Coraline

This movie has gotten a lot of attention and it deserves it. I am a little leary of ruining this for anyone by overhyping it, but you can always stop right now if you don't want to be a victim of overhyption...overhyperation...hyperventilation? You know what I mean.

Here is the really important part: SEE THIS MOVIE IN 3D.

I thought this might just be a marketing gimmick to get people to see the movie in the theater. A good gimmick too, for a movie without action scenes and panoramic special effects, but really, wear those little paper green and red glasses like you just left the opthamologist's office? Well, it was a surprise to receive, for only an extra three dollars, some sturdy and stylish 3D glasses that you can wear again and again.

And it was a real thrill when the screen instructed the audience to don the glasses. They have some nifty little special effects to give you a taste of what 3D is all about, and then the movie starts. Well, all I can say is that it is a whole lot of fun for something that is 100% legal, and it has a plot too. Stay all the way to the end of the credits for the visual finale.

Cabin

A couple of weeks ago I spent a long weekend (3 nights, two full days) in a lovely log cabin in Northern Wisconsin. In addition to being relaxing, it was an interesting experience for a couple of reasons.

The first thing was attending the dog sled races. They were held in Land O' Lakes (which is fine for the name of a butter but as I type it, I realize, very awkward for the name of a town). This was a very local event but should attract more tourists than it does. The mushers came from as far away as Canada (not too far) and Alaska (very far) and the teams were made up of anything from the traditional huskies to hounds. The mushers were as young as three in 50-yard mutt dash and a whole lot older for the longer races. I took several pictures of empty space on the racetrack--these guys moved faster than my shutter speed--but I did better at the finish when everyone was tired. There were dogs for sale, but I didn't even look--I will never in my life need as much exercise as those dogs require.

The inventory of what three women bring for amusement to a cabin in the woods is also worth noting: 44 CDs, 8 magazines, 3 newspapers, 6 games plus a deck of cards, 13 books, 2 extra books borrowed from the lodge, and three knitting projects (the latter all mine). That is indoor amusement--there were also three pairs of snowshoes and, in a different category, about 40 pounds of food. I would argue that our supplies for three days would have been identical to what we would need for three weeks. The main difference is that we might have played more of the games and CDs if we had had more time. I might have also read a book or learned Norwegian--I am not being facetious--the "Learn Norwegian in Three Months" program was tallied on both the CD and book counts.

I think this is practice for eventual retirement--we assembled all of the ingredients for a life without work, but we just ran out of time.

Color

I have been knitting a baby blanket since June. It used to be for a particular baby, but she kept growing while I kept knitting, and now it is for a different baby who can't be born until I finish it. I am estimating 2011 at the moment but it could be longer. I like the pattern, but failed to notice that it is knit on needles with the girth of toothpicks. The other problem is the color--or lack thereof. It is a lovely cream, and as December turned to January, I couldn't stand the absence of color in my world a minute longer.

In a fit of color deprivation, I logged on to Virtual Yarns and ordered the yarn needed to knit the lovely Alice Starmore baby bonnet featured on the cover of Piecework magazine last month. I had to hunt around for the colors, which are arranged by categories of nature--plants, birds, water, etc. The prices were in pounds, so I knew it wasn't local, but I was unprepared for the package that arrived less than a week later.

It was wrapped in brown paper with a faint stripe like packages of yore, before bar codes became popular. It had a Royal Mail of Scotland sticker and a customs sticker signed by M. MacLeod of the Isle of Lewis. It made my husband nervous, as do all packages that bear customs labels and finish our address off with "United States of America." I was unable to reassure him as I still haven't done the pound to dollar conversion, but I have to say, it has been worth every shilling, ha'penny, etc. I went right to work on winding the skeins (Mara, Golden Plover, Kittiwake, Poppy, Red Rattle, Whin, Witchflower, Sundew, Summer Tide) and a few days later finished the bonnet. I found out that Alice Starmore achieves her effects by using several hues of a color that are gradually added and subtracted from the pattern. The process is addicting with both "one more row" and "one more color" keeping me going.

It was the perfect antidote to the cream knitting project that never ends, and the perfect project for the middle of winter. And whoever will end up wearing this bonnet can go ahead and be born--I'm ready for you!