Black Sheep: the movie

Movie Review

Last weekend I watched Black Sheep, a film from New Zealand. This horror/comedy is about a fellow that goes back to his family farm to find that his brother has genetically mutated sheep that eat people. I haven't watched a horror movie in about 20 years and have little appreciation for the gore. However, the comedy part won me over. The animal right activists that show up have all the best comedic lines. The heroine's alternative medicine/healing approach to everything is so funny. She asks her companion if he wants some "Rescue Remedy" after being attacked by a sheep. When the heroine finds her boyfriend has turned into a giant sheep-human-monster with blood dripping out of his mouth, she gasps and asks, "Grant, have you been eating meat?" This is a totally weird film and you have any interests in horror movies as a genre, I'd say watch it.

My Husband's "Movie Review"

"It's like knitting an afghan...it seems like a good idea when you start, but you loose interest and don't want to finish it." Note: My husband fell asleep during the movie and he has never knitted an afghan. He was just trying to be funny. And he was, I suppose.

Progress

Making progress on the laptop bag. I had to block this piece on a card board box. I'm excited to sew it all together and get the lining in.

What I'm knitting now.

When you spin you have a lot of time to think about what you want to make with the yarn. Even if you had a plan for it when you started, by the end you may have been enlightened to a new and improved use. As I was spinning the orange Cotswold I was day-dreaming about taking a road trip. I thought it would be cool to visits some farms and buy some fleece from people along the way. I would take my camera and laptop to record the journey. Having photos of the actual animals that produced the fiber would be so great.

Then I started worrying about my laptop getting dirty and cold and jostled around on this imaginary trip. Ah-ha! I would knit my laptop a bag to protect it. The fiber I was spinning was of no use for an actual garment that would adorn an actual person. It is soooo scratchy. But it's tough. It would be great to use for the bag.

I searched the Internet for a knitted laptop bag and didn't find anything that I liked. Most laptop bags made of yarn are felted it seemed. So I decided to make up my own pattern. And that's what I'm knitting now.

Over-Dyeing

Over-dyeing the Cotswold worked well. I added more madder root to the dye bath and it really darkened up the skeins. I used low heat for about 2 hours then kept the yarn in over night. By morning I had the color I wanted in the first place: a nice autumn orange. Technically it's not autumn yet but now I can start knitting my next project as the weather cools down.

Mother Hildegard's Cotswolds

Oh ya, here she is! I got the Summer 2008 issue of Wild Fibers and they had an article about the nuns living at Our Lady of the Rock on Shaw Island. I borrowed this photo, taken by Linda Cortright. So the project I'm working on right now started as fleece from this nun's sheep!

This week-end I flick carded and spun up all the not-quite-pumpkin colored Cotswold. I think I'm suppose to use combs on these long locks, but I don't own any. The flick-carding went well. Now I have a sample in a dye bath to see if it's worth it to try to over-dye the skeins.

For those of you who are not familiar with fiber animals, the critter that Mother Hildegard is holding a finger up to is NOT a Cotswold sheep.

I guess you can take it with you.

This is a post for my friend Kelsey. The mummy you see here is from Peru and her name is Tejida. She was a weaver and when she died she was buried clutching her skeins of yarn. Apparently some grave robbers took her legs but even in her condition (dead) she still has her stash. Now you're going to tell me you have TOO MUCH yarn? Oh no. No such thing. You really should take up spinning. I know you would love it.

This photo was borrowed from the magazine Wild Fibers Issue: Fall 2007. The article is A Life Unraveled After Five Hundred Years. Story and photos by CJ Schexnayder.

Nature is Unpredictable

What color should we call this? Post a comment to vote: a)pumpkin-peach hybrid, b) cantaloupe pie, c) creamsicle vomit, or d) just make up your own. Be honest now.