I went shopping

Yes, I went shopping with my sister today. Thomas is too sick to go outside, so it fell on me to do the grocery shopping for tomorrow (I know that it's technically the 31st now, but I'm still awake so for me it's still the 30th). We figured that even though we're not going to have a party, we should at least get something good to eat. So tomorrow we're having Roast baked in Porter, and chocolate cake for dessert. And while I was out, I took the chance to do some fun shopping too! And that of course means yarn. I bought two gorgeous skeins of PälsBlend from Färgkraft, a swedish dyer, in a colourway called Glam Goth. You can see why:

The pink is a lot more hot in reality, it's just so hopeless to take photos here during wintertime! I think this will turn into one of my shawls that I bought from Windsbraut. I love it, and I've spent the entire evening balling all my skeins of lace yarn. These ones look like raspberry/liquorice candy! And now that I've balled all of the skeins, I'm truly ready to start the shawl challenge! I forgot to take a photo of all those lovely goodies, but I promise I'll show it to you next time :)

I went to Ikea, and bought some more project bags. I just loved the pink striped one I got in the mail a while ago, so I bought an identical one, and a green one too.

'Ikea also has some pretty patterned plastic bags to store stuff in, and I bought two red ones to store all my yarns in. The very unyieldy, clear one I got a while ago is just so darn ugly, and I figured that these were really cheap (about $2 each).

The one on the right holds all my yarn that is intended to become sweaters and tops and such. The one on the left holds all my sock yarns (and glove yarns too, but that's more or less the same thing). I keep the lace yarns in the round bag my sister made for me for Christmas. I keep all my yarn at the end of the sofa, and now it at least looks a little happier.

I also bought three plastic canvas bags/jars to use as yarn bowls while I'm out of the home. Anna got these very same a while ago and loves them, so I thought I would give them a chance. Ikea actually has some nice stuff!

I also went to one of the electronics shops at the shopping mall I was in (Tornby), and finally got myself an electronic kitchen scale (or is it a pair of scales even if it's electronic? I don't remember my english grammar as well as I thought I did). It ranges from 10 g to 5 kg, and measures with 1 g sensitivity, so I can use it to weigh my yarn leftovers! And I'm betting I'll get good use of it once I start spinning too (no, I haven't had the time to fiddle with the wheel yet). Here it is, weighing my new skein of Pälsblend!

That was my shopping spree today. I also got to pick up the first book I ordered before Christmas today! It is actually more of a booklet, and it's Rauma Selbustrikk. It is very shiny, so it was very hard to get a decent photo of it. You'll just have to be satisfied with the least flashy one, and believe me when I tell you that under the flare it says Selbustrikk.

I want to knit every pattern from this booklet, the gloves, socks and mittens are just so gorgeous. They are really more pieces of art than craft, and I so admire designers who can come up with stuff like this!

So all in all it's been a really good day. And tomorrow I don't even need to leave the apartment! Hopefully I'll get to knit some while Thomas cooks, and of course I'll start my Aeolian right after the stroke of midnight!

See you all next year. Happy New Year!

/ Jenny

Trivia, part 3

I tried on my Glynis sock yesterday, and realized that I had decreased too slowly on the gusset, so I decided to re-make the heel. And then I figured that as I had cast on too tightly (as always, why don't I ever learn?!), I might as well start over completely. So into the frogpond it went! I've now made about 2 inches (5 cm) of the leg, but it's a relatively fast knit so I think I'll finish them in a week or so. Although tomorrow at midnight I will FINALLY cast on for the Aeolian, and start my 10 shawls in 2010! I can hardly wait!

And Thomas is getting really sick, so we decided to cancel our party plans for tomorrow. I'm starting to feel a bit under the weather too, but hopefully the cold-pills I'm taking will keep me healthy for a while longer at least! I'm guessing that we'll just sit around and watch a movie or two tomorrow night, and toast each other on the stroke of midnight. And then I'll knit :)

As I haven't got any knitting to show you, I thought we would continue with the me-trivia. And this time I think I'll talk a bit about what kind of music I like. Most people assume that I like heavy metal, as I'm married to a real metal-head (he listens to a lot of other things too, but metal is the gengre that he always comes backto), but I like to think of myself as more of a rock-chick than anything else. I'll just tell you a bit about the bands and artists I like best.

First and always: Queen. My parents have listened to them since they began in the 70's, so me an my sister grew up around this music. I LOVE LOVE LOVE them, and was so sad when Freddie Mercury died in '91. I've even been to London to see the musical We Will Rock You twice, and my mother actually got to meet the guitarrist, Brian May, when she and my father were there. I'm not jealous at al. Nope, not me, no no...

My second music gods are Simon & Garfunkel, and I particularly love Paul Simon's voice. He doesn't sing through my ears, the music goes straight into my heart. I've seen Paul Simon live solo twice, and Art Garfunkel solo twice as well, and in 2003 my whole family went to Stockholm and saw them together on their reunion tour, Old Friends on Stage. It was one of the most amazing nights of my life, and I cried the whole time. Even my dad was a bit teary-eyed, and he's the most ridiculously macho man I know.

There is also an american band called Live that I really like, and I've seen them twice too. I love their kind of rock/pop, and the singer has such an amazing voice. I went to the Roskilde Festival in 2000 to see them, but that was the terrible accident year, where 9 people died during the Pearl Jam concert, so almost all the bands, including Live, cancelled. I really wished I had seen that tour, as that record (The Distance to Here) is one of my favourites. But oh well, at least I've seen them twice since then!

I don't listen to a lot of female artists, and I don't really know why, but there is one woman whom I really adore: The american singer/songwriter Heather Nova. Her voice is unbelievable, and so far all her records have been terrific. I actually got to see her as well, when she played in Gothenburgh a couple of years ago (I think it might have been in 2005, but I'm not sure), and she sings just as amazingly live.

Oh, and this spring I also discovered scottish singer/songwriter Amy MacDonald (who is obviously also a woman). She is so young, and has such a strong and special voice! Me and my sister went to Stockholm to see this summer wher when she played a gig at Gröna Lund, which is actually an amusement park. She said during the gig that that was the weirdest venue she had ever played at, with all the roller coasters going by, and people screaming all around her! But the show was really good, and she is such a talanted singer!

I discovered another new - to me - talent this spring, namely british indie singer Morrissey. I love his sort of Elvis-like voice, and the music is right up my alley. Me and my sister went to see him when he did a show in Borås (of all palces!) this summer, and it was a great show! His new album, Years of Refusal, is great! Ad I'm so happy that Spotify finally decided to add some old The Smiths records as well (Morrissey was the lead singer of Smiths).

A couple of years ago me and Thomas discovered Johnny Cash as well, and it's so funny that I like him as I'm really no fan of country otherwise. I guess it's that incredible voice that does it for me, and I love both his original songs and his covers. I found a lot of Christmas songs by him when I was searching for good Christmas music on Spotify, and even sappy, boring songs become beautiful when he sings them.

I also like a lot of the 70's rock bands, like Pink Floyd, Deep Purple, The Doors and such. I grew up listening to a lot of 50's and 60's music as well, and I just love that era generally. I wish I had grown up among all those gorgeous clothes and all that music, although I have to admit that I'm actually glad that I don't have to live through the women's liberation... I'm quite happy with our rights today, even though a lot can still be improved world wide!

When I was a teenager and "rebelled" against my parents (I was really a very nice teenager, I only remembere one big fight I had with my mother at all), it wasn't very cool to listen to what your parents listened to any longer. So I discovered grunge, and for a while I listened to Nirvana almost exclusively. I liked most Seattle-based bands back then, but Nirvana was the greatest. I cried when Kurt Cobain died, it was such a tragedy! I actually sat a whole day at the office a couple of weeks ago, rediscovering the old grunge bands (in my headphones), and made a grunge playlist on Spotify with Nirvana, Alica in Chains, Soundgarden, Stone Temple Pilots, Pearl Jam and Smashing Pumpkins. It's too bad that drugs have taken way too many of them!

So as you can tell, I like music. A lot. I've sang myself for a lot of years, mostly in different choirs, and I don't know what I'd do without music. Now I mostly sing in the shower, but I still love it. But right now I don't really have time for any serious singing in my life, what with all the work and all the knitting. Plus I want to write fiction some day too (that's my life-long secret dream, so now you know that about me too)...

Ok, I think I'll leave you with that to muse on (that's another great band, Muse...). I'll report after New Year's Eve and tell you how many shawls I cast on for!

Happy New Year, all of you!

/ Jenny

FINALLY back in Linköping

Yes, it's so good to be back! The Christmas has been really good, but every year there are always so many friends and relatives that we want to see while we're in Borås, so we end up driving around a lot. We left for Borås on Wednesday, and arrived early in the afternoon. Thankfully there wasn't much traffic, so the trip went smoothly even though there was a lot of snow. I went to my parents' house, and Thomas went to his mothers'. Even though we're married, and have been together for more than 13 years now, we still don't celebrate Christmas Eve together! We're just too stubborn to give up our own traditions, and as we're from the same town, we can see each other and each other's families on other days.

So on Wednesday me and my family (mother, father and sister) decorated the tree, and my sister baked cardamom bread (that I unfortunately couldn't eat, as I'm allergic to gluten... but it smelled good). And on Thursday, which is the day we celebrate the most here in Sweden, we had Christmas lunch with my grandfather and his "lady friend" (it sounds so silly to say that my grandfather has a girlfriend, but that's what she is). The food was delicious, and we rolled over to the sofa afterwards to open all the presents. My grandfather got the Moose mittens, and I think he was very pleased! And I have to say that my parents and my sister have outdone themselves this year! From my parents I got this amazingly soft bathrobe with Hello Kitty on it (of course it's pink, what else would it be?). Please disregard my complete lack of make-up - I sort of look like I've been dipped in butter :)

It came with a nightgown (also pink) with Hello Kitty as well, but it's in the laundry pile right now so I can't model it for you. But the bathrobe is great!

I also got about 1.3 kg of pure wool! There was a big bag of 1 kg of completely untreated wool, I think it's right off the sheep! It smells delicious, and is so fat with lanolin oil. I'll have to wash it a lot before I spin it.

In the package was also three 100 g bags with dyed wool (that will also need carding), in absolutely amazing colours. One bag of blue wool (that in reality is a lot more purple than what the photo shows):

One bag of red wool:

And one bag of green wool:

And to top it off, I got a beautiful box from my sister, that was filled with goodies. First, just look at the box!

Do you remember the project bag I got in the mail the week before Christmas? The colours match perfectly!

And in the box were two hand carders! So now I can process all my wool.

I think I've told you more than one time that I was going to get a spinning wheel to take home for Christmas (it's on loan from the school that my mother works at), so now I have wool to spin for a whole year! I've tinkered with the wheel for a few days, but I think I've put it together wrong, because right now it spins the wool, but it doesn't wind it onto the spindle. I'm going to have a look around youtube and such now that I'm home with a regular internet connection, and I think I'll figure it out soon enough. For now, you only get a photo of the wheel, which is painted white.

Anyway, back to the presents. In the box with the carders were also three project bags that my sister had sewed for me! I'm so thrilled about these, as I think they're gorgeous. The first one is round, with a drawstring close:

It's currently holding all my lace yarn, so it's quite big! The second one is a tote bag with a button close, and I love the flower print!

It's currently holding all my sock yarn and glove yarn, so it's also quite roomy. The last one is a rectangular bag with a zipper close, and it's currently holding my green bolero project (I've only got 1.5 arms left on it, so it will be finished soon!):

Isn't my sister talented! I'm very pleased with all of them. I got her a pair of red leather gloves and a pair of brown shoes, and I think she's at least happy with the gloves. I've kept the receipt for the shoes, so she can exchange them if she wants to.

Me and Thomas also got some money for a spa weekend, and we have decided to go back to the Japanese spa in Stockholm, Yasuragi. We went there in 2007, and it's one of the best weekends we ever had, so when I turn 30 in May we'll go back for two nights.

Well, onwards with the Christmas celebrations! After the opening of presents, my grandfather and his lady friend went to her family, and me, mother and sister went to visit my grandmother and my uncle Micael that has Down's syndrome. It was an unusually good day for him, and he was so happy to see us. We don't really have any children in the family, but as Micael is sort of like a child still, he always gets a lot of presents. The same was true this year, and he was so happy unwrapping them.

When we got back home, my uncle on my father's side came with his family to eat turkey at my parents' house. Our cousins are about the same age as me and my sister, and the oldest cousin also brought his girlfriend along for the first time, and it was so much fun. She was really nice, and I can see why Andreas likes her. We had way too much turkey, and then played a quizz game. It's almost impossible to play knowledge games with my father and his brother in the same room, as they are both super competitive and super besserwissers (know-it-alls?), but Andreas managed to actually win. It was a lot of fun, and a great day.

On Christmas Day I went with Thomas and his brothers to his father's house to celebrate. We had turkey (again), and played games, and I got a super-cute hat and scarf set! It was a really nice gift, and I've already used it!

Once again, disregard the complete lack of make-up...

Then on Boxing Day we went and had coffee with Thomas' mom, and just chatted for a while. Then in the evening we went and visited my best friend Christine and her family. She's the one who has three sons, and me and Thomas are Godparents to the youngest one (he's almost six months old). The whole family had gotten a Wii for Christmas, and the 7-year old and the 4-year old just couldn't get enough! And it was so much fun to watch them play, because they were jumping up and down almost as much as the game characters! Thomas' best friend Jonas, who was best man at our wedding, also showed up, and it was just a nice evening. Christine's fiancé Martin is also supernice, and we get along perfectly.

Then yesterday me and Thomas had coffee with his grandparents, which was nice. They are both over 80 years old, and we're starting to feel that we want to see them as much as we can before it's too late. A bit morbid, but they are really nice. They are both retired teachers, and they really love that both me and Thomas has studied so much!

And yesterday evening we went to a pub in Borås, Bishop's Arms, and met up with a good friend of ours from Borås, who now lives in Stockholm. Anders is always so happy and positive, and it was so nice that we got to see him and his girlfriend Ellen while we all were in Borås. Christine and Jonas also came with us to the pub, and we wasted away a couple of hours just hanging out and talking. I love that there are actual pubs where you can just sit down and talk, as opposed to all the clubs where the music is just too loud. The pub closed at 23.00, so it wasn't a very late night, but it was just perfect.

So today we finally got to go home to Linköping again! It will be nice to have a couple of days to relax before New Year's Eve, especially as we're having a party. Well, at least we're planning on having a party, but Thomas is starting to get sick so we'll see if it actually gets done. We're supposed to have some people over from Borås, so it will be really boring if we have to cancel.

So now we're going to relax with a movie, and we had sushi and thai food for dinner, so we're all set for a nice evening at home. And Hobbe is so happy to be home again, although I think he misses my sister's two cats. He is such a chicken when he's at my parents', but as soon as he gets a whif of the two girl cats he goes into stalker mode. He just follows them around, and completely ignores the fact that Medoxa ignores him, and Daisy hisses at him as soon as she sees him! And when he can't find them he goes around meowing for them in the cutest way! It's a blessing that wee keep them separated during the nights, otherwise none of us would get any sleep!

I'll leave you with some yarn pr0n: I've showed these before, but as they were all technically Christmas gifts too, I think they belong here. I present to you again, my Chili Gredelin yarns:

Madame:

Simone:

Geisha:

/ Jenny

Ok, so I couldn't keep away...

I just have to share: Yesterday I got an early Christmas gift from my grandfather. Me and my sister usually get a pretty large sum of money from him each year, and that turned out to be true for this year too. So when I got home from work yesterday, completely exhausted and with a splitting headache, I at least got to buy myself some Christmas gifts! I ordered some knitting and spinning books, but I think I'll tell you about those when they arrive. But the thing that might interest you the most is the pattern splurge I went through on Ravelry! Unfortunately the pictures I borrowed from the Ravelry patterns pages turned out to be too large for the blog (I tried posting them, and on my computer they sort of covered teh side bar...), so you'll have to be content with links to the pages. I bought five glove patterns from designer Julia Mueller: Lady Sunshine, Gordian, Eve, Glows and Entangled Stitches.

Then I bought six shawl patterns from designer Monika Eckert: Maskenball in Venedig, Windsbraut - Blaue Stunde, Windsbraut - Steife Brise, Windsbraut - Wuestenhimmel, Windsbraut - Herbstvind and Windsbraut - Wintersturm.

And finally I ordered a package of ten sock patterns from designer Dodile. I'll just link you to that project page, where you can see photos of all the socks. It was just so much fun to feel that I could actually spend some money on this, and I have plenty left for buying yarn too! I think I've more or less decided which shawls to knit during the 10 shawls in 2010 challenge (I'm aware that this list very possibly will change during the year), and I can make nine of them from stash if I want to! I think I'll try to do this, I really need to use up my stash, but for the tenth shawl I'll try to find some really luxurious yarn. I'm also planning to make a shawl that needs to be knitted in sport weight or thicker, and I'm thinking I might buy some Drops Alpaca yarn for this. I knitted the huge purple shawl in this, and it is so soft and warm. I use it practically every day now that it's so cold!

Ok, now I really HAVE to go pack for the trip to Borås tomorrow. And I also have to wrap all the Christmas presents tonight...

Happy Hollidays to everyone!

/ Jenny

Soon

Yes, it's not long til Christmas now! I just wish I didn't have to work tomorrow too, but at least I get Wednesday off. Here in Sweden we celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve, so I'm taking a vaccation day on Wednesday so we can drive down to our parents in Borås (and of course Thomas and I don't have the same parents, but they all live in Borås). On Wednesday night my family always puts up the tree and decorate it, and hopefully there will be some good food too. My parents have the slowest internet connection in the world, so I'll probably just check my emails (and Ravelry every once in a while), while I'm there. So this will be my last post before Christmas!

I'm done with the mittens that my grandfather is getting for Christmas! I took them off the blocking boards today, and I've fluffed up the inside a bit so they feel really soft. They look really good to, so I hope he will be pleased!

Isn't Hobbe's fur super-cute under the mittens?!

I've also started my first sock from the Sock Innovation book by Cookie A. I love all her patterns, and as I couldn't make up my mind on which pattern to start with, I just chose the first pattern in the book, Glynis. I'm knitting them in my Colinette Jitterbug yarn, that is 100 % merino sock yarn. I think the yarn might be a little bit too busy to allow the lace pattern to really show, but I don't care. The yarn will make the socks look fabulous either way, and I'm happy that they are a fun knit. And the yarn is really lovely to work with too. I think I'll primarily bring sock yarn with me to Borås, and knit socks until I can cast on for the shawls. I might bring some of the pink/orange Palette as well, and start the St James top too. I could at least bring it, to be on the safe side :)

Oh, and yesterday I got to go with Anna and her parents to a Christmas concert with musical star Peter Johansson (he has among other things played the lead role in the Queen musical We Will Rock You in London) and his cousin Matilda Hansson. The Concert was SOOO good, and when Matilda sang Pie Jesu (written by Andrew Lloyd Webber), I actually cried a little. I'm so incredibly thankful that I got that ticket, I really appreciated it. And I know that I will go see them again if they come back next year :) Oh, and speaking of Anna: She just landed her first teaching job! She's starting as a pre-school teacher at the end of January, and I'm so happy for her. Congrats, Anna!

And this Saturday I made more Christmas candy with my two friends from work, Jenny and Klara. They are two of my closest friends, and as Klara is already living in Liverpool, and Jenny is moving to Amsterdam, in the Netherlands, in april, I'm just happy to spend as much time with them as I can. There wasn't too much champagne involved this year (I drove, so I didn't have any at all), but lots of good chocolate truffles and toffee. I doubt that I will be able to eat all this candy by myself, so it's a good thing I can bring it with me to my parents. I would send you all some, but unfortunately the truffles came out a bit soft, and I think they'd melt during shipping. You'll just have to take my word for it that they taste very good!

And I can also tell you that our apartment is now clean! We scrubbed the kitchen and both bathrooms squeaky clean yesterday, we vacuumed and wet-wiped the floors, and today we're doing the last laundry before we leave. It feels so much better to leave a clean apartment, so you don't have to start cleaning as soon as you get back. We'll probably get back on the 28:th or 29:th, so we'l only be gone a few days, but even so. I'm just happier in a clean apartment!

Now I'll start adding the photos, so I'm done when the pizza gets here! I hope all of you have a wonderful Christmas holiday, filled with happy feelings and lots of family, good food and presents! I'll see you again before the year ends!

/ Jenny

TGIF

Yes, it's certainly a blessing that it's finally Friday! This week has been really hectic for me, but I've actually managed to get all the stuff I had planned done. I've bought all Christmas gifts, I just have to wrap them, and I finally remembered to send out this month's RAK package to UK. I doubt that it will arrive before Christmas, but that doesn't matter. Now we just have to clean the apartment thoroughly before we leave for the holidays...

On Monday my sister and I made some Christmas candy that some of our relatives are going to get for Christmas. We made chocolate toffees, raspberry toffees, Mozart balls (which are nougat surrounded by marzipan and dipped in chocolate) and apple marmalade sweets. Everything turned out absolutely yummy, although not all of it was very pretty :) I think the recipients will probably appreciate them anyway!

Then on Tuesday I went and had my car checked out for the yearly inspection, and it passed! This passed April I got to buy my grandmother's old Toyota Starlet when she bought a new car, and even though it's 11 years old it hasn't been driven muc at all. So the inspection guy's only comment was that even the underside of the car looked like new! I also finally got a Christmas present for my sister, but I'm not going to tell you what it is, as she reads the blog! I'll show you after Christmas, because one of the gifts is pretty neat.

Then on Wednesday there was a knitting café, the last before Christmas, which was fun as always. I've met such a sweet lady there, Sophiphi137 on Ravelry, and on Wednesday she had brought little presents for me and Anna as a RAK (both Anna and Sophiphi137 are members of the RAK in Europe group on Ravelry)! Look what she brought me:

The top two are notions bags, the small I will use to transport beads and such when I take projects with me, and the white one I will use to store my bead stash, as it is currently residing in a plastic bag. The three little things in the bottom photo are magnets, two of them with clamps on them to hold paper and such. They are just so cute, and I'm so happy! Thank you so much, Sophiphi137!

And yesterday Anna had a Christmas get-together for her friends, so we were eight girls who gathered at Anna's place and had glögg, christmas porridge and ham sandwishes. We also played a Christmas gift game, and I ended up taking home a wheat-filled fabric heart that you can put in the microwave and then hold against you for warmth. It is beautiful and hand-made by one of Anna's friends, Elin, and I was very happy with it. I've already used it twice, and I'm thinking of going to the kitchen to heat it up once again. Because yes, the winter has finally arrived here. So far it seems like we will actually have a white Christmas this year, as it is about 15 cm of snow and -10 Centigrades. It is SO COLD! It's very beautiful outside, when you're inside looking out at it, but it's no fun to have to bundle up in oodles of layers just to go buy some groceries!

So today I'm just going to sit on the couch and knit for the rest of the evening! I'm just about to start the decreases for the fingers on the second Moose mitten, so I'll probably going to finish it tonight. Then they will be blocked tomorrow, while I hang out with my friends Jenny and Klara. We have an anual tradition of making Christmas candy together that we've done for at least four years now, and I'm so happy that we get to do it this year even if Klara has moved to Liverpool in the UK this fall. She gets back to Sweden tonight for Christmas, and I also get to spend New Year's Eve with her and her boyfriend, so it should be lots and lots of fun. Our Christmas candy-making often entails lots and lots of champagne drinking, but this year I have to be sober as my anti-depressants don't work with alcohol (I fall asleep if I have both the same day...). So I've promised to be the one who tells them on Sunday what they actually did on Saturday :)

I think I'll probably cast on for some socks when I'm done with the mittens, to keep me busy during the holidays. I have to have something to knit while I visit my parents, and we're staying there for a few days (we're leaving for Borås on Wednesday, and I think we'll stay until at least the 28:th) so I have to have a few projects planned for then. I've almost finished the body of the green bolero as well, so only two arms left. Which means I'll probably have to start something else besides the socks to keep me busy. Maybe it's time I started the St James top that I've planned to make from my pink/orange KnitPicks Palette?

I wish I could cast on for some lace shawl too! My fingers are practically itching! I told Thomas this a couple of days ago, and he sighed and said: "Why don't you just start one now? No-one will know if you start it before January 1st, will they?" But I don't want to do that, I want all my shawls to count for the 10 shawls in 2010 challenge, and I certainly don't want to cheat! So as soon as I wake up on January 1st I'll probably throw myself at the yarns and cast on for the Aeolian. I think I'll probably start two shawls in January, so I get some variation. I think it will be good to have a shawl on the neeldes that doesn't require beading. I haven't decided finally, but I think my second January project will be the Echo Flowers shawl, that I'll make in my red KnitPicks Shadow Kettledyed (I think the colourway is called Wine).

I'll try to make at least one more post here before we leave for Borås, because my parents have the slowest internet in the world so I'll probably not have the patience to post while we are away. And next time I think we'll continue with the Jenny Trivia, and talk abit about what kind of music I like. As that could be quite and extensive post, I'll save it for now.

/ Jenny

Yarn update and TV-series

Yes, it's time to tell you a bit more useless information about me. But first I'll talk a bit about yarn-related stuff. After all, this is supposed to be a knitting blog! I got an early Christmas gift from my parents, that arrived in the mail today. Let me present to you: Three GORGEOUS skeins of Chili Gredelin Simone (70 % baby alpaca/30 % silk, 800 m/100 g).

This yarn might possibly be even softer than my Madame, the green yarn I have that I previously bougth from Chili Gredelin. And I have so much of it, 300 g, it's going to make at least two large shawls! I can hardly wait until January 1st, so I can cast on for some lace!

In the same package was also two skeins of Chili Gredelin Geisha (100 % silk, 500 m/50 g). This is also super soft, a lot softer than I imagined pure silk would be, and it has such a shine to it! This will also become a shawl for me. I imagine I'll probably drown in lace shawls before next year is done!

I got another package in the mail today too, via the RAK in Europe group. The wonderful Hinayana sent me some tea, some drink chocolate and best of all, a gorgeous project bag! I think I've told you that I love pink, so this little bag is perfect! I love it so much!

Right now it's holding all my Chili Gredelin yans :)

And I've finally finished all Christmas gifts for my side of the family (except for the mittens, but I thin I'll finish them on Thursday or so. Not much left now), I just got in from a trip to the city center where I bought the last gift for my sister. Now we only have to think of something for one of Thomas' brothers (he has four brothers, but the other's are taken care of allready), and I think I'll let Thomas take care of that. It feels really good to be done with the Christmas shopping! Now we just have to focus on the New Years Eve party we're throwing, and then we can relax...

Ok, on to the Jenny trivia! I thought I'd tell you a bit about my favourite TV series that I like to watch. There aren't that many, so I'm guessing it won't take that long.

My absolute favourite is American Dreams. It's about a girl growing up in the 60's in Philadelphia, and she dances on American Bandstand. The series follows her and her family for three years, and I really wish that it had continued for a lot more! I love the 60's music and clothes, and the characters in this show are really great and captivating too.

I also love Gilmore Girls, and I wish it had continued too. Although I have to say that the last season wasn't as good as the previous ones, when they changed writers. It's funny that I like these types of drama/comedy series, as I'm not a fan ov drama when it comes to movies, but there is something in Gilmore Girls that just rubs me the right way.

I also have the whole DVD box of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (the series, not the movie), and this is probably my second favourite. This show is SOOO cheesy, but it doesn't matter because it's also very good. I like Sarah Michelle Gellar in this role, and I think all the characters are very well cast. I think this series is the reason that I actually kind of like Bones, as David Boreanaz is playing Angel in the Buffy series.

There are also two shows that I follow right now. The first one is Flash Forward, a sci-fi starring Joseph Fiennes. It starts with every person on Earth losing consciousness at the same time, and while they're out, they have visions of what they'll be doing for a few minutes on April 29th, 2010. joseph Fiennes plays an FBI agent who during the blackout sees himself investigating the blackout, and the series follows him and his team while they struggle to understand what has happened. It is really intriguing!

The other show I'm currently watching (and boy do I hate that all the shows take Christmas breaks!) is Supernatural. This series is really goofy, and doesn't take itself very seriously, but it's still very good. It follows two brothers, Sam and Dean, who are demon hunters (you see why I like it, right?), and I like it a lot. When it finally gets cancelled (and lets hope for many more seasons!) I think we will invest in a DVD box for this as well, as my husband also loves this show.

There are several shows that Thomas watches, that I don't mind seeing either (including Sons of Anarchy, Dexter, Stargate Universe, Battlestar Galactica), but the five mentioned above are my favourite ones. I used to wattch Friends when it was on, and my sister has the whole DVD box, but I've found that I really don't enjoy watching those episodes again and again. We also often watch The Simpsons, Family Guy and Southpark, but those are shows that you can catch an episode of if it happens to be on, not something we actually follow. My sister watches Scrubs and How I Met Your Mother as well, but for me those are also shows that I can watch if they happen to be on, not something I need to see every episode of.

Ok, so now you know a little bit more about me! Now I think I'll play with my new yarns, althoug I think I'll wait to wind them into balls until I'm actually going to use them. But I can fondle them as much as I like until January 1st, at least!

/ Jenny

And now, for something completely different

I thought I would do something completely different today, and talk a bit about movies. I'm bored at work, and I don't have any knitting progress to show you since yesterday (although I've finished the cuff on the second Moose Mitten, and here's the Ravelry pattern link, Nalamienea). I don't mind admitting that I'm a horror junkie, but I'm sort of particulate about what I like. I don't like hach-and slash movies with serial killers, and I'm not fond of the "gross the audience out"-genre either. I think I like the moies with something a bit supernatural best, and I especially love zombie flicks.

But before I tell you about all the horror movies I like, I'll start with mentioning the best film I ever saw as a child: The Neverending Story.This is one of the few cases where I actually love both the book and the movie, maybe because I saw the movie long before I read the book. This must be one of the best children's stories out there, it's just so beautiful! This is the first movie I remember crying to (I cry when I watch cartoons sometimes, I'm so soppy I can hardly stand on my own :), and I actually have a tattoo from this movie, of the Auryn (the pendant that Artreyu gets, and that saves Fantasia in the end) between my shoulder blades. If you haven't seen this one, go do it right now. I'll wait.

Moving on to the horror flicks. I think my favourite Zombie movie is actually "28 weeks later", even though this is a sequel. I just loved a movie with fast zombies, and Robert Carlyle is SOOO good in this one. I could definitely watch "Dawn of the Dead" again, preferably the new one, and I actually liked "Land of the Dead" as well (Thomas won't agree with you on that one though). There is a new Zombie flick coming up sometime next year, based on the book "World War Z" by max Brooks, and as this is one of the best books I've ever read, regardless of genre, I'm very excited about this. Hopefully it will do the book justice.

We watched "District Nine" a while ago, and that was a really good Sci-Fi/Horror. I think I'll probably buy this one some time next year, and I can really recommend it! The best part of this is that it is set in South Africa, and there were so many different levels to the movie, the most obvious one being the racial aspect. Just watch it, ok?

Another terrific Sci-Fi/Horror is "Event Horizon", starring Sam Neil and Lawrence Fishburn. This movie is seriously creepy, and the first time I watched it I actually had to watch something non-horror afterwards to calm down before I dared go to bed. So not for the faint of heart, but if you're a horror fan and haven't seen this, I warmly recommend it.

One of my alltime favourites, that isn't really horror at all, is "Nightmare Before Christmas" by Tim Burton. Mr Burton is my favourite director, I've so far loved all his movies, but I still think this is the best. I must have seen it a hundred times by now, but it's still as good!

And if we're leaving the horror genre, I might as well tell you that I love "Stand by Me" as well. In my mind it is almost classified as a horror anyway, as the novel is written by Stephen King, but this is actually one of his books that doesn't really fit the horror label. That's one thing I love about mr King as well, he's very versatile. Many of his books can't really be peg-holed into a single genre. And this movie is just so great, even though it's not about anything more than four boys and their friendship.

And the final movie I'm going to recommend is the Dracula movie that Coppola made in 1992. It's not very scary, but VERY romantic! I guess that if this movie had come out today, it would be classified as an EMO movie, but way back then we didn't have such things as emo kids, so I don't care! It's so dark and romantic, and Gary Oldman is SOOO sexy in his long, dark hair!

Hm, I think we'll make this into a series of posts: Next time I'll tell you about my favourite actors. And I think I also want to rant a bit about TV-series as well. And I guess I could make a full post about music as well... So stay tuned if you want to hear my opinion on stuff you don't care about :)

Oh, and just so you know: All film poster photos are borrowed from Wikipedia!

/ Jenny