Yarn Along: A whole lotta watchin' goin' on

~knitting~

Worked some more on my Hitchhiker scarf this week--I find it helpful to switch between projects so I don't get bored, particularly since I tend toward patterns with easy stitches.

Making my way up the front of my dad's vest--the little marker on the right is at row 67; I have to make 93 rows to match the front before I start binding off for the arms and shaping the v-neck.  So, nearly there!

I finished the back of my Sulka cardigan, but haven't cast on for the fronts.  I'm considering working them at the same time, just to save hassle.

~reading~

I'm dividing my reading between some relative fluff, and some heavy Soviet-era stuff.

My mother immediately absconded with this book when it arrived in February, so I'm just now getting around to it (she returned it to me in May).  It is a light but interesting read, and I have Witness2Fashion to thank for the recommendation.

I started Ms. Ginzburg's book and have hardly been able to put it down--it is so compelling and utterly devastating.  I did have to set it aside one night because I was starting to feel a bit paranoid about the world, and figured I needed a little space.

I'm still working through Alexievich's excellent book.  I'm finding this one a bit harder going than the Cherynobyl one.  The Cherynobyl book just grabbed me by the throat and I had to finish it in two days.  This one needs a more leisurely pace--the stories are more varied and longer, and span a bigger topic range.  Fascinating stuff, though.

I've got quite a reading list going at the moment, full of Soviet literature, memoirs, and basic history, plus a few tomes on East Germany as well.

~watching~

Speaking of the GDR, I watched the first episode of Deutchland 83 and found it quite interesting, but I'm not sure if I want to commit to the rest of the series.  I generally enjoy German films/series about the GDR (The Lives of Others, The Promise, Good-bye Lenin!, and Barbara are all high on my list of foreign favorites), but I don't know.  I'll keep it in reserve for a rainy day, I think.

Whilst working on various and sundry knitting projects, I devoured a British miniseries called The Game.  It is a spy thriller set in 1972, with MI:5 at the heart of the drama.  The whole thing has a lot of great twists and turns, and I really loved the set piece.  Plus the casting was quite excellent.  It has a LeCarre kind of feel to it.

I watched Labor Day with Kate Winslet and Josh Brolin, and while I found the basic premise to be slightly unbelievable, I still enjoyed the movie overall.  I thought telling the story from the son's perspective was interesting, and kept the shots and narrative quite tight.  When it opens up near the end of the movie, it is a revelation.  There are some emotionally heavy things in the movie that I wasn't expecting exactly, but it gave the story weight and truth.

I rewatched Sunshine, with Ralph Fiennes, another favorite of mine.  I still find the sweep of that movie entirely engrossing, and was reminded anew of how much I enjoy Ralph Fiennes as an actor.  I showed the first hour of that film to my students when I was still teaching Modern Europe in grad school because it vividly illustrates all the changes and themes of the late 19th and early 20th centuries in Europe.  

I also rewatched The Girl with the Pearl Earring over the weekend and enjoyed that very much.  It's been a long time since I read the book, so I can't remember how faithful the movie is to it, but I thought the way the movie was shot was fantastic--every shot is like a painting, so beautifully done.  I loved all the subtle details in each frame.

I started season 3 of Peaky Blinders, but I think I need to watch that in paces.  The show is very well done, the casting and acting are top notch, but it is very gritty, and I have to take that in small doses.

I finished season 2 of Endeavour (what can I say, my endoscopy/dilation laid me up for a week!) and loved it.  I'm eager for season 3 to start on PBS this weekend.  There is another series on PBS that intrigues me called The Tunnel that is set to start this month as well.

I discovered that Netflix has picked up a few episodes of Bob Ross' The Joy of Painting and watched that a few afternoons when I just wanted something soothing and quiet.  Ponchik watched one or two with me (she was on a nap strike a few days this past week and I was desperately tired from everything after the procedure) and kept asking about where his hair was when the camera would cut to a shot of his hand painting. 

I've been on my own with the kids a lot in the last three weeks (hence the large number of series/movies watched--evenings are long and I don't sleep as well when I'm on my own!), but my husband is back now for the foreseeable future, so hopefully things can settle down again into our summer time routine.

Linking with Ginny for Yarn Along!