Pure Genius

Does everyone else on the planet love watching movies by Pedro Almodovar?

His Latest Masterpiece
When I'm designing a sweater, I take a lot of care to make sure the yarn I'm using is appropriate for the end garment. I pick out what I hope will be the perfect stitch pattern. I plan colors, so that they will interesting, different, and still yet appealing to the eye. I measure carefully, so fitting will be flattering for the eventual wearer of the sweater. And even after all that care, I still sometimes end up with something that just doesn't work.

That never seems to happen with Almodovar movies. He puts together odd characters, interesting locales, brilliant dialogue, and actors with the strongest screen presence I've ever seen, and every time comes up with a masterpiece of a movie.

Volver is his latest movie. Penolope Cruz (who I don't usually like very much in English-language movies) was brilliant, as was the young actress that played her daughter. I left the movie yesterday evening feeling amazed that I could enjoy a movie as much as I did this one. I get this feeling everytime I leave an Almodovar movie.

Now, if I could just get my sweaters to come out perfectly every time.

Current Knitting
I did get some work done on the Dark Tweed pullover.



The work seems to grow at an evolutionary pace, but I have completed about 13 inches so far on the front. Thaddeus is liking how it's turning out so far, so I'm happy to be working on it. I can already tell that the sleeves will be a painful process.

Sweater Mending
I was very busy this weekend. In addition to putting in a lot of work on the Dark Tweed pullover, I also finished knitting the replacement fabric on the sleeve of the brother-out-of-law's sweater, and then grafted the sleeve-end back onto the sweater.



If you look closely at the work I did, you'll notice a stripe of brighter blue knitting and also that my Fair Isle work is one row less than the same section on the non-damaged sleeve. Overall, I think the mending is hardly noticeable, and the owner will be very happy to get his hole-less sweater back.

Readers' Comments/Questions
With regard to parenting, knit-friend Kathy notes, "Well, maybe Joe would make a great parent--if actually liking children weren't a pretty much expected part of the proposition."

I've always had an enormous respect for parents, and while I'm pretty certain I'd have some decent parenting skills, I'm glad I never had to test that theory. I actually do like some children, and I don't like others (it's very similar to my view of adults). I can't imagine what it must be like for a parent to raise a child he just doesn't like very much. Now THAT would be a test of parenting skills.