Lixie Makes It

Nickerjac has a meme on her blog about films you have watched - I have seen 63, of which I would like to commend to you the folowing:

• Hellboy. I've talked about this film before. It's just good. You can learn a lot about life by watching this film. Especially if you can set yourself on fire without actually burning and are having trouble controlling it.
• Team America. I *love* Thunderbirds, Captain Scarlet, Stingray (stingray, dunna daanna daanna), insert puppets here. I also like funny films. So this one combining the two was bound to be a winner. The songs are awesome ("America - fuck yeah!" is one of my favourites) and the sex seen is just brill - you've only seen similar if you have seen Avenue Q.
• Kill Bill 1 and 2. These really are the classics everyone bangs on about them being. They may not be to your taste but they are worth seeing just as a cultural reference point.
• Kung Fu Hustle. This combines some of the biggest names in martial arts with fit bods and hilarious plot and excellent surrealism. It's a film you can watch with your parents or your grandchildren and everyone will be happy. It's feel good without scmaltz and with realism. Good stuff.

A word of caution however. There are two films which should carry health warnings, although actually neither of them are on that list. The first is Pirates of the Carribean 3. This film sees Keira Knightley being elected the pirate king. Nuff said. The second is much more dangerous, because it is longer. Do not be fooled by the innocent title - "The Bridges of Madison County". Oh my god. That film. It lasts for about 6 hours and basically nothing happens except two people who should know better boffing a bit for about 5 hours. Then her husband comes back and the last 10 mins is really heart wrenchingly sad. You go through the whole film and a ridiculous number of shots of bridges, just to have your heart ripped apart in the last scene or so. When I think what I could have been doing during the 8-10 or was it 12 hours that film lasted....

The wekend found me in Deptford where I discovered a new knitting shop. It's not actually new - it looked like it had been there about 50 years and was mainly acrylic, but still, it's all good. The market there was amazing. Half junk...the type of stuff you can not believe anyone will ever pay even 1p to take away, and half amazing piles of veg.

I have been working on a maquette for the last week or so. I have decided that what is missing from my life is a cabled, hooded cardigan. Obviously. And having never found one I was totally happy with I have taken the bold step of designing my own. So the mini version, which will find its way to feed the children eventually, is my prototype.

It started off with the waist band, which is supposed to be empire line although I may move it to real waist. Then I picked up and knitted down for the bottom/peplum. Then I picked up and knitted up for the raglan top. I screwed the sleeves up but I know what I did. Then I added a hood. I love the hood.

I used the EZ percentage method for the increases. It is the first time I have ever done a hood and I like it. I'm now going to have a bit of a post mortem on ravelry and work out what I want to do differently on my one. For instance, I think the asymetric front and the hood aren't going to work together, so I think I'll just go symmetric instead. I've also got to choose the cables and try them out but all in all I am looking forward to it!