Knitting Post

Tags

Elephants, knitting, Pandas, Wild Animals

So it’s about time that I wrote a knitting update blog, which has been in the works for some time, but I haven’t gotten around to actually writing the blog. The last time I wrote about knitting was back when I wrote “Some Updates!” which was about a few projects that I have recently completed, including a big Hufflepuff scarf. This scarf was my first ever project in the realms of knitting, and now, I can safely say, some months later I have completed several more projects, most of which for some reason I don’t have pictures of them, but they were simple bookmarks in various Hogwarts colours.

So, what I want to write about is the most recent project that I have fully completed, and the piece that I am working on, both of these I am really proud of. The first project was the first time I had used and followed a pattern of any kind, so I was apprehensive about how it was going to turn out, especially as there were stitches and bits and pieces that I hadn’t tried before. It was also a present for my Ma-Bug, so I wanted it at least to be half-good.

So, I started knitting an elephant. I used this book for the pattern, which I have to say is pretty amazing and really simple to use [well it’s got to be, I was able to follow it!].

 

I was really pleased when I got to this stage as it was before I was due to go away, and considering I was so close to finishing the project before I flew I really just wanted to put him together so that I could gift him!

So this is the final piece, completed before holiday. I’m so happy that I finished the project! I think the only thing that annoys me is that his tusks are sitting unevenly, and I have to resist the urge to unpick one and reattach. I don’t think this turned out too badly for my first attempt at following a pattern. I didn’t realise until starting my next project that on most of the parts I started the second row wrongly, but you wouldn’t be able to tell lol. I think the most difficult part was putting it together with the stuffing as I hadn’t done anything like that before in my life.

The second project is a panda, which I am making for my sister.

This photo is now out of date though as the head is finished and the next part to tackle is the arms and legs of the toy. I don’t know if you can spot the two mistakes I made on both parts of the body ^_^.

This knitting bug is very, very addictive. It’s so amazing to think of all the things that can be created! I have my next project lined up one the panda is finished, but it’ll be on double pointed needles, again something that I haven’t done before. And I also intend to do a project on circular needles, but the ones I brought are too long for the project and it seems a bit awkward knitting a smaller ring, so am currently looking into buying a set of interchangeable circular needles… yay for Amazon and all their stuff, right?

Anyways, here’s to future knitting posts!

Take care folks, and keep on creating!

The Lorax, Spiderman, The Dark Knight Rises

Tags

Batman, DC Comics, Dr Seuss, Spiderman, Superheroes, The Amazing Spiderman, The Dark Knight Rises, The Lorax

Since I have been back in the UK I have been to the cinema three times. Seeing as though this is only been something like five days, that is pretty amazing to me as I don’t typically go to the cinema very often at all. I may have mentioned in my previous blog about going to the cinema – I was planning on writing a separate blog about the film that we saw, but now it turns out I have tripled the work load, in a sense, writing about the films that I’ve been to see.

So the first film that I went to see was Dr. Seuss ’ the Lorax . You may scoff in your seat at this film as it is a film directed at a children’s audience, but I really enjoy Dr Seuss.  Hortan Hears a Hoo is one of my favourite films I have ever seen. Plus, animated films are just cool, they don’t always have to be along the lines of Toy Story or A Bugs Life.

The Lorax is essentially a film about environmentalism, about looking after your world and not pushing the problem away, about the courage to stand up and do the right thing and respect the planet. This is a really nice message, and probably would have been delivered in a much more powerful way if the sound in the cinema hadn’t gone funny. There was a point near the end of the film where the music was still playing but the voices had all disappeared and you couldn’t hear them at all. At first I thought that this was along the lines of artistic license, but then as it went on we realised that that wasn’t the case at all.

At the end of the film the sound had sort of come back on, and there was some more animated singing about the environment etc. Roll credits… Of course, being as though there was a problem with the sound when we went out someone else in the theatre had already gone to talk to someone about it, so we decided to wait around and see what the outcome would be. So, in the end, we got free tickets to another 3D film of our choice for that cinema. I thought that was more than acceptable, although others that were in the cinema screen had issues with it because of payment options [they had a free access card for the cinema]. So, with two free tickets to the cinema in mind, we move on to the next film of the week: The Amazing Spider-Man 3D.

I love super hero films. There’s something about them that makes you feel all warm inside. My favourite superhero is Superman. [Man of Steel is a must when it comes out].

Spiderman was pretty good. I wasn’t sure what to expect considering they released the other films in about 2000, wasn’t it? I wasn’t sure if they were going to be darker films, lighter, origins or what. Plus, I hadn’t seen much in the way of trailers for this one either. All things considered, it was a really good and enjoyable film. I couldn’t tell you how long it was or anything like that, but it really was enjoyable. Plus, there was no MJ which was cool because it meant that the story didn’t focus as entirely around a girl, and it allowed it to step away from the previous incarnation of the franchise. [I suppose in a way though you could just swap the name of Gwen Stacey for MJ, but I really liked her character, even if people seem to be super intelligent in films like this].

The whole storyline was pretty good for Spiderman. It was an origins story, and I like these as they allow the film to go into new directions. The whole idea of how Peter Parker got his powers was pretty interesting. Plus, DC upped the game with the little bonus bit at the end suggesting that a sequel will be pretty awesome too as there is the massive, massive unanswered question of who killed Peter Parker’s parents.

Lastly, I went to see the new Batman film with my brother and sister last night. Now, bearing in mind I haven’t actually seen the previous two films in the incarnation of the Bat universe, I thought that the film did pretty well as a standalone story. My brother told me the “what you need to know” bit before we went in as to where the story picked up from the previous film.

It was a good film, although I thought that the big “surprises”/ plot twists were pretty… predictable. I didn’t want them to be, but seriously, from the start of certain bits they were glaringly obvious to me, perhaps not to others though, and I wouldn’t be so rude to spoil it at all.

Anne Hathaway makes an awesome Cat Woman!

Anyways, that will do with this little blog, I will be doing a knitting themed blog over the next few days as I have a few things to share with you all about it.

Well, that’s all for now folks, take it easy!