaming the movie depicts
- The story could have had more depth to it
- Had some great actors but didn't utilize their talents to the max

So I give this a 5.5/10

Oh..and Gerard Butler was hot in this one too :D

Surprise!

Yes, I'm posting something! It has been a really long time and I suppose lots of things have happened so I'll just sum it up quickly then:

1. I finally sucked it up and graduated (hooray!?)

2. I finally sucked it up and got a (yuck) job (although I wish I waited a little for this one)

3. I'm finally knitting things for me that hopefully fit

4. I haven't replaced the German with anyone yet so that's a good sign

There's nothing much to say about my graduation. i was the 5th one on stage and I'm surprise I didn't pass out halfway (yes, that was half of you on the stage). My parents were pretty happy/relieved so that's that..nothing to complain about anymore. No more lectures on graduating and getting a job.

The job is going alright. Albeit it is in the one place I wanted to get away from but alas you can't say I didn't sacrifice for the German :P Its actually more interesting than I let on but then again (as many people say) my brains are wasted because I sit around thinking whether I have any more clothes to iron and what to cook for dinner tonight with the meager lot of "groceries" in the fridge. But more on the job later (when I have interesting things to report).

Now the knitting...

I think I mentioned some time before I was attempting the Gail (Nightsong) shawl and attempt it I did. I ripped it 5 time and tinked more rows and stitches than I care to remember. I finally finished it only to be too ashamed to block it out due to some mistakes I know I made in the middle of the shawl. I'm not a perfectionist but for some reason I'm willing to undo my knitted pieces several times. After sitting around for a month in my yarn bag, I finally frogged the entire shawl and looked for another pattern, the One Skein - A Stole! by Katya Jordan, which was designed with the Noro Kureyon Sock in mind anyway. Honestly, I think she came up with the perfect pattern for the yarn so now I have my first wearable (and incredibly gorgeous!) shawl for cold offices/malls/rainy days. I'll post pics as soon as the German comes back with my camera.

I've put the baby blanket for Naomi on hold for a little while. What possessed me to want to make fish with sport weight yarn for a baby blanket in the first place. I think I'm up to 22 (out of 50) fish so a few more to go. I'm so bad at delivering promised blankets. I've made 2 before this that were promised years ago but can't send them now cause the recipients aren't babies anymore and Mochi has slept on both of them.

I've finally bought a replacement crochet hook to finish my Haekelbeutel by Inga Joana Mertens and I've been teaching myself (well with the help of Knitty) to double knit two socks at once. Poor H, always getting my experiments. I promise to give her something NOT lopsided for her birthday next year.

The last project I've started on is Cabled by Hinke. I think I'm over-reaching my skills a bit by trying to customize a customizable pattern. I'm pretty sure it'll turn out wrong but I will persevere anyway. I bought the yarn while I was a bit depressed though so...it's pink. Don't worry though, I'll overdye it when I'm done :D

Courtesy of The Lazy Bloggers Post Generator

Holy Blog Of Doom, Batman! I just woke up to the fact I have not updated this since people stopped clapping and Tinkerbell died... You would not believe how much more of a drama I could make that. I prostrate myself in sorrow and beg thy forgiveness..

I am totally exhausted with finding Jesus (after someone told me he was lost), watching the grass grow, just generally being not online in order to society in general, my day is filled with fluorescent light from 8am to whenever. I am looking at rectifying this. I need a nap.

I will try to remember I promised you I will update you with my nefarious activities as soon as I get a chance. Honestly! What do you mean you don't believe me?.

Of knitting and politics...

Nope I'm not going to write some intelligent diatribe on how they're connected..( if I could I should be writing for the NY Times hehe)
This is just a short update because I'm supposed to be getting ready to see the LAM on campus soon. Just thought I'd note that I am allowed to knit now though not as much as I was knitting before. New pictures should be up soon of my yarn dyeing experiment and new and old projects.
I'd also like to note something interesting I found while doing this silly facebook notes thingy. You have to look up a random quote and take a part of it to be your album title...anyway while I was reading all the quotes I came across this one:

"The Argument from Intimidation is a confession of intellectual impotence." - Ayn Rand

Malaysian politics anyone? ;)

Mistaken Presumption

First of all I'd like to wish a happy new lunar year to everyone! Maybe all of us can make new resolutions now that we've broken or forgot about before this :D
For some reason I was under the mistaken presumption that Penang would be empty for Chinese New Year (I think its just KL). Its also mis semester break for universities AND schools so truthfully Penang is full of tourists and I don't think I'm going to get the nice, quiet holiday I was expecting for the next week. This in turn may be bad because I wanted to relax in town to forget about the injury to my thumb. So now I can't go out AND I can't knit, crochet, or sew either :(
However, on a good note, the German and I did manage to get out and about yesterday. Our original plan was to go to Penang Hill. With half the traffic gone from Penang, the air was actually a lot cleaner and clearer than usual (yes we produce a LOT of smog for such a small island) When we got there though we realized that school holidays wasn't the best time to get a good view of anything. We then decided to go to Ferringhi but somehow the German took a wrong turn and we ended up in the Botanical Gardens. I haven't been to the Botanical Gardens in...well lets say about 20 years. On the one hand it is a beautiful place and the variety of botanical life is amazing but on the other hand, it could be better maintained and the logic of closing all the special areas on a public holiday eludes me. It really is a pity though...we took a forest trail and all the information placards were gone and no one has bothered to renew them. All the special areas like the Orchid house and such were closed for maintenance. What does that mean? And shouldn't maintenance be done on days where lots of people won't actually be visiting? We should really take more pride in places like this in Penang and take better care of them (such as cleaning out the rubbish from the rivers running through there and scattered around...this leads to a different issue I have with Malaysian people and littering :P)
We did have a nice time there though and I saw 2 families (from 2 different species) of monkeys and lots of trees and flowers I've never seen before. I have to go back and take pictures or sketch for my batik class. So much inspiration! (not that I'm any good at really designing anything)
Alright that's all I have for now besides my bored and grumpy self caused by my lack of knitting. My hands feel so empty and lonely! I know..I can be really pathetic lol I guess I'll get by designing and planning out my future projects...