Supernatural

This last year, we discovered "Supernatural". I know it's been on TV for a few years now, but I thought it looked cheesy and thought that the premise (from the teasers) was thin. When a friend of mine (the same one who recommended Buffy, Coupling, and a number of other great shows) turned out to be a fan, I gave it a shot.

I was pleasantly surprised at how fantastic this show is. The writing is smart, the dialog is funny and sharp, and the characters are nicely developed over the course of the program. It's Buffy meets The Dukes of Hazzard with a little of The Odd Couple thrown in for good measure. I really like their take on the various mythos and urband legends,and the two protagonists are so handsome that they ought to be required to carry a permit for their potentially lethal good looks. Google them at your own peril.

The basic premise is that there are two brothers who go around hunting the things that go bump in the night, and their relationship feels a bit Kirk/Spock-ish. In a good way. It's about friendship, general badass-ery, but most importantly, it's about the good and the bad when it comes to family. (It also has an *incredible* soundtrack, full of classic rock.) Every episode is "a good one!", and the best part of the whole thing is that they don't take themselves - or anyone else - too seriously.

Anyway, to bring this back to the point of the story (which is always knitting), we attended the Sock Summit before I got really into the show, and I bought some sock yarn. (Gasp!)

The gal from Damselfly Yarns was a die-hard Supernatural fan, and dyed this colorway which was inspired by the demon cloud at the beginning of Season 2:

It might have been the combination of the color and the silver threads that are spun into this yarn, but I had to have it. Magpie, much?

In any case, Astrid was enthusiastically telling me about the source of her inspiration, and I couldn't share her excitement about perfectly capturing the color- because I hadn't seen it yet! I was inspired to cast these on when I saw the demon cloud fill the sky at the beginning of the season, and I thought, "I have yarn that looks *just* like that!" (Well done, Astrid!)

I paused the DVD, scampered back to my office and grabbed the skein so I could have a themed knitting project to go with the entertainment. (And for the record, I plan to spin "One" while I watch "A Chorus Line". And do a kickline at my wheel.)

I've been slowly plugging away at these socks, using them as my carryalong project. Season 5 is coming out on DVD next week and if I don't finish the socks before then, I'm seeing some ab-filled knitting time in my future.

There are certainly worse things in life.

Corrrrrrrrrrrrmo!

In the spirit of Jasmin 2010, I have been on a finishing binge. After the Tour de Fleece, I decided to finish up some spinning projects that were languishing on plastic weaving bobbins, and the first project on my list was the baby cormo fleece that I bought at the Retzlaff winery in 2009 and split with the fabulous Meghan.

Before I say anything else, you should know that this fleece is so soft and crimpy, that it's no longer just "cormo". You have to roll your r's. Rrrrrrrrr. Corrrrrrrrrrrrmo. It's that soft.

The baby is all grown up!

and finally:

I wish you could feel how fabulous this yarn is. When I was finishing the singles, Gnat was positively bombarding me with fantastic sweater suggestions, including the Baby Cables and Big Ones Too sweater.

Go ahead, click on it. It's GORGEOUS, and is totally feeding my current obsession with cables and yoked sweaters. Of course, from this blog you wouldn't know, since I haven't posted pictures of me in any of the sweaters I've finished except for the Mondo Cable Cardi, but they're coming.

For now, I'll pet the yarn until I cast on the sweater. Which, for the record is queued to get cast on after I finish ... something.

Something good for Gigi

When I was a kid and we'd go grocery shopping, my mom was one of the "If it's not on the list, we're not buying it" moms. For the record, she was also an "If it's advertised on television, we're not buying it" mom, but that's not the point of this story.

Anyway, at a certain point I decided that I was Very Clever, and wrote "Something good for Jasmin" at the bottom of the shopping list. Vague, but specific enough. Sam, of course, saw the brilliance in my plan and would write "Something good for Sam" under my "Something good for Jasmin". A good idea once is a good idea twice, and as a little kid he could recognize that.

"Something good" was often a favorite fruit, but as we got older, Mom would get us "Cocoa Farts" (generic Cocoa Puffs), or our own specific favorite flavor of Ben & Jerry's. It was a little something special- and we still ate nutritious meals, lest you think Mom hung up her Dr. Scholls sandals and abandoned her crunchy muesli ways. It was just a little junk food that we ate in moderation.

Fast forward to this last year. Mom has been spending more time here, which we enjoy thoroughly, and our grocery list is out for all to see - and add to. Mom has been carrying on our grocery tradition, and I often find "Something good for Mom" on the list.

So, in the spirit of "Something good for Mom", I picked up a treat that we don't get very often:

Sesame seed balls. My favorite Chinese bakery is in downtown Mountain View, and sadly, I don't get there very often. Yesterday ended up being a right-place-right-time kind of day, and I picked up a box of these goodies for us to enjoy.

After all, Mom also taught us that the best part of "something good" is having enough to share.