the Parkiest dale of them all

I should be sewing right now. I have been accepted into a craftsale in my hood and have 2 weeks to make some stock. So I really should be sewing. But perhaps it is too late to be running Easy Rider- the serger. Apparently there is going to be a Sorauren craft sale website up at some point, so I will post the link and do the pimping when it is up and running. I can't think of any exciting knitting news at the moment, especially since I have spent the last 2 days sewing. I'm working on one bag that I have christened 'the Parkdale Special'. It's actually just a plastic bag from No Frills. Went to the SnB this evening. It was good times as usual, and perhaps I did a little too much B-ing...as usual. I do fear we are going to start seeing a veritable army of Anthropology Inspired Capelets very soon. On my return home I was stranded umbrella-less at the subway station where I wanted for about 45 minutes for a streetcar. When it finally arrived, I was a little leary of getting in due to all the lightning, however, fear of wet yarn caused me to throw caution to the wind and board the potential deathtrap.

and now for your viewing pleasure: some scenes from my hood.




I live here. Ok not really.




Is that a smokestack or are you just happy to see me?




An Island getaway on a budget




this sort of reminds me of Newfoundland. Not that I've ever been there, so it reminds me of my idea of Newfoundland




I live here, Ok not really. I wish I lived here though

In other news, I;ve been having a lot of problems with my semi-colon(s) lately.

drunken knitting

Last Wednesday I scrambled to get a knitting project togther (besides the pink sock of pain and loathing; which is currently on hiatus) and actually managed to get my ass up to Davisville (aka the ends of the earth) for the weekly SnB. My attendance has been nil for the past few weeks due to my having to finish some stupid design work and more importantly because I am a sloth who sometimes doesn't want to leave her hood. So after the endless TTC voyage (even a walk-inista such as myself, is not going to walk to Davisville from Parkdale) I arrive in Toronto North, (well it's north at least as far as I'm concerned) get to the cafe, and immediately see Sophie standing there in all her sock knitting glory. This was exciting because I haven't seen her since the TTC knit-a-long. (note to self, I must remember to get my casein dpn from her at some point.)

I had decided to wear the capelet of many dinge-y colours




and received many compliments. In fact, people were still talking about pink fluffy the capelet which I had worn several weeks ago.
So, knitting happened although I didn't manage to get much done on the hat I was attempting to design, however Sophie invited me to the Friday night Knitting Olympics monthly get- together at the Spotted Dick. So, when friday night rolled around, I got a different knitting project together (definitely not a pink sock) and walked from Parkdale to Bloor and Yonge. It took a while. Upon entering the pub I made a beeline towards the long table of happy and somewhat tipsy knitters and sat with Sophie, Sandi Purl, and Jacquie. Sophie was working on socks for a change *cough cough*, Jacquie was knitting a pretty top (actually 2 pretty tops) and Sandi...well I'm not sure exactly what Sandi was working on but I know it will be fabulous.

For my project, I decided to do some personal knitting and use up some yarn in the ol' stash and make yet another capelet. Unfortunately I don't think I'm going to have enough of this particular yarn, which is discontinued so I am going to do the ribbing at the bottom in a contrasting yarn and maybe do something really twee like a matching bow.




Jacquie feels that it may be time for me to start knitting something else. I also think I need to find a new pattern. Although I wish I had designed this one. It's so pretty and I can knit them fairly quickly.

Anyway, a whole lot of drinking and a whole lot of knitting happened.
Check out team canada for more on the subject.

Also,

I already mentioned this to some people at the Dick.
It's my birthday. Well it will be on tuesday..or wednesday, not sure which, too lazy to check. I'm not really down with the whole aging process, so in the spirit of clinging to my fading youth and denying the fact that I will be one year closer to the embrace of the eternal nothingness, I want to dance like it's 1984.




Saturday June 24, 2006
PANIC - the ultimate retro party
with a NIN/Bauhaus After Party
with a Flashback Alternatives backroom
Funhaus - 526 Queen St West
10pm-4am 19+ event
Free before 11pm ONLY $5 after

I'm cheap, so I will most likely be there before 11:00.
*edit I will most likely be there by or around 11:00. I am being taken to see Cirque du Soleil which ends at 10:00.

If I know you, feel free to join for revellery and such. If I don't know you, please stop stalking me ;)

Four things meme

Tagged by Jacquie

A) Four jobs I have had in my life:
1. Research assistant on a book about Canadian theatre.
2. Design assistant at a large Canadian theatre.
3. Cashier at Dollarama (trying to make money to go to Canadian theatre school)
4. Ice cream/pastry server/cashier at Les Queues des Castors (also known as Beaver Tails!!!)(and ditto)

B) Four movies you would watch over and over:
1. Rushmore
2. le Fabuleux Destin d'Amelie Poulin
3. Withnail and I
4. Hedwig and the Angry Inch

C) Four places you have lived:
1. Sackville, New Brunswick
2. Small crappy town in the Eastern Townships of Quebec
3. Montreal, Quebec
4. Toronto, Ontario

D) Four TV shows you love to watch:
1. Dead Like Me
2. What not to wear
3. CSI
4. Iron Chef

E ) Four places you have been on vacation:
1. all-over-the-place, England
2. Amsterdam
3. Long Boat Key, Florida
4. Fiji

F) Websites you visit daily:
1. Live Journal
2. craigslist
3. craftster
4. my site (shameless self promotion)

G ) Four of my favorite foods:
1. Ume and Okra Onigiri from Sanko.
2. Pistachios
3. Olives. Especially olives stuffed with roquefort and olives in martinis... and just martinis. I could go for one right now actually.
4. Is coffee food?

H) Four places I would rather be right now:
1. Sleeping
2. Living in a large apartment with low rent and no roommates
3. at a fancy gentleman's club, drinking double martinis.
4. Manchester, circa 1979

I) Four chix I will tag:
hmmm. I think all the chix I know on here have already been tagged several times. I will have to do some research on this. In the mean time, I will tag Carrie Nation.

Peak hat of despair

Due to overwheming demand (cough cough) I'm in the process of designing a peak hat for men.




I'm having some issues with the brim. The first brim is too tiny, so I'm trying a different style, which may also be too tiny and too girly.

I'm making the prototype out of Classic Elite Waterspun. Which is a felted yarn. It's interesting to work with. If I can get the hat to look good, I may give it to my former roommate- he who gave me the yarn...and Big Bertha the knitting machine (he says 'lent', I say 'gave'- it's really a question of semantics) Of course the hat probably won't fit him. Maybe I'll just keep it since the colour actually looks good with my hair.

Felting 101

Up to now, I haven't had much experience with felting. To be honest, I'm not sure I really dig the way it looks. There is also the fact that I have to pay to use the washing machines in my building...and they are front loading machines- which is a whole other ball of yarn. In the past, I have attempted to felt things by hand using a lot of hot water and a rolling pin, but for some reason this technique has never worked out for me. All of this aside, I decided to take another stab at felting, and do a little experiment last week.

My plan was to knit up some 'fabric' on the knitting machine and then through the magic of hot water and agitation (or hot wa-gitation), create lovely felt with which to make appliques and such. I was also using this as a test to see which yarn in my stash will actually felt.

Step 1: Choose yarn. I used Galway (that's the blue one), Patons: Classic wool (oatmeal) and Sandnes Ulduarefabrik: Peer gynt. (red and white) I also did a swatch of Naturally Guernsey double knit because I have quite a lot of that one and it's too itchy for hats.

Step 2: Knit up some yardage on Big Bertha the Knitting machine. I recommend listening to some Johnny Cash while doing this.

Step 3: Throw knitting in washing machine with hot water and soap and an old pair of jeans. Throw some other miscellaneous knit things in just to see what happens.

Step 4: After 40 minutes, go downstairs to find that the stuff is only partially felted. Run to the corner store for more change.

Step 5: Realize that it would have been better to actually construct something and then felt it because the stockinette fabric has turned at the edges and has felted to itself.

The yardage did felt...somewhat. However, you can still see some stitch definition and it frays a little when cut. This is probably due to the fact that the stitches knit on the knitting machine are too tight to felt properly. Finally, I decided to cut the fabric up and attempt to make a little change purse, sewn together with bright red mohair. It does look a little 'rainbow bus', but that sometimes happens when we experiment.

carrie nation

So after what seemed like weeks of waiting, Carrie Nation has arrived, pretty much as described. Although I do have some doubts as to whether her hair is actually 100% human. It seems to be a mix, I could do a burn test to find out- but I'm not sure I really need to know that badly. I love the fact that she looks like she's been popping the little red dolls. It could explain the delay at the border.




Here she is modeling a hat I made a few years ago, back when leopard was all the rage. Then again, when is it not?




Here she is again, sporting some cool circa 1996 shades and a hat that I purchased about 5 years ago at a store in Montreal called Aime Come Moi. It originally had a bizarre garden gnome vibe and the pom poms hung down around the bosom area. It didn't do much for me, so I gave the ear flaps a little twist and moved the pom poms upwards. It's much more flattering this way and I'll even wear it in public one of these days.

and speaking of bosoms

How excited am I to learn that the best (and sometimes referred to as the only Russ Meyer film with a plot) movie ever made is being released on DVD this June?


Click me for link to official website and more info on the DVDs and all the sweet bonus features



PRESS RELEASE

DOCTORS PRESCRIBE POPPIN’ TWO DOLLS FOR YOUR CAMPY ENTERTAINMENT FIX

CENTURY CITY, Calif. – Get twelve steps closer to superstardom as Fox Home Entertainment exposes Hollywood’s most shaming secrets when Valley Of The Dolls and Beyond The Valley Of The Dolls debut on DVD June 13, 2006. These two legends of camp – from the twisted minds of scandal-making sixties icon Jacqueline Susann, (actress, author, screenwriter and thinly veiled subject of Valley Of The Dolls), and midnight movie kingpin Russ Meyer (Faster Pussycat, Kill Kill!) respectively – horrified critics and enthralled audiences when they opened in theaters and have both remained cult classics ever since. Valley Of The Dolls stars Oscar® winner Patty Duke* (The Miracle Worker), Barbara Parkins (“Peyton Place”) and Sharon Tate (“The Beverly Hillbillies”) as three aspiring starlets who let Hollywood go to their heads. The Valley Of The Dolls DVD arrives loaded with pulpy bonus programming, including the famously sloppy screen test by Judy Garland, as well as original featurettes, “Pill Pop-Up Karaoke,” and much more. Penned by now-famous film critic Roger Ebert, the outrageously over-the-top Beyond The Valley Of The Dolls earned an X-rating on its quest to out-do the scandalous original with the story of a girl-band, The Carrie Nations, who arrive in Hollywood to find only sex, drugs and sleaze. Featuring doll-induced performances by non-actors from the rock and adult film communities, Beyond The Valley Of The Dolls is a shameless classic that proves “all are available for a price.” Both DVDs are available for $26.98 U.S./$46.98 Canada. Pre-book is May 17.

DVD Features:
The Valley Of The Dolls (1967):
Straight from the best-selling pages of Jacqueline Susann’s audacious novel comes the unforgettable tale of three glamorous women who will stop at nothing to get to the top. Oscar®-winners Patty Duke, Lee Grant and Susan Hayward team with Sharon Tate and Barbara Parkins for this “absorbing, sensational” (Los Angeles Times) account of “sex, drugs and show business!” (Detour) When a small-town beauty (Parkins) arrives in New York, she becomes instant friends with a struggling singer, Neely (Duke) and actress, Jennifer (Tate). Together the head-strong, career-driven gals embark on a roller-coaster ride of fast-talking men, endless nights of partying, booze…and pills that they call “dolls.” But as they careen down the path to superstardom, their hedonism takes an explosive turn into self-destruction that none of them are prepared for…and one won’t survive!


Beyond The Valley Of The Dolls (1970):
Step into a delirious kaleidoscope of the psychedelic ’60s in this “hilarious” (L.A. Herald-Examiner) and “lusty” (Playboy) parody of the 1967 hit film The Valley of the Dolls. Directed by auteur filmmaker Russ Meyer (Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!) and written by fledgling film critic Roger Ebert, this wildly sexy cult classic “spoofs, celebrates and derides the swinging culture all at once” (Village Voice)! Fun-loving bombshells Kelly, Casey and Pet have a rock band, and they’re headed to Hollywood to make it big! Thanks to Kelly’s well-connected aunt, they soon find themselves at a hedonistic love-in thrown by eccentric music promoter Ronnie “Z-Man” Barzell. He takes them under his wing, and a new world of sex, drugs and rock ’n’ roll unfolds. Superstardom is within reach, if only their newfound distractions don’t get in the way!


Valley Of The Dolls
Price: $26.98 U.S./$46.98 Canada
Street Date: June 13, 2006
Prebook Date: May 17, 2006
Total Running Time: 123 minutes
Catalog Number (widescreen): 2234636
Rating: PG-13
Closed Captioned Yes

Beyond The Valley Of The Dolls
Price: $26.98 U.S./$46.98 Canada
Street Date: June 13, 2006
Prebook Date: May 17, 2006
Total Running Time: 109 minutes
Catalog Number (widescreen): 2234633
Rating: NC-17
Closed Captioned: Yes


I'm very excited about this double DVD release action as I've never actually seen the original Valley of the Dolls movie and I'm interested to see how it differs from the book...or perhaps it falls more into the realm of 'novel' (which my Gramma lent me this one time in Florida). Stay tuned for more in depth (Beyond the)Valley of the Dolls analysis as I step up my efforts to introduce the Doll power phenomenon to the world at large.