Monday, December 31, 2018

Sebright Bantam Dress

lukknits
Sebright Bantam Dress in Einband

I finally finished this dress, which had been waiting for me to pick it back up again for a couple of months, and just in time for it to be the last FO of 2018! Looking back, I didn't actually do much knitting this year - according to ravelry, just over 4000 yards in 7 completed projects - and here's the breakdown:

  • 2 of them were the same basic 2 x 2 rib hat (one for meone for my mom, both of which I didn't take pictures of)
  • 2 more were testknits (Satinel & rumo)
  • 2 were gifts for my auntie Kit: chrysanthemum shawl by Francoise Danoy followed by a bolero she commissioned from me to wear to her son's wedding (for which I also forgot to take a finished photo of her wearing... I've really been falling off the wagon lately!)
  • Which leaves this 1 project that I made 100% for me: this Sebright Bantam dress, which was inspired by the silver Sebright Bantam chickens I saw at Center Island way back in the summer. Here's a photo of a silver Sebright hen from Wikimedia Commons (attribution in caption), because I failed to take a picture of the ones on the island.

Mark Robinson, Wikimedia Commons, Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license
Taken by Mark Robinson from Wikimedia Commons under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license. No changes made to the original image.

Aren't they sweet? And their plumage absolutely beautiful? So I decided to make a dress that was like their feathers. It came out more mermaid-like than I had envisioned, but I like the look of the mitered diamonds, and it's my first time working with this technique, so I'd say I did a pretty good job!

Which is not to say that there aren't a couple of things I would do differently next time, namely:
  • It's a bit tighter than I'd like. The fit is actually perfect, but because of the yarn/needle/construction combo, the smallest diamonds aren't as stretchy as they could've been if I'd kept the smallest needle size a 4mm or even just maybe 3.75mm instead of the 3.5mm I went with. Which means the dress is a bit difficult to take off - it's a tight squeeze out even if I take the both arms over the head approach. It works. It's just a touch awkward.
  • The Einband isn't great for next to skin wear, for me.
    • I suspect this issue would be solved if I used a slightly larger needle size for the smallest diamonds though, because then I'd be able to comfortably wear a full slip under this dress. As it is, I can wear a half slip, which is still good because the lower/larger diamonds are a bit sheer.
  • I underestimated how many rows of diamonds I'd need for the full length of the dress so that it would be long enough for my taste, so next time, maybe also knit a full row of diamonds more for both of the two larger needle sizes so that less of the dress is at the smallest diamond level.
That's basically it, though! Not too bad for a wildly experimental run where I had no idea what I was going to do for the neckline. I like the varied textures I ended up with, and I also used up some mystery mohair-like yarn I got from a stash swap - whoot! To be honest, I suppose the biggest issue right now as far as this dress goes is: where do I wear it?


lukknits
I'm going for a haircut soon, I promise


I've also been working on what was originally supposed to be a really lacy baby pink dress, but just ripped back most of the skirt portion because it wasn't looking how I wanted it to look, so that'll have to wait till next year to be completed. I'm not even sure I like the bodice part of it, but it's a construction I wanted to try, and I had an idea in mind for how I wanted it to be, so I'm going to roll with it and see how it turns out once I finish the new skirt.

Here's to hoping I'll do more knitting in 2019! I'd really like to make some more comfortable dresses with some of my superwash merino stash (of which there is more than I'd like to admit), for soft, next-to-skin wear, so there's a mood going forward! I've also really been slacking with regards to keeping track of my reading & film-watching, so I want to get back on that.

November & December

I... want to say my November list is incomplete, but it might be accurate?

November
  1. A Single Man (2009)
  2. The Handmaiden (2016)
  3. The Birds (1963)
  4. Oldboy (2003)

Lots of movies for December! I think I kept a better log of December, so this should be relatively accurate

December
  1. Ólafur Arnalds
    • Oh my.
    • I also love that Arnalds posts the scores for many of his tracks on his website for free download.
  2. Book Club (2018)
    • I don't really know what I was expecting, but it was definitely something less inane than this. I couldn't even get the fun, light-hearted romcom feels out of it because the characters and situations irked me so much!
  3. The Exterminating Angel (1962)
    • Really enjoyed this one!
  4. The Wailing (2016)
    • SO MUCH IS GOING ON. I want to learn more about Korean shamanism (Possessed might be a good performance to go to, in that case? And that's coming up at the Toronto Fringe Festival), but also the history of Christianity in Korea. I thought it was going to be a pretty straightforward, "oh, you went after & killed the wrong person because of your racial prejudice against Japanese people (for... obvious historical reasons) and didn't even try to consider all the factors before doing so" plot that's meant to raise the discussion of racial attitudes towards Japanese in Korea, but WHOA did this ever go beyond my expectations!
  5. After the Storm (2016)
    • It was alright. But I watched another one a few days after that also featured Hiroshi Abe and was also him in this sort of role, with a similar enough sort of non-traditional nuclear family setup situation that it made me wonder if this is a theme that's coming out of Japanese cinema right now?
  6. Train to Busan (2016)
    • This was such a fun zombie movie! I don't know what I went in thinking it would be, but this was so fast-paced and exciting and just all around a fun movie! The actors slamming full force into the glass and all that was spectacular and I loved it, and that escalator scene was pure gold.
    • I couldn't stop seeing the dad as the character from Coffee Prince though, since that's the role I associate him with since I watched that years ago.
    • So... does the zombie deer only eat other deer, or does it also zombify humans and other animals?
  7. Crazy Rich Asians (2018)
    • Not as great as I was expecting it to be considering the hype and the rave reviews about how hilarious it was that I heard from coworkers, but it was a fun movie and I'd watch a sequel. I'm hoping the huge success of this movie will spur producers & directors to create more films that have a more diverse cast!
  8. El Sur (1983)
    • Hmmm... it was very slow. And it didn't end the way it was meant to because of budget cuts, according to the insert (when the girl would go to the South and presumably find out more about her father's past). I also neglected to read the novella the DVD came with, so that's on me.
  9. Blow-Up (1966)
    • Interesting! Also weird.
  10. Let's Talk About Death (over Dinner) by Michael Hebb
    • I'm so miffed I couldn't go to the talk by Hebb when he was in Toronto! I really enjoyed this book with its prompts and Hebb's experiences with people's answers throughout the death dinners he has hosted. I'd love to get one going in a community setting at the library!
  11. Maurice (1987)
    • Lovely film. I haven't read the novel it's based on.
  12. The Third Murder (2017)
    • Another Kore-eda film. Beautifully shot! And the ambiguity of where truth lies in this film was an interesting decision that reflects the judicial process pictured.
  13. Quiero Volver (2018) by TINI (Martina Stroessel)
  14. Talk to Yourself Like a Buddhist by Cynthia Kane
  15. Still Walking (2008)
    • This is the other family-centred film that also featured Hiroshi Abe as the down and out father.
  16. Departures (2008)
    • I loved the way this film places death firmly into the realm of the living, in the sense that it's going to happen and the discrimination people in the funerary industry face only serves to generate more pain in the face of loss than if we were to fully embrace the sendoff and have professionals who care about what they do, do the service for us.
  17. The Mother of All Questions by Rebecca Solnit
  18. Call Them by Their True Names by Rebecca Solnit
  19. Unscrewed: Women, Sex, Power, and How to Stop Letting the System Screw Us All by Jaclyn Friedman
    • I should probably just let the above three marinate for a bit in my head before talking about it, especially since I didn't really read the first two deeply (on e-book, in between work...)

October

I didn't keep track of this too well these past few months... and apparently also forgot to change these from drafts to published posts. I don't think this October list is complete, but it'll have to do.
  1. Half the Picture (2018)
    • I didn't realize the investigation into the sexism of the film industry was so incredibly recent. I know there has been increasing awareness of the challenges women in the industry face especially as of late, but I was surprised to find out how bringing everything to light in a systematic manner has basically taken place over the past couple of years.
  2. The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place: The Long-Lost Home by Maryrose Wood
    • Finally! The last installment of the Incorrigibles series! It was fairly obvious Wood was going to work around the curse that way, but I still enjoyed it all quite a bit. The cover gives away a little bit of the plot, but you don't realize it until you get to it.
  3. Does it Fart? The Definitive Field Guide to Animal Flatulence by Nick Caruso and Dani Rabaiotti, illustrated by Ethan Kocak
    • I hope no one's surprised I'm reading this, or to find out I experienced no hesitation whatsoever putting myself on hold for this the moment I saw we had recently acquired the title.
    • I was actually expecting a bit more information about flatulence in each of the animals rather than a cursory yes/no plus a bit of interesting information about each animal's flatulence or lack thereof, but it's a fun book nonetheless. Just not exactly what I was expecting (though I suppose expecting a more serious investigation into animal flatulence might've been a tall order).
  4. Mean by Myriam Gurba
    • What a powerful memoir! The thread that follows Gurba through from the very beginning of the book to the very end, and the constant writing and rewriting and making sense of what happened and her ties to the murdered Sophia, made this incredibly difficult to put down until the end. There's a line in there at the very beginning, where she addresses our desire to know all of the story, and how there's this feeling that if we know everything, the story - the victim - might belong to us in a way: she doesn't.
    • I don't know if Gurba is actually mean, because she's not that mean in this memoir, and I'm kind of confused why she chose this as the title.
  5. Gross Anatomy by Mara Altman
    • You kind of have to admire Altman for going to the lengths she did to figure out what's with her body. She's informative and hilarious, and I'm left wishing for more information about everything (which is great because it means reading this will inspire people to actually go out and maybe find out more about their own bodies). Talking more openly about bodies and how - I forget who said this - our bodies are such leaky vessels would do a lot to dispel misconceptions of how our bodies are supposed to work, as well as probably calm a lot of women because, surprise! there is such a wide variety of body shapes and types, and there is bodily discharge, and it's not always an issue.
    • Also, puppy fumigation? Well, at least ancient Greek women could decide how far up to stick the straw.
  6. Racial Diversity in the Romance Fiction Industry (Public Libraries Online)
  7. The Wrong Way to Save Your Life: Essays by Megan Stielstra
    • As someone who also has a lot of fear about a lot of things, this resonates with me a lot.
  8. Horror movies:
  9. Forests Emerge as a Major Overlooked Climate Factor (Quanta Magazine)
    • I remember reading about how vital trees are to moving water around to areas that are nowhere near bodies of water in The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohlleben

Monday, October 8, 2018

September


  1. Men & Chicken (2015)
    • WELL THIS WAS UNEXPECTED. The beginning & end narration were really weird, also - I'm kind of at a loss what exactly to get as the message of the movie. Say no to genetic modification? Except if it's already been done, then no point killing it off since it has as much right to live as anything else?
  2. Mythos: The Greek Myths Retold by Stephen Fry
    • I have to admit, I was pretty sad when I reached the end. Fry's dry humour (and footnotes) were a wonderful touch, and it would make a great introduction or review of the Greek myths for I want to say most ages.
    • The only thing I had an issue with was the format of the physical paperback itself: it felt a lot chunkier than the amount of text it held for some reason. If it's going for that size, I'm not sure whether there's a hardcover version of it, but I feel like it would work better as a hardcover. Or go slightly larger and aim for a lap-sized retelling of the Greek myths.
  3. Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking by Malcolm Gladwell
  4. Fuzzy Mud by Louis Sachar
    • I really enjoyed reading this one! Devoured it over two days. There was a point when the number of casualties to the fuzzy mud is mentioned and I thought for sure the 5 dead would be Tamaya, Chad, Marshall, the bearded man, and maybe the vet who rescued them. I do wish Marshall's character got a bit more space on the page to develop (though he does), but for the length of the book and the format it took, it wasn't bad. Ditto with Chad.
  5. Dreadful Young Ladies and Other Stories by Kelly Barnhill
    • Something about the style of writing made the longer ones drag on for what seemed like an inordinately long time. The shorter stories were fine, and I enjoyed them - and I liked the longer ones at the end as well, just that I feel they could use a bit of reworking or be cut down a little shorter. That's just personal taste though.
    • Reminds me a bit of Kelly Link's stories, in the slightly eerie and supernatural.
  6. The Apology (2016)
  7. Chien de Garde (2018)
    • Oh wow that imploded! I didn't expect that ending. The relations between the family members was really strange throughout, and I'm curious how the dysfunction allowed them to survive as a unit this long.
  8. Sibel (2018)
    • A whistling language. SO. COOL.
    • Incredible film that really makes you think about traditions & how our sense of morality, which can be so black & white, often needs to be reconsidered to allow for all the complicated nuances of reality.
  9. Tadoussac (2017)
  10. Michael Rosen's Sad Book by Michael Rosen, illustrated by Quentin Blake
    • First of all: READ THIS. It's sad, yes. It's depressing, yes. But it's also kind of uplifting in a way, because it's right there in the open that these emotional states can overtake us without any reason, and you know what? Sometimes, we just need to roll with it, have a good cry, and then move on. This picture book (or so it's filed in our collection) starts with a bang and doesn't for a moment let you down.
    • Second: It's the same illustrator as the Roald Dahl books! I'm wondering if this says anything about the Dahl books.
  11. The Scar by Charlotte Moundlic, illustrated by Olivier Tallec
    • Another lovely picture book that walks us through death as the child goes through the stages of grief after losing his mother. Beautifully illustrated, with astounding use of colour, everything is minimal yet all the more palpably expresses the emotions of each page for it.
  12. Dans Ma Main/Jean-Michel Blais
    • I'm really feeling this.
  13. Syrian Dreams/Maya Youssef
    • And this.
  14. Cringeworthy by Melissa Dahl
    • Anxiety reappraisal: I'm excited, not nervous. Keep telling yourself that and you'll actually perform better! This is exciting news. Not... nervous exciting, just exciting exciting.
    • People don't think about you as much as you think they do, which... of course they don't. They're worrying about how they're being perceived, just like you are.
    • Being nicer to yourself! Self-compassion, because you're not that special. Except, if everyone experiences what I experience to some extent, doesn't that mean I'm just not holding up as well as everyone else?
    • Would things go well if we treated regular social interactions as improv using the "yes, and..." rule, where the "yes" doesn't mean "I agree with what you're saying" so much as "I'm listening to what you're saying, and here's what I have to add to that"?
  15. Revenge (2017)
    • Uhmmm.... yes.
    • You know exactly how it's going to go down in the end, but I still love it. And I love that Jen isn't portrayed as just knowing all this stuff right from the get-go - there's still a learning curve (e.g. how she falls down the first time she shoots the gun, how she kind of winged it killing Dimi) - but is resourceful af. I mean, she still knows way more about what to do right away than I'd imagine, but it's not like she's done this before. But that final bit where Richard thinks for one hot second she'll hesitate, and THERE'S NO HESITATION.
    • It seems a lot more a revenge on victim-blaming as a whole, considering how classic victim-blaming some of those lines were, like when Stan's saying that Jen was so into him last night, or when Richard tells her she's so beautiful they just can't resist.

Reading
  1. From Eternity to Here: The Quest for the Ultimate Theory of Time by Sean Carroll
    • Here goes another foray into space and time. I didn't actually finish any of my previous attempts at physics books, so let's hope I'll be able to see this one to the end! Pretty dense, but approachable in tone. I just started reading the endnotes halfway through where I'm at right now, and they're absolutely delightful.

Saturday, September 1, 2018

August

  1. Neversink by Barry Wolverton
    • For a book about auks & owls, this took such a serious turn so quick! I actually really enjoyed it, especially once the action started building. Wolverton drops foreshadowing around like nobody's business, so it's never quite unpredictable, but a good read nonetheless.
  2. The Dating Project (2018)
    • I was unaware millennials are supposedly largely clueless about dating. I mean, most of my friends are pretty high functioning adults in terms of dating, I'd say. Whether they're actually dating at all or not, I think - or I'd like to believe? - there's an understanding of that script for forming relationships securely in place in our social script banks. This film makes it seem as though hookup culture has completely eclipsed the dating of yesteryear, but in truth, I don't think it quite has. Or at the very least, from my vantage point, I see people who use hookups as a stepping stone to find someone to date.
    • Overall: disappointed in the film.
  3. Rome: A History in Seven Sackings by Matthew Kneale
    • Whoa. There's an extensive Sources & Bibliography at the back. And I don't mean just a list of everything, but Kneale takes care to actually do an annotated selection of the bibliography, as an "if you're interested in reading more about this particular part of whatever, see here". This in addition to the works cited, of course.
    • I actually really enjoyed reading this! I probably won't be able to list the seven sackings in a week (can I even do it now?), but that last paragraph or two in the seventh chapter (Nazis) actually really got me - I could feel myself about to tear up. And this little bit in the afterword about whether Fascist monuments should be left as they are or not:
      • "As well as impracticable, it would be wrong for Fascist Rome to be erased, as it should be present in Rome's historical layers, but there is a case for some of the more ostentatious monuments to be pulled down a peg or two. Perhaps they could be surrounded by another, even newer layer of Rome, in the form of a little disrespectful street art" (Kneale, p.356). A really nice way to say, GRAFFITI OVER IT.
    • There is one bit I found rather irritating though: Kneale's constant reminder in chapter 5: Spanish & Lutheran, that Pope Alexander VI was formerly Rodrigo Borgia (why yes! of infamous Borgia fame. We know; you've told us. Scandalous.) But apart from that, an engaging history of Rome framed around seven of its sackings. And Kneale does acknowledge from the start that this is of necessity an incomplete history, in the sense that a complete history of Rome will take volumes upon volumes and be nigh impossible to read through. So for what it sets forth to accomplish, I think he did a fairly good job.
  4. Pages for You and Pages for Her by Sylvia Brownrigg
    • Pages for You read as a sad, but incredibly beautiful telling of the relationship between young undergraduate Flannery and the older Anne, in an unconventional romance that persisted beyond the pages. The love between Flannery and Anne was palpable, and their inevitable parting, though sad, hinted throughout, did not present itself necessarily as an end so much as a continuation in a different capacity: so this chapter of their lives may have ended, but that does not mean Anne and Flannery are cut off from one another, as their relationship with one another informs them for the rest of their lives (or so you feel by the end). They learn much about each other and about themselves through their relationship and come out of it changed. In a way, it rewrites the script that relationships have to follow: there's a flexibility in it that isn't present in much of popular heterosexual romance fiction that presents itself as more reflective of the different ways in which love can be experienced and lived.
    • I'm not sure that Pages for Her is quite necessary as a sequel, but I did enjoy the way Brownrigg expressed the capacity of both Flannery as well as Anne to love each other, continue to love each other throughout those twenty years of distance between them, and have that love not imply anything false about the love they share with their respective partners and others in their lives.
  5. The Red Notebook by Antoine Laurain
    • A really cute short meet-cute romance! It's kind of like an appetizer, but it was just right for what I was looking for (summer makes me want to read sappy romances).
  6. Pan's Labyrinth (2006)
    • You know, I like del Toro's movies, but at the same time I'm never completely wowed by them. I love the lush scenery and the visuals, but it's always the plot that leaves me wanting a bit - though in this case, I'm probably missing quite a bit of historical context in terms of what is happening when this takes place, and how the escape to another kingdom ruled in a different way might relate to the political events taking place at the time.
  7. A Separation by Katie Kitamura
    • The use of run on sentences contributed to the feeling that you were reading a stream of consciousness, but it was neither here nor there in that respect: you knew what you were reading must be trying to mimic the flow of thoughts, and yet it was also at once too structured, and you're left reading something between thought and conscious narration.
    • Overall, I enjoyed the mood and the mugginess of the entire novel, where she's neither here nor there entirely and can't seem to make up her mind (and when she has made it up, the choice is taken from her), but I wouldn't recommend it.
  8. Happy Down Below: Everything You Wanted to Know About the Penis and Other Bits by Dr. Oliver Gralla
    • This was such a let down! Gralla tried to strike an amusing tone, to the detriment of the amount of information covered as well as to the clarity of some parts, and the whole book in general was poorly organized. The tone switches from overly academic where it talks about neurotransmitters and what drugs do what, though it doesn't go in-depth enough for you to get a really good grasp of these parts, to conversational and trying-too-hard humour. If you want to learn about "the penis and other bits", I'd advise you go looking elsewhere.
  9. Victoria & Abdul (2017)
    • I'm very interested to know which parts are fiction and which were real.
  10. Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman
    • I kind of prefer the illustrated volume I read earlier this year (Norse Myths by Kevin Crossley-Holland), but that's mostly because of the illustrations, I think. As for this volume, I found that the voice changed a few times between some of the tales, and that threw me off a little bit. Overall, I enjoyed it, since I like the Norse myths to begin with, but I feel like a more comprehensive volume would have sated my curiosity a bit more.
  11. The Awkward Guide to Getting Lucky by Summer Heacock
    • Funny at parts, but the main character is pretty annoying for exactly the reasons listed in the speech that Butter gives towards the end to her. It was alright - a mindless read that fulfills what I look for in my summer novels.

Reading/Listening to:
  1. Mythos: The Greek Myths Retold by Stephen Fry
    • So I was unaware of who Stephen Fry is (and remain somewhat so), and picked this up solely on the basis that it was a retelling of the Greek myths, because some retellings are amazing (see Lore Olympus, for example! In love with those illustrations, the use of colour, the style, and the pacing! Basically everything about it), and this did not disappoint.
  2. Marriage, a History: From obedience to intimacy, or how love conquered marriage by Stephanie Coontz
    • I borrowed this way back when I was reading a lot about infidelity and dating customs, a number of months back.
  3. Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking by Malcolm Gladwell
    • So far pretty interesting. I'm reading the ebook, so the formatting seems a bit off. I'm interested to see how it's organized on paper.
  4. The Secret Life of Canada podcast
    • I love this. So. Much.
    • So... we own Bear by Maryan Engle. So obviously I've put it on hold. I'm pretty sure the cover is the more demure Group of Seven-esque painting in a box, but I'm holding out some hope it's the original.

Friday, August 3, 2018

July

Something about summer and thrillers goes really well together.
  1. The Accused (1988)
    • Even knowing how it will end, it still felt incredibly momentous when the verdict was read and the three defendants found guilty.
  2. Lion (2016)
    • In. Tears. These movies based on true stories are really good! I love that we actually get to see the real Saroo and his mothers meeting at the end.
  3. The Weather Detective: Rediscovering Nature's Secret Signs by Peter Wohlleben
    • It was alright. I mean, I didn't retain too much of this, but I also don't garden. And everything was pretty much geared towards the European landscape, so I'd have to do a bit of research to see what translates to North America.
  4. Raw (2017)
    • Disturbing, but somehow it almost gained a somewhat supernatural feel at the end, when the father reveals the reason behind the sisters' need for flesh. (There was something so very creepy about that last scene, where the father looks so very unnatural.) The way I'm reading it is that Adrien could've been Justine's solution, if her sister hadn't got to him first.
    • Coming of age in an environment where everything almost seems to have been turned upside-down, the order of things disturbed with freshmen hazing rituals.
  5. The Beauty of the Husband: A Fictional Essay in 29 Tangos by Anne Carson
    • To tell the truth, I probably missed a hundred allusions throughout all the tangos, as I'm entirely unfamiliar with Keats, and poetry is generally beyond me, but this was beautiful.
  6. One of Us is Lying by Karen McManus
    • McManus keeps you on your toes till the end! It spiraled really quickly, so I'm not sure I'm entirely convinced about the accomplice, but overall, it was a very compelling read.
  7. Neon Bull (2015)
    • I'm not sure whether I'm supposed to view this as a kind of slice-of-life film? It didn't really feel as though there was much of a straightforward story to be told, in that Iremar's journey never really took off, but it's not that he tried to make it happen and it failed so much as improvement was hinted at, but that simply wasn't the main narrative, I guess. I'm not sure how to put it. It's like we simply got a small window to see his life and the lives of those around him, and that there's not a particular goal or end that had to be reached.
  8. Read Bottom Up by Neel Shah and Skye Chatham
    • Quick, cute read.
  9. The Perfect Nanny by Leïla Slimani
    • I've been waiting to read this basically since it came out, but while it hooked me in and was an alright read, I didn't love it.
    • Things this novel did that I really liked though:
      • The tension throughout the book dealing with race and class, the distinction between "us" and "them" and how the Massé's entrusted their children to someone they increasingly did not trust and in fact grew to become disgusted with in an unsettling manner as the silent war was waged between Louise & Myriam. Paul thrust himself into the situation to begin with and basically refused to acknowledge how privileged he was in his thinking about Louise and the whole nanny business to begin with.
      • Relationships between nannies and the difficulties they face, both personally as well as in their jobs - the expectation that they will also be cleaning ladies, cooks, basically take care of the entire family rather than just babysit. And then with mounting expectations, no increased compensation was ever discussed in the novel, with Louise's descent into further and further destitution taking focus as the novel progresses. This in parallel with the Massé's' success in their work & social lives.
  10. The Wonder Down Under: The Insider's Guide to the Anatomy, Biology, and Reality of the Vagina by Nina Brochmann and Støkken Dahl
    • Why are sex ed classes not this useful and open? It would probably make the whole subject easier to discuss, with less of the nervous laughter that arose of the class (back in grade... 5, was it? Then again in grade 9, but all I remember from that is the video of the C-section), and taken away the taboo associated with speaking openly about sex and our bodies. The Wonder Down Under is engaging, easy to read, and well written for the average reader. I love how they reference pop culture - at some point they say something to the effect of "if your menstrual cycle has gotten as unpredictable as the plot of Gone Girl" - but how they also don't overdo it. Brochmann and Dahl readily admit when something they're presenting has yet to be confirmed by studies, or if studies have been inconclusive, as well as when they're frustrated they can't offer conclusive information because science hasn't gotten that far yet as far as the female body is concerned. Bravo!
    • There's another book on the penis that the library just received and I'm curious as to why there's this seemingly sudden influx of books about genitalia? Is it a coming trend? Well it's really just the two, but still.
      • On the topic though: why are there 3 other holds on the penis book (Happy Down Below by Oliver Gralla), of which we have purchased 2 copies v.s. no other holds on The Wonder Down Under, of which we have just 1 copy?
  11. This is How You Lose Her by Junot Dïaz
    • Short stories make up the vignettes that form Yunior's life, told through mostly his experiences with women.
  12. Madame Satã (2002)
  13. Act of God by Jill Clement
    • When a mysterious (and unexplained) supermold calls for the total destruction of an entire tenement, leaving its occupants with no to few possessions, what are they left with? How do we move on beyond our possessions and realize our potential for real human interaction once we're given the chance (nevermind that the characters are forced to do so by the supermold that was entirely out of their control)?
  14. They Didn't Teach THIS in Worm School! by Simone Lia
    • So cute! I love the illustrations, and the story was funny and adorable. The last two pages or so where Marcus reflects on the journey and his newfound friendship with Laurence was a bit stiff in comparison with the rest of the novel, but overall it was a great story about a misadventure and friendship, growth, and the importance of perseverance.
  15. A bunch of picture books:
    • Drawn Together by Minh Le, illustrated by Dan Santat
      • SO GOOD.
    • Fruit Bowl by Mark Hoffmann
      • The puns are amazing. AH-MAZING.
    • What If... by Samantha Berger, illustrated by Mike Curato
      • So good! I wasn't totally sold by the cover, but couldn't wait to put my staff picks sticker on it after I was done.
    • Don't Tell by Tom Booth
      • Author of Don't Blink. I think I enjoyed Don't Blink more, but the illustrations are still so good!
    • Goldfish on Vacation by Sally Lloyd-Jones & Roman Muradov, illustrated by Leo Espinosa
      • I love that it's based on a true story, and the author's kind of cheeky in addressing the "who cares" aspect of which goldfish is which when the children go to pick their goldfish children back at the end of summer.
    • Bubbles by Kit Chase
    • Off & Away by Cale Atkinson
      • I loved this! The illustrations and the story! And that seafaring cold, with all its symptoms, was hilarious. Great book about conquering your fears and all the things you'll learn by doing so.
    • Neck & Neck by Elise Parsley
      • Ha! It's great that the giraffe decides to not help the boy out at first, which I think is pretty #relatable.
    • I'm Sad by Michael Ian Black, illustrated by Debbie Ridpath Ohi
      • Would go well with Grumpy Monkey by Suzanne Lang, illustrated by Max Lang, in a themed negative feelings storytime.
    • Niblet & Ralph by Zacharia OHara
      • Cats! Mirrored markings almost-twin cats! What's not to love?
    • The Day I Lost My Superpowers by Michaël Escoffier, illustrated by Kris Di Giacomo
      • I usually don't address this, but I loved the heft of the pages as I was reading it. The illustrations are delightful also, and the story both sweet and funny. A winner in my books!
  16. Jacky Ha-Ha by James Patterson & Chris Grabenstein, illustrated by Kerascoët
    • A child recommended this to me very highly as they were reporting in for the Summer Reading Club that week, so I went and borrowed it; they were right! It's hilarious, but it's also very real in dealing with all the emotional ups and downs, especially of being that middle child.
  17. Queen of the Sun (2010)
    • This sort of makes me want to be a beekeeper, but I don't think I've been chosen by the bees.
  18. Vazante (2017)
    • It feels as though a lot of Brazilian films touch upon or outright focus on Brazil's history of slavery and the racism that endures even after the abolishment of the practice.
    • Vazante was quite slow, and I'm sure much of it was lost on me because I don't have the full meaning of the title (in the sense that I don't know it as intimately as I could if I actually spoke Brazilian Portuguese). Somewhat predictable towards the end, though Antonio's cry of anger and frustration at the end was quite powerful, especially in the frustration of knowing that his child was not begot by his wife, though Beatriz takes on the role of its mother. Either way, the inescapable truth of miscegenation remains, a constant reminder of the abuse - sexual and otherwise - of the black slaves.
  19. Many Love: A Memoir of Polyamory and Finding Love by Sophie Lucido Johnson
    • I adore how the table of contents is laid out and illustrated, along with the illustrations spread throughout the text that continue the line of thought and supplement the text rather than simply reiterating whatever was written (though sometimes it does that too and that's also fine). I found that Lucido Johnson (or is it just Johnson? Goodreads, you're not helping me figure out which part of the name is the last name!) put into words a lot of what I've been thinking through the years in her portrayal of polyamory, as well as clears up the difference between polyamory and nonmonogamy, which I thought were the same thing.
    • All in all, I really enjoyed this personal account of how the author came into polyamory and some of the questions that she addressed - such as with jealousy and how that can be both a positive experience in the sense that you might be able to work your way past it and become genuinely capable of being happy for your partner, as compared to maybe having it as a self-destructive process. One of the main take-home messages for me was that a relationship is really what you make of it: you make the rules with your partner(s), and there's no "right" way to be polyamorous.
    • Also really love that one cell in the chart Lucido Johnson drew for the 5 types of jealousy, where under "Possessive Jealousy", for "Try", she says: "breaking up". Amazing.
Working On:

  1. Rome: A History in Seven Sackings by Matthew Kneale
    • Umm... "seven seemed like a good number"? Here's to hoping more thought went into that than this randomly generated feel-good number.
    • I'm making my way along, on the 5th sacking so far, and I'm really enjoying Kneale's writing. He makes this select history of Rome very accessible and fun to read for someone who has very little interest in history (me!) and who also has precious little background in classical Roman history (me too! though you'd be forgiven for thinking otherwise, given that I went through an "I want to learn everything about Sparta" phase, which, though is more ancient Greece than Rome, still kind of makes it seem like I'd know more about ancient Roman history than I actually do), which, though Rome's history has been at times colourful and very exciting, I still think is quite a feat.

Sunday, July 1, 2018

June

Lots of picture books in part because we keep getting new ones coming in, and also because I saw how 2018 was catching up to my 150 books in 2018 goal, so needed some filler. There were a few more I didn't list below.
  1. An American Crime (2007)
    • This was incredibly disturbing. I was looking for movies based on true stories, and a lot of them are based on crimes - I guess it makes sense, considering crimes make for good stories, but can't there be more light-hearted, happy films based on true stories?
    • The part where Sylvia escapes and finds her parents with the help of Paula and Ricky confused me a bit though: is this the part where she has died and her soul has gone in search of her parents?
  2. Copycat by Alex Lake
    • While I don't usually read thrillers, this one caught me (I mean, I guess that's what thrillers are supposed to do...) and I read it straight through in a few hours. The ending was a bit weak, I feel, and I'm still undecided whether the back and forth switching between perspectives every so often from chapter to chapter worked well or not. It might've been better if the switched perspective was used a bit more sparsely, and helped to draw out a more complex character for the perpetrator.
    • I also really wanted it to end unsolved and have the perpetrator get away with it, living her dream???? Is this crazy? It seems like a foregone conclusion that - spoiler alert - of course Sarah will live and be reunited with her family, but...
  3. Small Things by Mel Tregonning
    • To be honest, while I really wanted to like this because of the subject matter and the way it was told, I didn't feel that strong of a pull from it.
  4. Caterpillars Can't Swim by Liane Shaw
    • Shaw did a pretty good job dealing with the complexities of being a teen and the importance of learning to accept people for who they are and having a social network to buoy you back up. There's also the distinction that Ryan makes later in the novel that draws the line between tolerance and acceptance, when he gets mad at Cody for being tolerant about Jack's sexuality, but not going far enough to accept him for it.
  5. Plume by Isabelle Simler
    • Darkly humorous, Simler portrays this book as almost an educational board book of sorts... until you notice what's lurking in every page and realize those feathers aren't there just to illustrate what kinds of plumage the birds shown on the opposite page have.
  6. Marwan's Journey by Patricia de Arias, illustrated by Paula Borràs
    • !!! This is absolutely perfect. And an incredible followup to The Journey by Francesca Sanna. I loved the illustrations and the pace of the story, as well as the way Marwan built up to what happened, how he saw it, and what he wanted to do in light of it.
  7. Don't Feed the Bear by Kathleen Doherty, illustrated by Chip Wass
    • I actually love this so much! It's adorable, and I love the illustrations, yes, but it also imparts a pretty cool lesson: work with your perceived enemies so you can both enjoy a better outcome!
  8. Missing by Kelley Armstrong
    • For a thriller, it wasn't quite that thrilling, though it did keep me relatively hooked. As for it being a mystery, it wasn't one of those mysteries that you could piece together based on clues littered throughout the story, seeing as you really do need that final piece almost at the end, when the book tells you the answer, to figure it out... Overall, it was a fun, light read. It didn't go the way I thought it would, which was a nice surprise, and there was a red herring or two thrown your way as well; I just wish the mystery was something the reader could've gotten through based on the clues as they were being dropped throughout the novel.
    • I'm not sure I really like the romance that took place, as they definitely could've bonded without the cheesy piano playing romance (and final few sentences), but it didn't exactly detract from the plot either, so that's that.
  9. I'm Not Your Manic Pixie Dream Girl by Gretchen McNeil
    • Light, kinda quirky, sorta fun... Everything worked out a little too well in the end for my liking, but that's the kind of novel it is, so. I can't say Bea is a particularly sympathetic character, or even relatable, until her speech at the end, but perhaps it's better when I'm the target audience.
  10. Swan Lake/Loch na hEala (Luminato Festival)
    • I went in expecting a contemporary take on the Swan Lake ballet, infused with Irish flavour, and got quite a bit more than just that out of it. There's a good reason for the Irish setting, that the cast discussed afterwards in a Q&A, namely the shooting by the police of a depressive young man who refused to give up his right to own a shotgun - a shooting that, from what the cast was saying, should not have happened, though I don't know the details of the case and the conclusions drawn about it - as well as being based on Irish folklore about young ladies being turned into swans.
  11. The Nowhere Girls by Amy Reed
    • Oh my. Read this. Read it now. Somehow, Reed manages to capture both the powerfully transformative aspects of subversive feminist calls to action (and the great things that can come of it, which make the resistance felt on seemingly all sides worth it in the end) as well as highlight some of the major pitfalls "feminism" often finds itself having: the lack of diversity (as in the instances where Reed points out the token individuals through Rosina's comments during one meeting, and in another chapter where Reed has a black girl narrating a paragraph discussing the difficulty she faces even as she wants to stand in solidarity with the mostly white group of Nowhere Girls), as well as the lack of recognition that trans* individuals face (in the case of Adam turned Adele).
    • I'm not sure whether this novel really needed all three main protagonists to find romantic interests & succeed in coupling with them to some degree (not in the having sex kind of way so much as being paired with them). Especially with Grace and Jesse, who I'm pretty sure could have been just fine just as friends. Also, they have what, a total of like 4 exchanges in the entire book and I'm supposed to believe their relationship developed as much as it was supposed to? Hmmmm... that might be stretching it a touch. But I kind of also understand why Reed added in the romance element to it for the protagonists, in the sense that being a feminist doesn't mean you have to hate men or avoid romance.
  12. The Change Room by Karen Connelly
    • I really love the way Connelly handled the subject matter in the nonjudgmental way that she did, making each of the characters more or less sympathetic (though to be honest, I'm not 100% sure about Eliza...). I'm not entirely sure that Martin's role was necessary, especially with his backstory, but it provided a nice way for everything to come together in a sort of "it's a small world" kind of way. And the ending was very open-ended, the dinner going smoothly - more smoothly than I might have expected - ending in Shar divulging her own past and working her way through her own sexual experiences as everyone else at the dinner party has done.
  13. Feather by Rémi Courgeon
    • LOVE the illustrations. I kind of wish the letter-shaped blocks of colour that correspond to the first letter of the first word on some pages was in every page, but I don't think they are. There's also something nice in the way Paulina decides to give up boxing at the end, to pursue what she really loves doing: playing piano.
  14. Some Bugs by Angela Diterlizzi, illustrated by Brendan Wenzel
  15. Moxie by Jennifer Mathieu
  16. La Danseuse (2016)
    • While there were some beautiful parts to this movie, I feel as though on the whole, it was pretty disjointed. Not much is explained, including the part where Fuller's relationship with Isadora Duncan apparently led to her downfall (according to the back cover of the DVD case I've got), which I kind of expected would be somewhat of a turning point or climax to the movie. As for Loie and Louis' relationship, I really wish they went a bit more in-depth into that, because as it is, there doesn't seem to be anything to help the viewer understand it.
    • Was Loie Fuller a dancer in the fullest sense of the word? If I were going solely by this movie, I'd most likely say that no, she wasn't. But a quick search on Google tells me that there's much more to her biography than what was depicted. I suppose one of the big issues for this movie is that if you're not aware of what the world of dance was like at the time (as I'm completely ignorant of it), then you really don't know how innovative Fuller was being, or how much she contributed to the use of lighting and effects.
  17. Infidelity: Why Men and Women Cheat by Kenneth Paul Rosenberg
  18. Some Pets by Angela Diterlizzi, illustrated by Brendan Wenzel
    • I liked Some Bugs more.
  19. Captain Starfish by Davina Bell, illustrated by Allison Colpoys
  20. Little Red Reading Hood by Lucy Rowland
    • It had such a strong premise, I really wish it didn't drag on so.
  21. A Silent Love (2004)
    • Why is this so in demand right now? There were 3 or 4 holds on it by the time I got my hands on a copy! It was alright, but not as powerful or moving as I expected it to be...
  22. The Fits (2015)
  23. Difficult Women by Roxane Gay
    • I found it a bit difficult to get through some of the stories, but not because of the content matter.
  24. Polina (2016)
    • Beautiful. I love how the trajectory wasn't straightforward at all (I mean, there's the rise, the fall, and then the rise again, but the setbacks along the way make it so you're never sure whether Polina is going to rise again and learn from everything she's gone through)

Friday, June 1, 2018

May

Wisdom tooth extraction makes for a lot of time for watching movies & reading.
  1. The Female of the Species by Mindy McGinnis
    • This had me in tears by the end and tearing through the pages throughout the entire novel.
    • I feel like it deserves a re-read, just to consider all the different messages you could get reading this novel. Incredibly well done, especially the switching between different POVs, with each character being fully fleshed out and developing throughout the story.
  2. The Goat by Anne Fleming
    • The Goat gambols along as Fleming plays with words (e.g. Kid the kid, but not a goat kid, Cat the dog, short for Catherine the Great) and drives the search for the goat into a journey to overcome each person's weakness.
  3. The Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017)
    • That was intense! I thought for a while Steven was going to kill Anna.
    • I have questions:
      • But why were both families so stilted and awkward?
      • General anaesthesia (at beginning of movie) & numbing? There's definitely a connection there - I thought they might turn it into something later in the movie, but it never hit Anna - but I'm not entirely sure what? Unless it's meant to represent the affective numbness displayed by the family in general?
  4. Et au pire, on se mariera (2017)
    • Oh my. That was not where I thought it was going. At all.
    • I was just reading the other day about the rise in popularity of the unreliable narrator, and now this comes my way. (See this article on the unreliable narrator in YA lit. I don't remember where I saw the other one.) You come away from this wondering whether this will finally shake Aicha from acting out in anger without thinking through the consequences first, but it didn't strike me as particularly optimistic. You kind of question throughout why Baz lets Aicha into his life the way he did, whether there was anything that could have been done differently on everyone's parts, not knowing exactly which parts are true and free of Aicha's bias.
    • I'm reminded of the sentiment that if you're not going to keep it, don't be kind to a stray because it only fuels their hopes. Just as Baz fed the stray cat, it was as though he didn't know where to draw the line with Aicha.
  5. La Chasse au Collet (2016)
    • I'd argue that just because those in the company don't necessarily agree with the product they're selling (i.e. the site for unfaithful partners, something akin to Ashley Madison except launched in Quebec (?) for the French-speaking population), doesn't mean they can't be held to some kind of moral integrity for what they choose to stand for, in the sense that they could in theory have chosen to simply shut down rather than swallow this bullet: it's a a matter of what they deem acceptable or not, so I don't believe they're as free from culpability as they try to claim they are.That being said... perhaps it's a bit strong to condemn them as strongly as though they were staunch supporters of infidelity rather than unfortunate messengers.
    • I wonder if the red rope is also a symbol for marriage/relationships?
  6. Yuri on Ice (2016)
    • BEAUTIFUL.
  7. The Little Book of Lykke: The Danish Search for the World's Happiest People by Meik Wiking
    • I'm not sure how many of these suggestions I'd be able to implement in my neighbourhood, but they certainly sound inspiring!
    • I love the design of the book - ditto for the hygge book - from the size to the graphics and the colour scheme to the text. The content is also a lot more substantial than you might at first imagine, considering it's such a little book.
    • I think Wiking is onto something when he says that maybe we complain or are negative because it makes us look smarter: I certainly err in this regard whenever I review basically anything. I always look for some kind of flaw before gushing about it, as though to make a point that I'm looking at this critically and not superficially.
  8. Squid Empire: The Rise and Fall of the Cephalopods by Danna Staaf
    • So excited to see this! Especially after that little stint reading as much as I could get my hands on about (modern) cephalopods. I love the way Staaf writes, and I appreciate the (albeit small) list of recommended reads at the beginning, though I realized quite soon that I'd already read most of them and given up on one of the octopus books on that list. I would definitely add this onto any list of books for the cephalopodophile, along with Kraken and I believe one or two other octopus and squid books that I don't remember off the top of my head.
  9. Lying by Sam Harris
    • I was hoping it'd be a bit meatier, kind of like Frankfurt's On Bullshit, except on lying instead. I agree with the position Harris takes that we're treating others like children by withholding information from them by lying (because we have then already made a decision on their behalf), but I think he could've fleshed out the bit about when lying is permissible more. There's also some amount of hate against religions (as doctrines) that makes me uncomfortable even though I don't subscribe to a specific set of religious beliefs.
  10. Kedi (2016)
    • OMG CATS. CATS EVERYWHERE.
    • It's amazing how the people in Istanbul coexist with the cats, and also how incredibly healthy all of the cats look (though of course, the less healthy ones might simply not have made it onto the film).
  11. Cat People (1942)
    • Do you see a theme?
    • That blasted psychiatrist! He totally orchestrated that entire thing to try to get Irena! He 100% deserved what he got, film-wise. And whatever happened to patient confidentiality?
  12. Ma' Rosa (2016)
    • I'm not sure whether the main point in the film is the showcase the corruption within the police force or the ways in which playing a small part in the drug trade can snowball into hell, but it was quite powerful.
  13. Hiroshima, mon amour (1959)
    • I feel as though I'm missing the point slightly if I take this as a film about love and the inevitable forgetting of even the most powerful of loves.
  14. This Gun for Hire (1942)
    • "He's dynamite with a gun or a girl" is the tagline on the DVD case I've got and I'm dying.
    • That turned into a political message real quick. It's definitely because of the publication date, but there was definitely a shift in the tone of the entire movie when Ellen tells Raven it's his duty to uncover the information Mr. Brewster is selling off and to protect his country.
  15. The Lady in Red: An Eighteenth-Century Tale of Sex, Scandal, and Divorce by Hallie Rubenhold
    • Well that's certainly an interesting way to offer up your own defense, especially when you're physically absent from the room and thus incapable of defending yourself: defame yourself utterly in order to protect your lover.
    • That last sentence had me crying. Good for Seymour!
    • Overall, not as captivating a read as I expected it to be (though I'm not sure what I did expect: gossip column x 100 in page length? Besides which, I don't even peruse the regular gossip columns!), but an enjoyable read nonetheless. Some chapters galloped along a little more than others, which were somewhat a bore to get through, but character development was fun to watch.
  16. Law of the Border (1966)
    • I knew it! There's so much foreshadowing going on here throughout and hints dropped fairly obviously as to what's going to happen. I'm completely ignorant regarding the state of affairs (economical, political, historical - everything) as they were in the 60s in Turkey, but I'm quite sure this film arose as a statement about social issues plaguing the times.
  17. Silence by Shusaku Endo
    • Quite a sensitive work, with Father Rodriguez portrayed as being distinctly human with the complexities of human foibles. It's more than obvious the parallel between what Rodriguez undergoes and the Passion of Christ, but the similarities become more and more farcical the more he is exposed to others and, more importantly, to himself.
  18. Ten Cents a Pound by Nhung N. Tran-Davies, illustrated by Josée Bisaillon
    • Incredibly moving.
  19. Tim's Goodbye by Steven Salerno
    • ... I had a tiny turtle, his name was Tiny Tim. I put him in the bathtub, to see if he could swim.
  20. Moon by Alison Oliver
    • Don't ever let that little bit of wilderness die out in you!
  21. Unicorn (and Horse) by David Miles illustrated by Hollie Mengert
    • What an adorably sweet book about making friends with your perceived enemies!
  22. Albert's Tree by Jenni Desmond
  23. Square by Mac Barnett, illustrated by Jon Klassen
    • But was he a genius?
  24. Alma and How She Got Her Name by Juana Martinez-Neal
    • Lovely reminder that a name is more than just a word, and that sometimes it may have both a history to tell you and a story for you to fill.
  25. Evermore Dragon by Barbara Joosse, illustrated by Randy Cecil
  26. Princess (2014)
    • Creepy AF but also really well done, I think! The vague ending suggests a sort of new beginning and hope, that Adar has begun to see that she can take control of her own life and protect herself, and yet they are still together as a family unit.
    • I do find the categorization of Michael as a dysfunctional human being stemming from his sterility problematic though. The film almost makes this the cause of his problems, rather than addressing his pedophilia as something on its own - I'm not sure why sterility should factor into this?? Or if it's also because of his sexuality (as separate from the pedophilia)? This conflation of everything rather confuses me, and I'm not sure why the director chose to infuse Michael with all these traits.
  27. The Missing by Melanie Florence
    • This was a very powerful book about the epidemic of missing indigenous girls and women whose disappearances are ignored and remain uninvestigated. Jake being the red herring that he is, I'm not sure it was also necessary to make him as violent and homophobic as he was - though it does also raise awareness of homophobia as something that shouldn't be simply be treated with disdain so much as something that needs to be worked through (just as, for example, arachnophobia would have to be worked through). There's also a part where it's pretty clear that Florence intended to be the informative part of the novel in terms of putting the stats and figures into Feather's mouth (as well as her mom's), which came on a bit strong, though it does blend in a bit, I guess. I'm not sure whether this is something YA authors exploring certain issues tend to do, because I also noticed this in Golden Boy, where the author inserted a bunch of information about intersexed individuals into the novel through the doctor.
  28. Ocean Meets Sky by Terry Fan
  29. Strange Pilgrims by Gabriel García Márquez
    • García Márquez might just be one of my favourite authors right now. I remember reading the Sleeping Beauty one in another book at some point, I think a textbook talking about fairytales. There's something magical but also very mundane about his stories, almost wry.

Working on:
  1. The Matter of Images: Essays on Representations by Richard Dyer
  2. Thomas Murphy (audiobook) by Roger Rosenblatt
    • I'm really liking the narrator's Irish accent! I don't listen to audiobooks often, so it's always a nice surprise when the experience is far from boring and makes for a much richer encounter with the novel than I otherwise might have gotten from reading the print version.

Wednesday, May 23, 2018

Satinel Test

test knit by lukknits
Beautiful rib pattern for the body!


This is the first time I've knit any of Asja Janeczek's patterns, and it probably won't be the last (Ziggyzack, Wild Grass, Whiskey on the Rocks, I'm looking at you) - I had a great time throughout with the attention to detail and interesting construction. Yes, it's a top-down raglan, and perhaps that seems pretty run of the mill, but it's made in a way that accounts for small details such as the way the short rows don't introduce asymmetry in the garment (even though I usually just leave it with one side having one more row than the other in my own designs - shame on me!) as well as the very narrow front which allows for the generous neckband. It's definitely something I would never have been able to think up on my own, and that's one of my favourite aspects to following other designers' patterns!


testknit by lukknits
Stockinette brioche


The only big mod I made to the original design (with permission) was to crop the cardigan so it hit my hip rather than my thigh. Of course, the sleeves were shortened as well to match the body so the proportions would work out. The only other thing was that because I don't own 3.75mm needles, having never had to use them before, I ended up using 3.5mm for all the brioche parts. It was my first time knitting stockinette brioche, and I really love the way the knit side looks! I could probably use that as the main fabric for an entire sweater, myself. The purl brioche I'm not sure how I feel about on its own, but the cuffs match the neckband, and I do like how it looks on the neckband. That's one of the details I was surprised by when I actually got to it, because the main photo for the original design was worn WS out, showing what looked to be a rib cuff (pretty normal).


testknit by lukknits
Worn wrong-side out, the rib pattern is more prominent


What really sold me though, was the rib pattern. at first I thought it might be a cable, since I've never really worked with rib patterns like this before, but I love how subtle it is from the right side! All the little details that went into designing this cardigan make it absolutely perfect for every season - I originally wanted to make it using a silver dk-weight silk/linen mix, but couldn't get gauge - and the knitting goes by very quickly with the easily memorized rib pattern that keeps things interesting as you go.

Thank you Asja for the opportunity to testknit this pattern!

Monday, May 14, 2018

April

Oops. April came and went and I'm still adding onto this list.
  1. No Country for Old Men (2007)
    • Well that was unexpected.
  2. Call Me By Your Name by André Aciman
    • The novel felt infinitely more sad than the movie, but each complements the other well, so that I wouldn't say either to watch the movie or read the book, but not do the other. I'm interested to see where the sequel to the movie is going to take this, though. There's not too much ground more to cover past Oliver leaving. (Well actually, there's a lot, but it's not a lot of pages, and I'm not sure that it would work if you showed them living their lives outside of what they had and then finally had them meet back up. We'll see, whenever the sequel comes out.)
    • Elio's incessant thinking about his thoughts and trying to be calculated - and then being seen through by the very object of his affections - should strike a chord with many readers, I think. It's both the older Elio looking back on his teenage self and seeing exactly what he was doing, remembering how he knew even then exactly what he was doing and thinking in layers, and also the obsessive record-keeping to ensure nothing is forgotten, nothing escapes. Of course, memories inevitably do.
  3. Lady Bird (2017)
    • Not nearly as good as I expected given the rave reviews about it (or at least the feeling that people LOVED it). I do like the ending, but most of that high school experience was not experienced by me in any way similar to how Lady Bird did, which made it all less complex for me to watch than for maybe others? I'm not sure. There were definitely gems in the movie, including the complexity of the relationship between mother and daughter, especially when they're at the Value Village (or whatever thrift store it is) and Lady Bird says, "I wish you liked me" to her mom.
  4. The Stoning of Soraya M. (2008)
    • The end killed me: What was the point? What was it all for?
  5. The Book: On the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are by Alan Watts
    • Ugh.
    • It's been a while since a book has made me feel this upset about it, and it's in part because of what's written, but it's definitely the way it's written that irritates me more. A few pages in past the introduction, I think, and I already ran into something that sounded a lot like string theory, but I wasn't sure whether Watts was referring to that or describing something from a more mystical standpoint - and the thing is, in a later chapter, he talks about quantum theory, besides which this is the 60s and I'm pretty sure that's when string theory kind of blew up, so it's not like he's describing something entirely new (not that he's suggesting that directly, but by not making any reference to existing frameworks, I can't help but feel like that's what he's sort of trying to come across as doing). I read this on recommendation, and I definitely see where that person's coming from and how this influenced their perspective because I see the ideas Watts presents in how they speak about the way they see the world, but personally Watts came across as being a bit too much for me.
  6. Io sono l'amore/I Am Love (2009)
    • That opening was actually so incredibly reminiscent of Call Me By Your Name that it surprised me - I know the director's the same, but are all of Guadagnino's films like this?
    • It's interesting that we don't really hear Antonio's side of the story, in that we have no idea how serious he is, and what he feels about the consequences of his actions.
  7. I Smile Back (2015)
    • "It's bigger than that."
  8. Frantz (2016)
    • It was pretty predictable almost all throughout, but it was still an enjoyable film. I think the father's change of heart regarding Adrien was well done, as well as the portrayal of more generally what happens when the generalized "other"/enemy is separated into the individual that you must confront - I doubt Adrien was much bothered by the other faceless people he surely must have killed throughout the war.
  9. Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex by Mary Roach
    • Going by the three I've read, it's actually pretty easy to place Roach's books in order of publication just based on how they're written. Bonk was enjoyable, with a bit less of the tiresome asides found in Stiff, but Gulp is still a smoother read yet.
    • Funny thing is, I don't think I learned much that was new to me in this book, which is enlightening in and of itself. It didn't really feel like the last chapter was supposed to be the last chapter - almost as though Roach didn't plan it out well enough and realized she had run out of things to say, so might as well end it here! - and I was left a little disappointed. I'm not sure exactly what I was expecting, but probably something a bit more in depth, where Roach actually shares more of her obviously deep research into the literature into sex.
  10. Une Nouvelle Amie (2014)
    • What happened to Gilles at the end? Did Claire end up accepting Virginia as she is and leave Gilles for her??
  11. Getting Off: One Woman's Journey Through Porn and Sex Addiction by Erica Garza
  12. mother! (2017)
    • The reviews have been pretty polarized one way or the other about this movie, but I actually quite enjoyed it! While I'm not too sure whether the allegory was regarding mother earth or more speaking to religion, and overall I felt like it was being shoved down my throat somewhat, I still enjoyed the buildup to what was a somewhat predictable end - predictable, but fitting.
  13. Melissa P. (2005)
    • When she went all "I'm different now, I wonder how Marco would draw me" etc., I KNEW IT. I KNEW IT. I KNEW IT. How is she different now? She knows how to swim. Damn, girl.
    • Otherwise... I'm really not feeling this much at all.
  14. Brief Encounter (1945)
    • Wow does that movie poster on IMDb ever look creepy!
    • I'm reminded of Romeo and Juliet, except grown up, with much more reserve, and no helping hands.

Saturday, March 31, 2018

Março


  1. Carmen (2003)
  2. Spinster: Making a Life of One's Own by Kate Bolick
    • Hmm... I enjoyed reading about the five women, but I was looking much more for the history part of spinsterhood, and it was this point of interest that was covered in two paragraphs or thereabouts in the last chapter.
  3. Idomeneus by Soulpepper
    • What is the true story? What actually happened? The Truth is so slippery; all we get are versions of events and different perspectives, sometimes wildly different, until after we have combined all that we have heard, we are left ever more confused than before.
    • I was confused about the costumes, as they didn't reference ancient Greece at all, yet everything just worked. From the costumes to the voices speaking out, one after the other, to the dance at the very end, it all came together incredibly well.
  4. The Imaginary by A.F. Harrold, illustrated by Emily Gravett
    • You really grow to pity Mr. Bunting at the end, when he slurps up his own imaginary. The description of how it had felt to him - like eating his own hand, then his wrist, and so on till he swallowed himself - was so cold and so sad. I would've liked to see Amanda conjure up an imagination strong enough to defeat Mr. Bunting with her own power and wit, but I suppose good timing will just have to do. The reunion between Friday and Amanda's mother was a nice touch, how he, too, disappears in the end.
  5. You'll Grow Out of It by Jessi Klein
    • Hilarious! And very relatable, as someone who spent much of my life avoiding what fell into my thinking as "stereotypically feminine". I kind of wish I listened to the audiobook version of this.
  6. Gut: The Inside Story of Our Body's Most Underrated Organ by Giulia Enders, illustrated by Jill Enders
    • This is a fascinating subject, and I don't get why we don't talk about intestine-aches rather than stomachaches, or why it's so incredibly taboo to talk about what goes on in our gut, because that silence makes it so we don't even know how our stool is supposed to look! The section on the stool scale was delightful, as was the explanation of the bacteria that live in our guts. I kind of wish it was a bit more detailed, but this is a great introduction to the subject. Next on the list: Gulp: Adventures On the Alimentary Canal by Mary Roach.
    • "Women's large intestines are generally slightly more lethargic than men's. Medical researchers have not yet discovered why this is so, but the greatest likelihood is that it has a hormonal cause" (p.92).
      • Does this have anything to do with how girls are socialized as well? Because earlier in the book, Enders says "If we suppress our need to go [sic] the toilet too often or for too long, our internal sphincter begins to feel browbeaten. In fact, we are able to reeducate it completely. That means the sphincter and the surrounding muscles have been disciplined so often by the external sphincter that they become cowed. If communication between the two sphincters breaks down completely, constipation can result" (pp.14-15).
    • Spoon theory in hormone format?
      • "Under normal circumstances, we synthesize the stress-response hormone CRF (corticotropin-releasing factor) in the morning, creating a supply to help face the challenges of the day. CRF helps us tap into energy reserves, prevents the immune system from overreacting, and helps our skin tan as a protective response to stress from sunlight. The brain can also inject an extra portion of CRF into the bloodstream if we find ourselves in a particularly upsetting situation" (p.103).
    • I just read this Quanta article, Why Don't Patients Get Sick in Sync?, a day or two before reading this passage in Gut, which reminded me of it, especially the image halfway through the article illustrating How Chance Shapes an Invasion
      • "This effect is known as colonization resistance. The majority of the microbes in our gut protect us simply by occupying spaces that would otherwise be free for harmful bacteria to colonize" (p.157).
  7. So Sad Today: Personal Essays by Melissa Broder
    • Maybe I should be worried that I connect with so many of these essays on a rather disturbingly deep level, by which I mean to say: I guess whatever pervasive sadness is in my life and whatever depressing thoughts I have no reason in particular to be thinking don't even belong to me. In a way, perhaps the situation is even worse than it once was: my constantly berating myself for not being perfect, whatever insecurities and flaws and foibles I have that I once thought were something that were mine, turned out to be much more in the line of me absorbing the zeitgeist around me - even in the most depressing version of myself I'm outed to be much more boring and mundane than I ever could have hoped! Is this something to be happy over? To mourn? I'm not too sure, but I suppose statistically speaking, chances were that I wasn't special.
  8. Love Warrior: A Memoir by Glennon Doyle Melton
    • I'm reading this and So Sad Today around the same time, and everything's sort of blurring together, but I relate to both of these authors' insecurities to a degree that makes me worry. And I don't think I'm particularly alone in this either; it's not like it's a special niche or anything where people are just super insecure and get panic attacks and don't feel like they can be a proper human being in this world at a given time - it kind of feels like it might be a huge number of people (millenials?).
  9. Wonder (2017)
    • There were a couple scenes where I almost cried, and while my tear ducts are significantly easier to persuade to overflow nowadays, that's still something. I was actually pretty taken with Jack's character and his development throughout the movie, especially the very real moments where he chooses to say callous things about Auggie in order to fit in with Julian's group. On the other hand, while I'm sympathetic to Auggie's self-centered personality in which everything revolves around him, and obviously his physical differences are the reason for literally everything, I kind of had to wonder whether I lived in much the same kind of bubble when I was 10.
  10. Black Panther (2018) x 2
  11. Animal Farm (Soulpepper)
    • The overall effect I got was that the play was funny and delivered on the message, but that Orwell's novel did a much better job. I was looking forward to the whole thing with Snowball, but that wasn't covered in as much detail in the play, and it felt at times that they focused too much on trying to be funny and getting the audience to laugh. I suppose part of that is because it's a satire and they wanted it to be a bit over the top in order to make sure that was obvious, but you get less a sense of the slow horror over the slippery slope down which Napolean & the farm went.
  12. If I Understood You, Would I Have This Look On My Face? by Alan Alda
    • This connects a lot with the rest of the self-help and Eastern philosophy area of our collections that tell you to be present in your surroundings, to fully let yourself be affected by what is going on around you and react to what is rather than blindly pushing forward based on what you would will it to be instead - to improv rather than follow the script mindlessly.
    • Nothing particularly life-changing in these pages for myself personally.
  13. Naoko by Keigo Higashino, translated by Kerim Yasar
    • This is such a bizarre premise: Heisuke's wife & daughter end up in an accident, and his wife dies, his daughter in a coma. Shortly after his wife dies, his daughter wakes up, but it's not his daughter's consciousness inside of her body - it's his wife, Naoko.
    • That ending really throws you for a loop! And throughout the entire novel, I feel as though the reader sympathizes with Naoko more than Heisuke overall, seeing where Heisuke's jealousy takes him. That being said, he does mature a bit at the absolute end, I guess? Kind of?
    • And I love that Heisuke basically brings it upon himself by doing the whole investigation thing and following up in his earnestness to get the full story.
  14. Paprika (2006)
    • Interesting concept - using technology to enter dreams and having the barrier between those who are awake and those who are asleep break down - and beautifully rendered. I'm not too sure how I feel about the resolution, to be honest, but I did enjoy watching it. Ibara no Ou (2009) also had a similar thing happen, where dreams or at least the imagination could have real impact on the real world, though they are very different movies.
    • For a moment, Tokita's vision about the beauty of sharing a dream came to life, though with a completely different outcome than he might have expected or wanted.
  15. Gulp: Adventures On the Alimentary Canal by Mary Roach
    • While there was quite a bit of overlap between Gulp & Gut, I do think the two should be read together and that they complement each other rather than render the other redundant. Roach's humour here is used to much better effect than in Stiff, in my opinion, probably aided by the 9 years that separate the two publications. Interestingly enough, Gulp came out in 2013 and Roach notes in the introduction that the disgust associated with talking about what goes on in the gut & the taboo surrounding talk about is byproducts "has worked in my favor. The alimentary recesses hide a lode of unusual stories, mostly unmined. Authors have profiled the brain, the heart, the eyes, the skin, the penis and the female geography, event he hair, but never the gut. The pie hole and the feed chute are mine" (p.18). Two years later, in 2015, The Gut is published. Again, there's information in Gut that's not in Gulp and vice versa, so I'd say it's well worth reading both. Having done so in pretty quick succession, I can safely declare I wasn't bored reading Gulp even though I already knew a lot of the material from having read The Gut. And besides, the authors' enthusiasm over the gut is both palpable and infectious.
    • OMG. The possible origin of the fire-breathing dragon myths? Yes please! Find this on pps. 229-230, where Secor explains how the hydrogen buildup resulting from prey decomposition within the snake's stomach can exit through the mouth of a dead snake if someone, for example, steps on it, and if they further happen to be close to a campfire, this "breath" of hydrogen comes right out of the snake and bursts immediately into flame. Even better, "[t]he oldest stories of fire-breathing dragons come from Africa and south China: where the giant snakes are" (p.230).
  16. Una Mujer Fantastica (2017)
  17. Callgirl: Confessions of an Ivy League Lady of Pleasure by Jeanette Angell
    • So... I was really hoping for something with a bit more substance than this. I guess less an "this is how I'm different from others who were working in the sex industry" (even aside from the streetwalker v.s. escort demarcation) and more something that actually took a look at what exactly the stereotypes are concerning prostitutes, exploring why they're problematic and debunking them (or not!) through the author's experiences. What we actually get with Callgirl is the feeling that Angell is probably a bit infatuated with herself and that she thinks she's smarter than all men (and probably you, dear reader) - there are quite a number of generalized comments about men as a whole that I really, really didn't care for. On the whole, completely disappointed. Maybe taking her class would've been a better alternative to reading her book?
    • Can we also talk about the spelling mistakes in here? As well as the poor flow throughout? Well I mean, that's about as much as I have to say on the topic, but it could really have used several rewrites.
  18. Nise: O Coracao da Loucura (2015)
  19. The Constant Gardener (2005)

Maybe saying that I'm "working on" these books isn't quite as true as saying I've opened them and I've started reading them, but some just aren't going to get done anytime soon.
  1. A Woman Looking at Men Looking at Women: Essays on Art, Sex, and the Mind by Siri Hustvedt
    • Am I the only one who found the titular essay kind of halting and awkward?
  2. All the Single Ladies: Unmarried Women and the Rise of an Independent Nation by Rebecca Traister