Sunday, December 9, 2012

Bored on a Sunday afternoon

I am well and truly bored, so I've decided to write a post while listening to Evanescence. But please bear with me...

I watched Arthur Christmas last night - another DVD borrowed from the library - and really enjoyed it. I think it'll be one Christmas movie I might have to own, because there are so many little things that I might have missed, or barely saw. (You know, like how you miss some of the more subtle jokes in Shrek the first time you see it.) Also, Ashley Jensen voices a very enthusiastic gift-wrapping elf, which makes the movie even awesomer.

What annoyed me yesterday, though, was that I couldn't find Eight Crazy Nights on for the first night of Hanukkah. Usually someone has it on fairly late in the evening (because the subject matter isn't really child-friendly), but nobody had it on. I'm sure someone will have it on before New Year's Day, but I was a bit bummed out that it wasn't on last night.

As far as knitting goes, I'm itching to start another hat - even though I have a sock still on the needles. You see, I have this skein of Red Heart Collage that I want to knit into a slouchy hat, but be damned if I can find a pattern that isn't overly lacy. (The yarn is 100% acrylic, so I can't use a lacy hat pattern unless it's very small lace.) The colour is also a bit of a problem, because it kind of looks like marble, so I need a stitch pattern that will pop well. I'll probably look through books and magazines, or do a swatch of a hat pattern I've been thinking might work with the yarn. It might be a trial-and-error process, but it'll be worth it.

I'm also thinking of digging out my Clapotis and trying to figure out if I can finish it or if I have to rip it back a little first. I started making it for my grandmother after she had a stroke, but when she told my mom and I that she "had enough shawls" (*twitch*) I got a bit discouraged from getting it finished. I've decided that if I'm going to finish it, I'll make it for myself - I love the colour that I'm using for it, anyway.

That's all for now. Hopefully my next post will be more interesting :)

Friday, December 7, 2012

The Post-Plague and Post-NaNo Post

I survived both the Nasty Cold of Nastiness and National Novel Writing Month!

With a beaming smile, I can proudly say that I cracked 60,000 words on the last day of NaNoWriMo (something that I have NEVER done before), and that I can breath out of both nostrils. Life is good.

I'm also getting better at crocheting. I started a dishcloth in half-double crochet while Sons of Anarchy was on, and while I had to fuss with the foundation chain a little to even it out, it's looking pretty good. (Also, I found out that Kim Coats' character on SoA is an animal lover. Be still my heart. Even though he is, from what I've heard, a "sick !@#$" - insert your own cuss word there, folks, I'm trying to cut down on unnecessary swearing. It's a bit of an awful habit of mine.)

Now I'm wondering if I should dub this cloth my SoA cloth. As I've said, I don't really follow the series - it's very gory, and has a lot of sex in it - but the storyline interests me. (Also - I watched almost all of the third season, probably because I was bored with the books I was reading and the story pulled me in. Since then, I've watched a few episodes casually.)

Something else that's going on with me is a feeling of anxiety mixed with a good night's sleep. It's quite peculiar. I think the anxiety has to do with my extended family piling stress on us, combined with the usual Christmas ill feeling and something else that I'm not really comfortable discussing here. But I slept well last night - I even had a strange dream that made me go, "Huh, that's odd" - which almost contradicts the whole anxiety thing. I mention the sleep because I've been up early for the past few mornings - one time was because I had to set my alarm for 6, and the other two times were cat-related.

Even though I'm in a bad mood today (I burnt my toast and was compared to a bitchy cat - don't ask), I want to have a better day today. Maybe I'll catch up on reading, or gaming. Both of those would make me quite happy.