this life is lived in perfect symmetry
My dad and I spend a morning each week going for a walk, usually at the Lafayette Reservoir. Sometimes we like to mix it up, and so last weekend we went out to Mitchell Canyon in Clayton, which is in the Mt. Diablo foothills.
We’ve had some rain over the last couple of months and so the hills are still green. They fade to golden brown for most of the rest of the year, so it’s nice to enjoy the green while you can!
It was a beautiful day – warm and sunny. Looking forward to going back!
MOVIES:
A Wrinkle in Time. It was fine. But kinda meh. I liked the cast and found the child actors quite engaging. Didn’t like how shallow and lame the story wound up being. The book is full of rich imagery and substance that did not translate in this adaptation. Also Reese Witherspoon turned into a cabbage monster in the middle and I can’t even. I liked the Mrs. costumes though, they were pretty fabulous.
A United Kingdom. I really liked this movie. This is the true life story of the 1940s-50s era African king Seretse Khama of Buchuawanaland who went to England to get an education, met and married a middle-class white English secretary named Ruth Williams and their absolutely astonishing love story. They got married right around the time South Africa was implementing apartheid, and as a British Protectorate, Buchuawanaland was beholden to Britain for a variety of things. Britain was not cool with the black/white pairing and they were banished. Eventually they were able to return to Africa, where Seretse headed up the independence movement and became the first democratically elected President of present-day Botswana. They had four children, and their eldest son is now the current president.
Mute. This Netflix movie was surprisingly boring and did not have the greatest ending. Sorry Alexander Skarsgaard. I couldn’t even begin to explain what this is about… something about a (mute) Amish guy who winds up in a near-future Berlin and has to go on a vigilante rampage to find his missing girlfriend. I liked the premise, but it was pretty boring.
Alien: Covenant. The sequel to the stupidest Alien movie, Covenant. It was also pretty stupid, but less stupid than Covenant by far! So… points for that I guess. And points for casting and not killing off Danny McBride! Who I like, for no particular reason.
Wind River. This is on Netflix and reminded me Longmire. A federal fish and game guy comes across a dead body on an Indian reservation, the FBI gets called in, and they must solve the mystery. This was pretty good though there is a gratuitous assault scene shown in flashback towards the end that was unnecessary.
TV:
Jessica Jones Season 2. I still have 2 more episodes on this. It’s not as engaging as the first season, nor as good as The Punisher, but still better than the other Marvel TV shows.
PODCASTS:
Astonishing Legends Episodes 91-93 The Yeti. These were great episodes, diving deep into the legend of the Himalayan yeti (abominable snowman). They discussed mountaineering and Everest and the history surrounding the area and sightings.
Astonishing Legends Episodes Episodes 50-54 Mothman. Also great episodes! I now know more than I ever needed to know about the Mothman legend, haha.
I finished a new sweater in about a month! I was hoping to finish it in time for Stitches West – and I finished the knitting the night before but it really needed a blocking. So it was done the day after.
This is Whitehorse by Caitlyn Hunter.
What can I say about this pattern? It is pretty flawless. I did not notice any errors or anything and it was very easy to follow. I used the chart instructions. I knit the instructions for the 2XL however did not complete the directions to extend the lace panel as written – my row gauge was off. So I just knit through the chart once without repeating any of the rows. I also knit the body a little longer. Knit the sleeves exactly per the pattern.
The yarn I used was Valley Yarns Stockbridge, an alpaca blend that I bought at Stitches West from Webs many, many, many moons ago. I mean, like, years. It’s been in the stash so long I don’t even know how long I’ve had it, and they discontinued it two years ago. I had exactly ten skeins, which comes out to 1090 yards and hopes and dreams that that will be enough yarn for a sweater project. It was, but barely: I think there is something like three yards left total. Talk about a nail biter!
This was my second project using ChiaoGoo needles (size US 8) and I am in love. I went and got a bunch of other ChaioGoos at Stitches West the other weekend.
I have already cast on for Zweig (also by my current knitting crush Caitlyn Hunter) and have actually already completed the yoke and separated for the sleeves/body. This is my first colorwork and it’s super fiddly for me. That is not to say the pattern is difficult but but because I have not done much colorwork in the past I’m having a bit of a hard time with handling the yarn changes. It’s a simple pattern and why I’m working on it before I tackle Sunset Highway. So, tension-wise, not sure if it worked 100% but it looks okay to me so far. Won’t really know till the end and it’s blocked. D:
I got a better hang of it during the vertical stripe section (don’t have a picture of that yet) so I think at this point I could tackle something a little more complicated! (i.e., Caitlyn Hunter’s Birkin…. can’t stop won’t stop with her patterns!)
