I'm still working on the Mary Margaret beret. The pattern is almost finished, I've got two more rows? Depending on how I count? Then a few rounds of eyelet, and then some mindless knitting, then then decreases. But so far, despite stitch markers I keep having to rip out three or four rows of for one of the ten repeats because the 14 stitches have either multiplied or decreased while I was not paying attention. XD

In other news, this is taking almost as long as a baby afghan. I've bought the yarn for that sweater pattern I keep nattering on about (beautiful copper stuff!) and I'm being to wonder if I bit off a bit more than I'm willing to chew, since this hat is done on the same size needles and it's making me cross-eyed.

Not that that's stopped me from falling in love with another, similarly patterned sweater... http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/agatha-6

Another question is, would I wear a belt like this?

Finally, how fantastic are these book wrappers?!!! 

• sport weight yarn
• size 5 USA needles
• 14 stitch repeat
• in worsted weight, the repeat equals 2.75"x6" inches of knit fabric

Naturally, I started my swatch with the ribbing. Two purl stitches to one knit looked really good. But... ribbing stretches. That's what it's supposed to do. So the pattern is actually knit one, purl one. What you'll see when it's relaxed is all knit. That figured out, it was on to the fun part--reading knitting charts. You can see one of my sample eyelet lace patterns pulled from the set I pointed out in the previous post next to my screencap print-outs...

The whole over-under knit two together for the leaf edge took awhile to figure out. You need to have the stitch from the inside of the leaf on top to define the motif. Well, I noticed that about halfway through the first set of leaves. Trying to position the eyelets by eyeballing the pattern didn't work out so well either, but by then I had some idea of how the pattern was supposed to work. 



I started over with the ribbing and a neatly charted pattern. Hurrah! The failure/practice helped. It looks a lot better this time. And even though the eyelet at the top didn't quite work out (they need to be closer together) and there might be an extra knit 2 together, or knit 3 together, on my chart, it's fairly obvious while knitting when it needs to go. I'll have to mark it next time through the pattern.

I'm thinking maybe 10 repeats in the beret in the show? It seems to be knit in a lighter weight yarn, maybe baby or lace, which ought to put it in the 22" brim circumference territory. I just so happen to have a set of size 2 circular needles, and I hope I have enough yarn... I might be able to make a guesstimation by weighing the ball of yarn.    

The swatch folded itself nicely and suggested a hotpad. White or Ecru, of course, is not the wisest choice for a utilitarian item, but it is what it is.

I've started thinking about recreating this beret, because I've been smitten with it ever since it first showed up. After the rows of ribbing there's a leaf pattern, so I did a Google image search on knit leaf lace... which may or may not have been a mistake. :p

• http://knitandpearl.com/patterns/ysolda-veyla-pattern - pretty!
• http://brookenelson.com/leafscarfpattern.html - also want!
• http://www.classiceliteyarns.com/WebLetter/135/Issue135.php - lace beret
• http://www.loopknits.com/2008/10/13/grace-lace-beret-class/ - lace beret
• http://www.kristentendyke.com/gallery/ClassicSilkLaceBeret.php - gauge and yarn requirement for a similar style

Moving on to observations on the beret...

narrow ribbing
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/leaf-lace-washcloth - useful for charting the leaf part of the design
http://laceknitter.blogspot.com/2009/07/29-smyrna-lace.html - useful for charting the second part of the
design?
http://laceknitter.blogspot.com/2009/05/18-double-diamond.html - possibly this might be closer?
http://laceknitter.blogspot.com/2009/07/27-rose-leaf-lace.html - then we have three/five rows of eyelets, depending on whether or not there's an offset
knit
some sort of pattern in the decreases
another row of eyelet
more pattern in the decreases

The majority of the embroidery is done. The only thing left is the horse motif and possibly my initials, though I'm still considering putting those on the back... When I originally traced the pattern, the horse came out off center, so I've been telling myself that I'm waiting for the fabric pencil to fade away instead of rinsing it out and re-doing the trace. Also, as you can see, I went with red thread, which looks very sharp even if it wasn't what I originally had in mind. 

I... jotted down notes while watching. It is a very up and down episode. Spoilers follow, natch...


( Alas, young queen, passing by, If this your mother knew )

Recently, I read The Saturdays by Elizabeth Enright, an utterly charming book about four siblings who pool their allowances to allow each of them a Saturday adventure. As a modern reader, I doubt the feasibility of their activities -- but they did things I've done or always wanted to do... and that made it even better, somehow. I actually started reading about the Melendys with The Four Story Mistake, which reminded me a lot of Noel Streatfeild's Ballet Shoes (--I think. One of her books anyway.) I'm going to have to look up the other two soon. I'm just a little surprised that it's taken me this long to find Enright... she reminds me so much of the books and authors I've loved before: Noel Streatfield, Kate Seredy, Mabel Leigh Hunt (specifically Ladycake Farm which is comfort reading at its absolute best) and the Boxcar Children.

I also read The Blue Thread by Ruth Tenzer Feldman, which has the intriguing premise of a young Oregon woman in 1912, the women's suffrage movement, and Biblical time-travel. It's nicely written and plotted, as far as I can tell it's well-researched, but as a Christian I kind of think it lacking in that area. I don't expect it to be in-your-face, but I thought there was a general lack of... awe? After all, the heroine met Moses when the Israelites were on the brink of the Promised Land. That scene was good. I just expected it to have a little more affect on her life back home.

On the non-fiction front, I'm currently working through The Company They Keep by Diana Pavlac Glyer. This is a nice thick book about the Inklings and their influence on each other. It's very good, full of quotes and interesting thoughts on writing. I would highly recommend it. The author has a very readable style and the footnotes are all interesting side excursions.

I also had the opportunity to view the 1935 movie version of Les Miserables. It more or less followed the book... you could at least rationalize stuff that ended up being cut or changed... but the ending didn't quite work. Valjean had had his chance to say goodbye to his family, and then Javert let him go and there was nothing left to resolve. The End. Uh... except for the whole speech that may or may not have happened after Javert's death: "Sorry, Cosette, I guess I was wrong about needing to go to prison England but that's okay! You marry Marius and I'll... do something."

I quite liked the casting of Javert. For some reason, I have a mental image of Javert cast as a tall, saturnine fellow, (okay, the very first incarnation of Javert I ever saw was tall and quite handsome, and Terrence Mann hasn't helped there either...) and Charles Laughton was short, slightly chubby, and you felt that duty and following the letter of the law really was everything he had. I also have absolutely no quibbles with the casting of Fredric March as the extremely good looking Jean Valjean/Monsieur Madeline. *swoon* The bishop was a splendid sort of fellow too, and while the acting might have seemed a little stagey and stilted, I am not complaining. That the moment where I shipped Valjean and Eponine? I'm sure it was unintentional on the filmmakers part... but on the other hand, I can't quite unsee it. It'd be a Colonel Brandon/Marianne sort of pairing, agewise, and that's by saying that Valjean was only fifteen or so when he was shipped off to the galleys. And if they'd let her live, that could have cleared up the awkwardness at the end. Yeah. I'll keep telling myself that.

Comics I quite like:

• Digger
• A Girl & Her Shadow
• Harfang
• Knite

...and because it doesn't feel quite right to have only two three (I keep adding more...) links, a meme as well:

Rules

1. Put your music player on Shuffle.
2. For each question, press the next button for your answer
3. You must write that song name down, no matter how silly it sounds.

IF SOMEONE ASKS "IS THIS OKAY?" YOU SAY:
"Leit af Lifi" by Sigur Ros -- and nobody would know what I meant, even me :p

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOURSELF?
"American Collection Theme" by Yo Yo Ma

WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL?
"Eragon" by Patrick Doyle -- excuse me while I go die of embarrassment... I did write a derivative work based on this piece, but...

HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY?
"Only Time" by Enya as performed by Robin Berry

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE'S PURPOSE?
"Laetatus sum, gradual in mode 7 (Liber Usualis No. 560, GR 139)" by the Benedictine Monks of Santo Domingo de Silos -- which would be Latin for 'to be rejoicing' (if my translation is accurate); which is, if you stretch the point, praising God

WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO?
"The Leprechan's Jig" by Robin Berry

WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?
"If I Loved You" by Charlotte Church -- uh-huh...

WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?
"Memoirs of a Geisha: As the Water" by John Williams

WHAT DO YOU OFTEN THINK ABOUT?
"No One Cared: Opening Credits" by Louisa Sharp

WHAT IS 2+2?
"Linda Cholita" by Viento Andino

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?
"The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian: The Door in the Air" by Harry Gregson-Williams

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
"Phillipians 3:12-21" as read by my Mom

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?
"Queen of Attolia: Chapter 10" as read by myself -- "How inconspicuous I will be when next I am in Attolia dressed in Eddisan formalwear with gold frogs down the front"

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?
"Boadicea" by Enya

WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
"The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian: The Duel" by Harry Gregson-Williams

WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING?
"First Snow" by Various Artists -- It's a piano piece, and I can't find any more info about it; but it'll be a slow dance, I guess :)

WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?
"Media vita in morte sumus, responsory in mode 4" by the Benedictine Monks of Santo Domingo de Silos

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST FEAR?
"Unshakeable Kingdom" by Chiz Ryder

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET?
"Nutcracker Suite Overture" by Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?
"Occuli omnium, gradual in mode 7" by the Benedictine Monks of Santo Domingo de Silos

WHAT IS YOUR NICKNAME?
"To Go Beyond, Pt. 1" by Enya -- Some of these answers are positively unhelpful... and with several multiples from different albums it's like the randomizer isn't going very deep at all

HOW WILL YOU NAME THIS POST?
"The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian: The Raid on the Castle" by Harry Gregson-Williams

This one was also made using a kit from Herrschners.com. Like the other one, the gauge is off, but I compensated for it this time. So now I have some leftover yarn from the kit; possibly enough for a matching sweater.

Since I wasn't crocheting like a madwoman, it felt like it took longer to complete this one. I started at the beginning of February, and here we are at the end of the month. Something like 20 minutes a stripe of colour? So... 31 stripes, plus another forty minutes on the border... 11 hours? It feels like more, so I'd take the estimate with a handful of salt. I'm probably forgetting something.

A new manner of fashion I'd found,
And the world seemed to smile all around.
'Til it wilted, I wore it,
I'll always adore it,
My sweet little Alice blue gown!
lyric by Joseph McCarthy and Harry Tierney

you are lightcyan #E0FFFF

Your dominant hues are green and blue. You're smart and you know it, and want to use your power to help people and relate to others. Even though you tend to battle with yourself, you solve other people's conflicts well. Your saturation level is very low - you have better things to do than jump headfirst into every little project. You make sure your actions are going to really accomplish something before you start because you hate wasting energy making everyone else think you're working. Your outlook on life is very bright. You are sunny and optimistic about life and others find it very encouraging, but remember to tone it down if you sense irritation.

the spacefem.com html color quiz