D52 - Week 5 - Bambi

Amanda's bit:

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What's this? Kevin's making ME go first? Well, I have to admit that as a child I thought Bambi was rather boring. I wasn't much of a girly girl and I thought cute things were only for the wimpy mean girls. Now that I'm older I appreciate this movie much more.

We follow the maturing of a young deer from birth to adult witnessing his first steps, first words, first kiss, and first children. The story is fairly straightforward and yet carries the weight of a number of heavy themes.

First and foremost is death. Bambi in fact includes the very first Disney death and audiences were shocked. Current popular culture has us believe that seeing this movie as children is a recipe for trauma, but I can't remember every feeling that way. I recognized the loss and I was smart enough to know that Mother wasn't returning, but Bambi was an excellent role model. He mourned his loss and continued with life.

The second big theme that I felt was suffering. Because Bambi runs like a nature film in which the animals have personalities of their own instead of personalities thrust upon them by a narrator's script, the struggles of every day life in the wild are clearer and more relate-able than ever.

Not only are there a host of other heavy issues to be taken in, but there is a lot of beauty on the screen. It's clear that Fantasia had a lot of bearing on the use of music for Bambi. Whereas most Disney films use music to add to the story, Bambi has score and lyric to set the atmosphere and relate the passage of time. It's as if the score were an entirely different character in the movie, perhaps the voice of Mother Nature. Personally, I approve.

Favorite Character: The Mole "Nice, sunny day!"
Least necessary character: As much as I hate to say it, Flower. Flower is beyond cute, but really had nothing to do with plot.
Overall: Beautiful artistry. Beautiful music. Heavy adult themes. Cute kiddie animals. I recommend it highly and is certainly way up high on my list of favorites.

Amanda's Extra: I have had the pleasure of reading the book on which this movie was based and if you haven't, I intensely recommend that you do. It requires a lot of imagination to truly feel the tone that is laid down in the book and can't be read from the point of view of a human. One really has to get into the skin of the wildlife and try to understand an animal's instinctive actions.

I was most inspired by the conversation between two leaves reduced to a few moments of score in the movie, but original and moving dialog in the book. It's easy to relate to fellow members of the animal kingdom when it comes to the circle of life, and it's so easy to overlook the suffering of the flora which happens in tune with the animals. The book describes the conversation between the last two leaves as they hang on the branch. They ponder the fate of their fallen brethren as well as their own future. What will happen to them when their stems can no longer hold? As they lose their grip from the tree, the conversation ends abruptly and life in the forest continues as if it had never taken place.

Kevin's bit

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It's a very, very cute movie. Achingly cute - maybe too cute? At least there's death (even if it is followed by more cuteness immediately afterward)! And fire!
As already said it has great art and animation and important themes. And as much as I enjoyed seeing it for the first time in a long time, I don't find myself wanting to see it again and again. I guess I feel about it the same way I do most well-made nature documentaries - interesting the first time but little rewatchability.
Favorite character: Friend Owl adds the right amount of sour that this sweet dish needs.
Least necessary character: Ronno kind of came out of nowhere and was vanquished rather easily. I guess it just bothers me that he wasn't set up at all earlier in the film.
Overall: Let the kids watch it. How else are they going to relate to all of those "Bambi's mom" jokes they'll inevitable come across later in life?

Kevin's extra: I just had to share this. It turns out there's a "Cine-Manga" version of Disney's Bambi. Basically, it's stills from the movie with word balloons and sound effects passed off as graphic novel frames. It's as silly and lazy as it sounds. So, how does the picto version handle the iconic emotional moment? Maybe for the sake of taste it simply lets the pictures speak for themselves to reflect the somber moon and...no well anyway this is what it actually does:













...ACTION SOB!

D52 - Week 2 - Pinocchio

Kevin's bit

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Review:
Whereas Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was a very simple plot stretched and padded to the length of a movie, Pinocchio is a movie made up of four small episode-length plots. But I do think it's more engaging and funnier. For one, I like the bit where Jiminy Cricket warms his...self. Who says a butt joke has to be crude? I wonder if it was considered so back then? It turns out there are a couple of other butt jokes throughout too. Somewhat fitting for a movie whose third episode is about asses.
The first "episode" is charming and funny. Figaro's great to watch. I do tend to prefer a silent comic relief cartoon animal over a talking one. The second and third episodes...are good enough. The fourth has a short but powerful scene with enough tension to make up for the, well, lack of tension in Snow White. I've seen plenty of stuck-inside-of-a-whale scenes, but this might be my favorite.
I suppose what I didn't like were any of these attempts to teach children lessons. I don't like when people give children an imaginary reason for why they shouldn't do something - in this case, "Don't tell lies or your nose will grow" or "Don't misbehave or you'll turn into a donkey." Why scare children with untrue threats that they possibly don't really believe anyway? Just teach kids not to, say, destroy other people's property because they wouldn't like it if someone did the same to them! That's really my only beef with this movie.

Trivialities:
-When Honest John first walks past Pinocchio, he does a double-take and is amazed at seeing a walking, talking wooden boy. It makes me wonder how the people of the village react when they first see Honest John and Gideon. Do they go, "AAGH! A giant fox and cat wearing clothes! And one of them is talking!!" I like to think that the two used to be human, but like the Pleasure Island boys they too were transformed into animals connected to their behavioral setbacks.
-Is Geppetto aware of Jiminy Cricket? I don't remember them every interacting with each other, but if Jiminy took it upon himself to introduce himself to The Blue Fairy and Pinocchio, you would think he would do the same with Geppetto. Like, "Hey, I'll help take care of your boy for you?" Maybe he did, and that's why Geppetto didn't bother to walk with Pinocchio to school?

In lieu of the favorite character/least favorite character...
Slightly old versus much, much older: I won't go on about every version of Pinocchio that's ever been set to moving images, but I just have to mention the other Disney version. I remember seeing the made-for-TV musical starring Drew Carey, Geppetto, a while back. As the title suggests, it's mostly told from Geppetto's point of view and...it's, um, not nearly as enjoyable or finely crafted as Pinocchio. Though it features songs written by Stephen Schwartz (who would go on to write for a little ol' musical called Wicked), you just can't compete with "When You Wish Upon a Star," can you?

Overall: Though it gets a bit slow at times, I might end up listing this as one of my favorites, or at least one that I should rewatch more often. Watch it with your kid(s), and maybe afterward explain that smokers should fear emphysema much more than the prospect of growing donkey ears.



Amanda's bit

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Pinocchio is most certainly a masterwork. From a story point of view, I would have loved to seen a television series especially since there were so many more stories that could have been adapted from the original source. From an animation standpoint, more stops have been invented and subsequently pulled out! The transparent and glowing blue fairy, the multiplane camera, the numerous effects shots are all as beautiful now as they were then. From a musical standpoint, the score has so many perfectly timed music cues and the songs cover so many styles and still include humor and story points.

I have to disagree with Kevin about the morality of the stories. I think it's pretty clear that the things that happen to Pinocchio would never happen to real little children, but that doesn't negate the lesson. The lesson is not to fear an actual huge nose, but to understand that a lie grows and becomes obvious and there's no point to starting it in the first place. Children may not turn into actual donkeys but they can "act like jackasses." This makes the movie an excellent jumping point for parents to talk with children about what is naughty and what is good without being too pushy. I for one approve and in any case, the movie is entertaining and that's the thing I care about most when it comes to cinema.

Tidbits: If you get the chance, be sure to find the release with the most DVD or Bluray extras. The folks at Disney really have a lot to say about this one and it's all incredibly interesting!

Favorite character: By a wide margin, Jiminy Cricket. He's absolutely charming from beginning to end. It's no wonder he makes such an excellent host for so many Disney theme park attractions!

Least favorite character: I have to go with Monstro with this one for the sheer fact that he's genuinely frightening. He's quite well animated and it's clear how dangerous he is and it's a testament to the storymen and animators, but he's just too scary for me!

Overall: I laughed a lot more than I expected to since it's been a while since I've seen this movie. If you're still a child at heart I think this movie gets better as we get older.

Amanda's Extra: Do you love my little whale? He's way less scary than Monstro was! I shall call him "Ministro."

Day 349 and Shimmer

Novelty yarns have their place, but some yarns sit on the very border of novelty land. Anything with a thread of metallic bits often balance carefully here. This scarf uses Vanna's Choice Glimmer and definitely earns my seal of approval. Granted, I'm a really laid back and easy to please knitter. Some of the yarns I've worked with in the past year and what most folks would consider pretty darn gross. (We're talking 30 year old Orlon gross) I always assume that there's a way I can make a yarn work. If it was as heinous as all that then it wouldn't be on the market.

Vanna'a Choice (And keep in mind I haven't worked with any of Vanna's yarns just yet) doesn't come close to the heinous scale. The metallic bits aren't intrusive and aren't sticky and tinsely feeling as some tend to be and really does show quite a lot of shine despite the lack of it in my less-than-professional picture. I used a couple of baby yarns which happen to be the same weight to lessen the sparkle, but if I had had 3 skeins of Glimmer I feel confident in using it!

Here's the recipe:

3 skeins of Vanna's Choice Glimmer (They can all be the same color or you can use different colors. I think this would look pretty amazing with silver, gold, and platinum)
Size N Crochet hook
Tapestry needle.
Chain 111 and use the pattern "Hardy Edge" from Crochet Edges and Trims: 150 Stitches. Cut the yarn.
When you've finished the edge, turn the scarf so the chain edge is at the top. Start a new yarn and slip stitch into the available chain bump working rows 2-4 of the pattern. Cut the yarn.

Weave in all ends.

Don't be alarmed by the gigantic open lace! The hook and yarn combination makes a soft fabric that easily squishes up around your neck to provide nice warm layers.

Day 321 and Bowties

From the book Crochet Edgings and Trims, this is the very first pattern available in the book and in my opinion the most suited to be made bulky and turned into a scarf. The bowtie relief stitching is made as you go and is really a very clever construction. Let us never forget that a trim can be blown up and made to stand all on its own.

Day 320 and Sunflower

Ahhh, variations on a theme are what keep me going every day. Whenever I feel like I've hit a dead end, I can always look back at something I liked and think to myself, "how can I make this different?"

Instead of a closure, I went with a snug cowl. This could work with just about any applique though. The basic formula is as follows:

Size 17 needles
worsted weight yarn (3 strands held together)

I worked over 16 stitches a simple moss stitch and grafted the beginning to the end when it was just long enough to stretch over my head. Knowing that I was going to make a large sunflower, I decided to place the flower right over the seam as it was large enough to cover it completely thus making the remaining cowl appear completely seamless. I opted for color on color here, but you might prefer a nice green background for a flowery scene, or even something a little sparkly to remind you of a pretty crystal vase for the single bloom.

The sunflower design was partially lifted from 100 Flowers to Knit and Crochet by Lesley Stanfield though I must admit, I did modify it heavily. I just can't seem to leave well enough alone!

Day 307 and Vogue Collar

As many off the cuff scarves as I've made, I still really enjoy following a pattern. I thought this was a quick easy to follow pattern as vogue patterns tend to be. Just a quicky, fairly nondescript, but it made me happy and I felt accomplished afterwards as I tend to do on completion.

Day 297 and Trick or Treat

Just when I think I've dabbled in every technique there is, something new turns up.

This is called interlocking crochet, woven filet, double filet, or double sided crochet among other names, I expect. It's truly fascinating! The idea is that 2 filet crochet meshes are worked at the same time offset in such a way that the crosses of one layer appear through the windows of the other layer. By sometimes working stitches through the mesh of the opposite fabric, interesting patterns can be made. Amazingly, I would call this an advanced beginner technique despite looking so very advanced.

I pulled this pattern stitch from Interlocking Crochet which I think is best called a stitch dictionary just for this technique.

The coolest part is that in this photo you see a grid of orange with black windows, but if you were to turn this scarf over, it would look like an entirely different piece! On the other side, it's a wash of black with orange crosses.

Day 257 and Wave

I know I've mentioned a few books in passing as inspiration or as stitch dictionaries that I particularly enjoy, but there are plenty of books out there that are dedicated specifically to the accessory to which I'm bound for another 98 days.

Hooked Scarves: 20 Easy Crochet Projects is where I plucked this pattern. It is meant to be made with a much larger needle and much larger yarn, but shrinking it down still gave a nice size. As for the book, it is true to its name. The chosen projects would all be excellent for a beginner or an ambitious beginner with a focus on making something wearable and making it right now. The stitches stay relatively basic and the tutorial section of the book has a great many photos that are clear and colorful. The scarves themselves range from fun and funky to professional and sophisticated. My opinion? I approve! :)

Day 201 and X

Ah, embroidery. It takes so many forms and this form happens to be cross-stitch. Before I learned to knit, cross-stitching was my preferred form of domestic art. I'm now a yarn convert, but every now and then, it's fun and relaxing to visit my roots.

Here we have a very plain, very blank, very boring, very inexpensive scarf which can be found at any dollar store in America. Not much of a statement the way it is, but it does offer a very large canvas! Depending on the size of the design of you're cross-stitching, it might be prudent to purchase some waste canvas which is an even-weave fabric that can be used as your grid and then pulled away one thread at a time when the design is finished.

For this project, I picked out a couple of skull designs from Makoto's Cross-stitch Super Collection and since they're a little bit punk and a little bit funky, I went ahead and pictured the grid in my head. I had waste canvas on hand, but I rather like the slightly uneven look for these two motifs. Since the background fabric isn't on a grid of it's own, you could rotate each design in any direction at all if you so chose. Just remember that the thicker and denser your material, the sharper your needle needs to be. This scarf was a thin woven fleece and I got away with using a blunt embroidery needle. If I had been working on a herringbone fabric or through more than one layer, I would definitely have needed a sharp crewel needle and a thimble to save my little piggies.

Day 189 and Wildflowers

Sometimes all you need is a single common color to make everything else look like it goes together. For a field of wildflowers, it's usually the green grass or yellow wheat all around it. For this hexagonal flower scarf, I made all of the many colored flowers match just by making the center section the same color for all of them.

Find yourself this book: Beyond the Square, Crochet Motifs and use Motif number 36 to make this scarf. The great thing about slightly pointed hexagonal motifs is that you only have 4 points of connection. This means that you can slip stitch your motifs together as you go and only 2 points are attached at any one time. It's fast, it's easy and it's satisfying to be able to make all the motifs and not sew anything together at the end. I'm not sure I can work any other way!

Day 179 and Arcadia

I thought this stitch was so much like architecture, I couldn't think of a better name for it. This was another one from the same stitch dictionary as yesterday: Crochet! and because it's all chains and single crochet (double for euro), it's a very fast scarfy.

It seemed like if it was draped, it curled up on itself a lot, so as a way to keep it lying flat, I put tassels on one end only which fit easily through the large arches in the pattern. This makes it more of a collar and easily worn without it being loose and catching on things which would definitely have been an issue with so many large holes.

Day 172 and Pizzelles

Have you ever had a pizzelle? It's a very thin crisp highly detailed italian cookie made with a hot iron.


Now look at that up there and tell me you don't see a resemblance to this down here.

Mmmm, those flutey edges and the lacyness are making me hungry. I never would have seen it at all if Kevin hadn't commented that it looked like the aforementioned Italian cookie. Sometimes it just takes a fresh eye to make you see something in a totally different way.

If you want to make one of your own, all you need is Stitchionary 4 and use the edging called "wide scallop." Six repeats and a button placed so that it drapes the way you like is all you need if you use a size I hook and worsted weight yarn.

Day 168 and Hiccoughs

Or Hiccups. However you spell it is fine with me. It's funny how putting a stripe of pattern in the middle of a different pattern draws the attention. You can't avoid looking at it because of the very subtle but unexpected texture change. By the way, have you ever stitched with linen? OH, Let me tell you, I have a new favorite fiber with which to crochet! Crochet is notorious for being too bulky for comfortable wearables. Linen makes anything wearable. Even though this was a yarn that was held double, it's still lighter than air and so breathably comfortable, I expect I could wear this in august without breaking a sweat. I'll definitely be yarn shopping for linen and linen blends for all my summer stitching.

It's a very basic stitch pattern and if you need a chart, it's number 70 in Stitchionary 4. This is an easy one and if you're a very fluent crocheter, you could figure this out on sight. 5 DC, 2 shells, 5 DC every row. You'll have this one memorized after the very first row. Happy Hooking!

Day 159 and Patterns

There are thousands upon thousands of written and charted patterns in the world already. I've used a few so far, but it still seems a shame not to do my best to check out a nice wide spectrum of them. This one was from a magazine I bought back in 2004... and sadly it feels like an awfully long time ago. Still, some very basic designs remain quite handsome for a good long time.

The downside to using a pattern is that you have to figure out the mistakes the hard way: by making them and frogging them back out. This pattern had only lines of pattern, but line 2 was very very incorrect. I spotted it pretty early and luckily it was easy to see the problem. If you happen to have a much tougher mistake in your pattern, turn to your peers and the local experts in your knitting group, family, or LYS. There's no shame in asking for a quick revision.

Too Awesome not to Share

No, they aren't scarves, but I had to take a time out and share these HILARIOUS little finger puppets! I'm in the Harry Potter Knit and Crochet House Cup Group on Ravelry and this was a quidditch project. I can't hardly stand how stinkin cute they are!

Day 151 and Crosses

I was checking out the book "Knitting Wrapsody" by Kristin Omdahl and while I didn't have time to make one of the very loevly projects in the book, I did spot a stitch pattern that I wanted to practice on. It's used on the front of the infinity wrap and gives an effect not terribly dissimilar to broomstick lace in crochet.

In the end, I wish I had time enough to do a few more repeats, but it's summer now and it's too hot for a wide scarf anyway XD

Day 139 and Connections

Get ready for a set of three. This scarf, tomorrow's and the scarf for the day after are all based on the same pattern stitch from 2oo stitches for baby blankets but very very different.

Today is the classic pattern. 4 single crochets and 4 dbl crochets make a lozenge effect when stacked. Alternating stacks gives this lovely wavy appearance which stands out the most when very strongly contrasting colors are used. I did use one variegated yarn, but in the future, I probably would avoid striping yarns as the texture isn't strong enough for my taste.

Day 138 and Waves

Crocheting in tall and short stitches in sequence and then reverse sequence gives a pretty undulating effect. Stitches used started with single crochet, then half double, double and triple and then the entire thing in reverse. A couple rows of nice orderly single crochets breaks up the waves and makes the curvy pattern much more clear. This was from Stitchionary 4, but I'm afraid I memorized the sequence and not the name of the stitch.

Before anyone says anything, I didn't realize my color choices were suggestive until after I was done. LOL! whoops.

Day 137 and Corners

This was so easy and so fun! I love when basic stitches give such exciting results. This is just granny square corners stacked on top of each other over and over again. Since you need a chain to get you to the next stack, it gives the appearance of a stair step. It's actually an edging suggested in 200 Pattern Stitches for Baby Blankets called granny braid, but in a big gauge it's a scarf all on it's own!

Read to me!

8 questions game Part 3

3)What books are you reading right now?

What you have to know about Kevin and Amanda, we're bedtime story people. Kevin is the reader, and I am the listener.

Night after night, we go to bed at a very reasonable hour (which is obscenely early for most other people) and I bring my knitting, my crochet, or a mindless video game and Kevin lays on his stomach and begins reading out loud. Sometimes we get through a chapter per night. Sometimes more and sometimes less depending on the book.

We just finished Peter Pan and Wendy by J.M. Barrie. And before that we read 3 books by Roald Dahl: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator, and The Witches.

Hanging out in the wings until we get to them? Treasure Island (oooo, it's leather bound and re published in 41). We have a couple of short story compilations which I hope we read from soon.