Fiber Monday Christmas Haul

 

I got some Crochet Supplies for Christmas!

For all that 2020 was a dumpster fire of a year, Christmas wasn't bad for me. I slept in, got tons of tea (you'll be seeing some really fun reviews in the coming weeks, I promise!), and yes, I got some crochet goodies!

First we have a very nice yarn bowl!

The yarn bowl was a surprise, since I'd completely forgotten I'd asked for one lol. It's heavy, sturdy, and very, very pretty. While the swirl to keep your yarn straight is a little rough on the inside, I can see that with time, it'll wear 100% smooth. I do find myself slowing down a bit because my derpy brain subconsciously expects a soft cotton/acrylic blend to somehow produce enough friction with the wood that it starts a fire lol.

A Heckin Cool Hanging Shelf

This beefy boi is much deeper and wider than it looks from this angle - a full skein of red heart can go in either side-to-side or back to front! I can stack them! This will revolutionize my storage troubles, I think!

Some very pretty yarn!

My sister got me some very pretty yarn - some Unforgettable (a yarn I've really loved working with in the past!) and some more it's a wrap in a very nice blue colorway that I'm already itching to play around with!

Last (but certainly not Least!): Two nice Amigurumi books!

My folks picked me up both the yarn bowl and the pretty Unicorns, Dragons, and more Fantasy Amigurumi book, so I think I know what everyone's getting next year :P

My grandmother on my dad's side gave me that cute white-covered Amigurumi book, and honestly, it's just so precious. I hope there's a cute lil birb in there so I can make her one to keep her tiny parakeet company.

All in all, it was a delightful crop of crochet contributions and I cannot wait to start hooking away at all of these precious patterns with the big ol' pile of yarn scattered around my room. Thanks to the ball winder my partner gave me for my birthday, the new hanging rack, and yes, even the bowl, I'll be able to condense my collection to one or two small spaces with ease :)

I hope your Christmases were warm, cheery, and delightful, and I hope you'll swing by tomorrow to read my blathers and check out what my plan for the rest of the week is!

Go Enjoy Something!

FC

Twas the Tuesday Before Christmas

 

Twas the Tues before Xmas and all through the blog...

Not a Casual was settled

Many projects were Frogged.

The photos were stored on the Drive and the phone

As the blogger was stitching upstairs, all alone

Except I'm really terrible at remembering poetry I've heard a thousand times, so that format's just not gonna work for me lol.

If it weren't already quarter past 8 I'd sink more time into it, but instead, here's what I've been up to:

I've been making Christmas presents nonstop for several days. A couple are finished/delivered - a stuffed wombat for my partner, some snowflakes for my friends, a pair of filet crocheted doilies for my grandmothers (one with deer, the other is a snowflake) - but I still have a major project each for my sister and my dad to work on!

Now, while I don't think either one of them reads my blog (and if you do, please feel free to object ;) ) but I'm still not sharing what I made until after the holidays lol.

I will say this, however:

My sister's gift? It has necessitated a great deal of invention.

I love the patterns from WitchWolf, and I especially love how they look when worked up (I've had a few small successes, after all!). I took one of their patterns and altered it in paint.net so that it was the "right" colors and maybe changed a few lines for clarity, but the really exciting thing (besides trying tapestry crochet and succeeding so well) is that I have been struggling to make up the back of this project properly because it's boring. I'm not one for boredom, so I came up with a solution:

Teach myself Tunisian Crochet.

Problem: I don't have any Tunisian hooks

Solution:

I made one

Okay, FC, I hear you say to yourselves, How?

Well, way back in college over a decade ago (ouch), I made a really cool art project that was called "Electrical Spaghetti". It was a bowl made from coiled and sewn ethernet cable filled with "pasta" made from phone cords and other white wires, "meatballs" made of tiny wire balls, and "sauce" made of some red wires. I actually wound up unsheathing a bunch of smaller wires to make those meatballs and they came out of a red casing. I never threw the split, abandoned casing out because I'm probably a hoarder and while trying to figure out how to do TC without the right equipment, I looked over and saw it dangling off of my desk, trying to escape.

So I snagged it and the hook I was gonna use anyway and ran downstairs to grab some electrical tape and married the split plastic tube to my hook. I'm about to try it out!

...

I tried it out and... it doesn't 100% work, but it works enough for the first few rows. We'll see if I can get all the way up :)

Regardless, I've been very busy and I'll be glad when Christmas is over. I need to start working on gifts in freaking September next year lol.

So that's all from me!

Go Enjoy Something!

FC

Filmic Friday 251: A Christmas Carol (1954)

In Which I Discuss A Possibly Forgotten Classic

In 1951, Alastair Sim played Ebeneezer Scrooge in a famous adaptation of the Charles Dickins classic A Christmas Carol. It's still a popular version of the story to this day!

Three years later, CBS put on a variety show called Shower of Stars and made their own version, which I had literally never heard of until we found it on Hulu [Correction: It was actually Amazon Prime Video!], but... I 100% absolutely should have heard of it because it has Basil Freaking Rathbone and music by Bernard Herrman!!!!

Bennie Herrman?!

I love his music so freaking much!

But I'd never, ever heard of this version except perhaps as a footnote on Rathbone's Wikipedia page.

So we started it up and settled in.

I also had no idea it was available on DVD, though I have my doubts about the quality of the transfer...

Btw, that's March as Scrooge with the charity men behind him.

As far as adaptations go, this one's a bit more condensed than I'm used to, but it really works with the flow  - I mean, the thing's only about 53 minutes long without commercials, so it's not going to have the space for every detail. Still, I could've done with about five more minutes of Basil Rathbone as Jacob Marley!

It's got some great effects for ghostly apparitions and Basil is fantastic.

So you've got your basic story: Ebeneezer Scrooge (Frederic March) is a miserable turd who makes everyone around him miserable and is a miserly jerk, so his old partner decides "I'll do my best to keep this twit from hauling chains for eternity" and sets him up with some holiday spirits to smack some sense into him. This goes over as well as you might think, with Scrooge being disbelieving the whole encounter... until he sees evidence that yeah, his dead friend absolutely just hung out with him for a bit.

That is when things start going haywire for him.

See, this adaptation does one of my favorite things: the ghosts are people he knew or knows! Christmas Past arrives first, donning the guise of his lovely once-fiancee, Belle.

Who is charmingly lovely, though I doubt Ebeneezer ever saw her in such a state of undress in their past.
By Victorian standards, this young lady is naked.

Christmas Past reminds him that he used to love Christmas, but his love of money grew stronger than his love of Man and it cost him everything. His joy was consumed by coins. His heart was locked away by ledgers. His love left him so he could be with what she could see him loving more than her - cold hard cash.

Christmas Present appears next, and... honestly, the actor playing him is 1000% into the role. Ignorance and Want are nowhere to be found, as often happens in these adaptations, but neither is his big beard or his fancy robe! Then again, he kinda reminds me of Mr B Natural... but as a very accomplished (and soused) baritone. His "Very Merry" song will get stuck in your head.

Oh, I didn't mention that this is kind of a musical?

Yeah, there's a bunch of musical numbers, though all of them combined probably take less time than the "Very Merry" song from Christmas Present.

See, Christmas Present is played by Scrooge's nephew, Fred, who comes off as a bit of a doofus, but a lovable one. The actor as the Ghost definitely cranks that affability up to about 93 and goes hard. He drags Scrooge around like a confused child on holiday with a distant uncle and shows him Christmas at the Cratchits' home. Tiny Tim sings a cute song, and this is what breaks through to the miserly man, who begs to know if Tim would survive. Spoilers: Uh... no. No he won't. Not if Scrooge doesn't pay his dad a living wage...

So of course, this is where they really take some liberties, because there's no Ghost of Christmas Future. At all. Present simply... leaves. And Scrooge finds himself in a graveyard that looks nearly identical to the one from that godawful Spirit pilot I watched on the DC App...

He encounters first his grave, then, while panicking, Tiny Tim's. With his heart fully shattered and rebuilt into something more approximating that of a decent human being, albeit one wracked with guilt and shame (so... 100% normal), Ebeneezer wakes up, pulls the "I'M NOT A MONSTER ANYMORE PLEASE LET ME HELP YOU, EVERYONE IN NEED" thing we're all used to from the end of every Christmas Carol adaptation, and goes to visit the Cratchits for Christmas Dinner.

This is a wonderful adaptation, and the scoring from Herrman really takes it over the top. You'd expect far less from a television adaptation on a variety show, but it's quite lovely, and I would love to see it again.

Even if that "Very Merry" song drives me freakin nuts lol.

Go Enjoy Something!
FC

Thursday Art Walk 252

In Which It's the Last Art of 2019!

It's a beautiful sunny day today. There's leftovers in my fridge, my family have their gifts (including the Purrmaid!), and I have plans to go see a showing of Strangers on a Train at my local library. All in all, this is a fantastic December 26th.

Unfortunately, I have the Christmas Crud, which means that my throat hurts, my nose is leaking like a faucet, and all I want to do is sleep. I'll be 100% fine, though. This happens every year, it feels like, lol!

I'm not the only one, either...

"Christmas Crash"; permanent Marker on sketch paper; 2019

Poor Dedbert. The poor lil guy is so zonked from his exciting Christmas exploits that he's got his Santa hat dipped in his coffee! I'll give him the week off next week - it's been a while since I've done some bubbles :)

Here's hoping that your Christmas was merry and bright, and if it wasn't, then hopefully the new year brings you better days ahead.

I love you all.

Go Enjoy Something!
FC

Talk About Tuesday 252

In Which I'm Busy lol

Today is a sunny day, most of our snow has melted, and I'm 90% done with Christmas stuff! So Excited!

Now I just need to remember to start next year's gifts on December 26th this year, instead of December 3rd next year...

So What's the Week Looking Like?

• Tomorrow is Christmas. Don't look on the blog. I'll be busy eating and opening gifts :P
• Thursday will be something fun and wintry!
• Friday... maybe Fear And Loathing?
• Saturday... Poker?
• Sunday is a bit up in the air, since I doubt I'm cooking much in the next couple days...
• Next Monday, stay tuned for something creative-like...
• Next Tuesday I'll give you weather and blog updates

So that'll do it from me today...

Because if I have to have it stuck in my head, so do you!

Go Enjoy Something!

FC

Filmic Friday 251: Can't Stop Here This Is Santa Country

In Which I Put Off Fear And Loathing for one more week, lol

It's going to be Christmas in FOUR DAYS

Oh crap.

I am soooooo not ready.

I never am.

Since I'm an unprepared potato, I thought I'd let you in on a little secret: I kinda don't like sentimental Christmas movies. Like... at all.

But I'm also not fond of comedies (I have a soft spot for Ernest Saves Christmas, but that's because I'm a 90s kid).

So what the heck kinda Christmas movies does a nerdy birdy like me like to watch?

Stupid ones, mostly, it turns out. Stupid movies, action movies, and the occasional detective romp.

My top five Christmas movies are:

• Die Hard
• Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang
• How The Grinch Stole Christmas (1966)
• Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas
• A Charlie Brown Christmas

That's... a weird top five, right? I mean, no The Santa Clause, no National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (and probably never that one thanks to the other Chevy Chase movie I watched this year... ), no A Christmas Story or Polar Express or Elf...

I mean, not even Rudolph or Frosty, and they were my childhood favorites. Seriously, I'm pretty sure I wore out the VHS tapes for both of them...

Why these five?

They all mean something to me.

Die Hard and KKBB were movies I saw for the first time with the love of my life, and that sticks with ya. It doesn't hurt matters any that they're just solid, wonderful, fun movies on their own, either.

Grinch was ubiquitous in my youth, but I was madly in love with Karloff's voice and cadence. I was also very disappointed to find out that my singing voice would never reach the deep, buttery tones of Thurl Ravenscroft...

And yeah, that's the name of the dude who sang the song.

And yeah, that's possibly the most badass name on Earth...

Emmet Otter was another childhood treasure, but it became a quest of sorts for me, where I was constantly hunting down the tv cut we'd all seen as kids where Ma mumbles about the fox falling off the dock. I was searching for it for my mother's sake, since she'd expressed a wish for it, and I'm frankly terrible at gift-giving. Suddenly, in college, I became friends with my Film And Editing Friendo, who was at long last able to conclude my search. It's a friendship that's still strong today, and I'll always be grateful for the one year where I actually got someone what they wanted.

And I know I said that I wasn't a saccharine Christmas movie person, but there's something about Charlie Brown, man. Maybe it's because we grew up surrounded by Snoopy (my parents are both fans). Maybe it's because between Charlie and Mr Rogers, that was the only real exposure to jazz music I was able to get without anyone complaining. Maybe it's just that sometimes, you want a bunch of kids singing "loo loo loo" around a crummy little tree that someone tried so hard to get for them. All I know is that it doesn't feel like Christmas to me until I hear the music from this cartoon.

Btw, my next five faves are:

• Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer (Rankin/Bass)
• Frosty the Snowman
• Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (Fleischer/Jam Handy)
• The Muppet Christmas Carol
• White Christmas

If you think that's weird, that's 100% okay. I'd probably find your top ten fav Christmas flix to be a bit weird too.

This does make me wonder what kinds of holiday films there are for the other... dozen or so non-Christian holidays there are during this season...

Maybe next year...

Go Enjoy Something!

FC

Survival Sunday 250: Your First Solo Christmas

In Which I Give Festive Food Advice

So, you've decided to host Christmas this year.

Whether you've started out on your own and want to see if you can do this for yourself or you've simply decided to host your family for the holiday, you've come to the conclusion that you've got this and you're gonna make it a Christmas to remember! Congratulations!

Except you can't cook.

Well, you can, but not like on tv. Not like your parent or guardian growing up.

You don't have Aunt Ethel's buttermilk biscuit recipe. You have no idea how Nana made that pie you had over at her house in 98. All you have is the internet and a sneaking suspicion that you've bitten off more than you can chew.

Don't panic. You've got this.

The first thing you need to do is figure out how many people you're feeding and whether or not there are any dietary restrictions (rolling your eyes at Uncle Jim's Keto diet is one thing, but Cousin Rick's diabetes and your sister's nut allergy are no laughing matter!)

Next, figure out how many meals/snacks you're going to be expected to provide. If everyone's coming over in the morning, you're gonna want to make some breakfast or brunch, but that's pointless if they're showing up around 3PM or later. At that point it's snacks and supper!

Once you have your servings and timeframe figured out, you might begin to have an idea of what you want to feed everyone! But, oh no! All of these recipes on the internet are super confusing and/or complex!

Don't go for the twelve course Christmas Dinner on your first go, friend. It's just not going to do you any good to completely lose your mind before anyone shows up, hustling around, desperately trying to bake rolls and a turkey at the same time in your dinky apartment oven. Just don't. If they really expect that kind of masterwork from you they should have taught you how to cook everything before now.

Enter this venture with realistic (and merciful) expectations.

If you're doing breakfast, there's no shame in sneaking in those cinnamon rolls from a can. There's no law against serving a simple oatmeal for breakfast with slices of spiced apples (literally, just slice up some apples and toss the slices with cinnamon and sugar, maybe with a touch of nutmeg and/or ginger).

Some relatively simple recipes you might want to try for breakfast are:

• the clafoutis I made early on in this blog
• French Toast
• Pancakes (buy a mix - they'll have the instructions right on the package!)
• Muffins (you can make them from a mix, or if you're feeling ambitious, I also did muffins!)
• The aforementioned oatmeal (or grits, if you're southern, or cream of wheat if that's your thing)
• A box of festive donuts you picked up last night for just such an occasion

Once you've finished planning breakfast, you can think about snacks - everyone likes to nosh, right? Well, it's a good thing there's so many options out there!

• Ye Olde Vegetable Platter may be much-maligned in some circles, but I for one adore the simplicity and ease of baby carrots and chopped up broccoli on a plate with some cucumbers, celery, and if you've got some freaky people with you, fresh cherry tomatoes. Okay, so maybe I'm the freak for not liking tomatoes...
• Utz makes some insanely good white cheddar "Snoballs" this time of year. If you can track them down, they're an addictive little treat!
• For that matter, just grab some tasty chips and dips that you know everyone likes!
• If you've got some serious snack on, then I can suggest a simple chili dip that'll have everyone going back and forth:
• Take some bricks of cream cheese, let them get soft, then put them in the bottom of a baking dish (or one of the small, cheap foil brownie pans you can get at most Dollar Stores). Smooth everything out so you have a nice foundation layer of cream cheese. 
• Dump a can or two of chili on top of that cream cheese. If you have leftover chili in the freezer, you can thaw that out and use it for this, but canned is way more convenient. My dad hates beans in his chili so we usually do one pan with beans and one without.
• Dump a bunch of shredded cheese on top - we usually use a Mexican blend from the dairy case, but you can use anything you like.
• Pop that sucker in an oven at about 350℉ (175℃) until the cheese has melted and maaaaaybe developed a bit of browning. If you're using a foil pan, put a cookie sheet underneath it in case it warps!
• Take out and cool until you don't burn your mouth on it when you scoop it up with a corn or tortilla chip.
• Fresh fruits, pickles, and nuts are all also great ideas (just be mindful of any allergies!)

Great work - you probably have your snacks all figured out by now! But what if it's lunch they're after?!

• If it's just you, why not buy some really nice cheese and meat (or your favorite substitutes) and make yourself the sandwich of your dreams?
• Buy some frozen meatballs, cook them in a slow cooker with some pasta sauce. Buy some provolone cheese and some sub rolls - make meatball subs!
• Make a festive Christmas pizza with ham and pineapple! *dodges haters* or if you're not into hot fruit, may I suggest using red and green bell peppers instead? An excellent source of veggies and festive to boot!
• ... That chili dip is really good as a meal, too...
• You could just make chili?

To be honest, we usually have a big breakfast at my house and then just graze on snacks until dinner/supper time. My mom usually cooks a ham or a lasagna (which, yeah, that's way easier than you might think!) or something like that, but sometimes she'll shock us with a brisket or something else intense and rich and crazy.

But, again, if this is your first time? No one has the right to expect you to cook them ham or brisket. They can't even demand a turkey if you've never roasted one before. It's your rules this year, my dude(tte).

So what do you make for your final meal?

• Again, pizza or chili are perfectly acceptable options, provided you aren't just reserving lunch.
• Spaghetti is a fantastic first Christmas dinner - it's simple, relatively inexpensive, and then you can have garlic bread, and who doesn't love garlic bread? Vampires. That's who.
• I'm planning on doing my own version on here eventually, but a shepherd's/cottage pie is always a hit! Layer some browned meat and onions on the bottom of a baking dish (one with nice, high sides!), then put some veggies like corn and/or peas in the middle, then top it off with some delicious mashed potatoes (and yeah, you can use instant, and if anyone complains, tell them they can peel the potatoes next year if they're so offended). Pop that puppy in the oven at 400℉ (200-205℃) until the top gets a bit browned et voila, you have a fantastic meal for the whole family. Pro-tip: when you're mixing up mashed potatoes, you can add a dollop of cream cheese to them to make them even richer!
• Chinese Food is great if all else fails and/or your oven dies. This has happened to many a first-time-Christmas-Host. Takeout is there to save you.

Wonderful! Now that everyone's all doped up from your feast, there's probably at least one greedyguts (usually me) who is looking for a dessert. Cue the record scratch.

Oh yes. I'm bringing up dessert, too.

• Guess what? Half the "home-made" cakes my classmates would bring to bake sales were made from boxed mixes. Follow the directions on the box, and let Betty Crocker save your bacon.
• Guess what else? Those frozen eclairs and cream puffs? Those are great. Bam. You didn't have to cook, but everyone got something amazing.
• Hot Chocolate Minibar: Get together a bunch of weird hot chocolates you bump into at the grocery store - you know the ones. They'll have weird flavors or they'll just jump out at you with packaging. Pick up a bunch of those (and some plain hot cocoa if you're worried about the less adventurous guests). If I'm coming over, grab some instant coffee, too. You'll also want
• mini marshmallows
• candy canes (you can go pretty wild with these too)
• small flavored creamers
• a ton of spray whipped cream
• Don't want the stress of measuring out cookie making materials? Don't fret - let the experts help you and either get some nice cookies while shopping or get premade cookie dough
• It's cold outside (maybe), but ice cream never goes out of fashion
• Love your child relatives but mad at their parents? Leave out huge bowls of candy - M&Ms, Kisses, Reese's Cups, etc.

So you see, there's nothing to be afraid of. Don't overstress yourself this holiday season if this is your first time having people over.

I have only one other piece of advice for you:

Actually invite the people you're planning to invite. Don't just say "yeah, I'm having Christmas at my place", actually call them (or if you're like me and hate phones, message them) or send them a card or something. Heck, messaging and/or cards both involve writing, so you can make darn sure they know what's up.

And that's where your secret weapon comes in.

If you are broke. If you are completely incapable of cooking. If you have no access to groceries or restaurants.

There's still hope.

Make it a potluck. Make them bring their own food!

Go Enjoy Something!

FC

Thursday Art Walk 250: 1940s Red

In Which I Draw Another Line Sketch!

Today's theme was "1940s. Red." So I looked up some 1940s decorations and the like and... It was all way more complicated than I could draw. So instead, I gave myself a break and simplified things significantly. Today, we have Dedbert sitting atop a 1940s radio with his tinsel-and-garland strewn tree beside him. It being the 1940s, things are tight. Rationing and the war effort take up a lot of his time, so instead of him having a big tree surrounded by tons of gifts, he's using the top off of someone else's tree and has decorated it to the best of his ability. String tinsel seems to have been a favorite for these trees, and apparently little round baubles have been a mainstay for ornamentation for practically a century (or more?), so he's got a bunch of red ones. They may have been another color that he's painted, to be honest, but he's a frugal guy, so who knows? A red beaded garland and a handmade crocheted tree skirt complete the scene.

What do you guys think is in that gift box?

"1940s Red"; permanent marker on printer paper; 2019

I'm really enjoying this series of images, and I look forward to sharing more with you.

Also, I've mentioned it on the blog here before, but I do, indeed, have a Redbubble shop now! If you've ever wanted to wear my art before, now's your chance without typing out those fateful comments that, unfortunately lead to art theft...

Alright, that's all from me today!

Go Enjoy Something!
FC

Wednesdaymania 250: Wintermania week 2

In Which I Discuss Silly Winter Wrestling

Once upon a time, there was a gentleman by the name of Glenn Jacobs. Glenn wanted to be a professional wrestler, so he got trained and tried out and got hired. All normal stuff so far. He had it all - immense height, strong shoulders, and that All-American Meathead look, so the world should've been his oyster.

He struggled to find his gimmick, however. It's hard to stand out in a world of Macho Men and Hulks Hogan and the like. Eventually, he wrestled as a sadistic dentist, but early on, he went by the same name as one of my state's Senators, and then Christmas rolled around...

It was 1992. Glenn was working for the USWA at the time, and they had a Christmas show to run, but they needed a wrestler to wear a costume. Thus, Glenn Jacobs, sometimes called Unabomb (yikes) and sometimes known as Doomsday (much cooler), donned a colorful suit and became known, for a very short moment, as The Christmas Creature!

Yes. This is actually him.
Yes, this is actually what he wore.
Yes. He wrestled in this.

Now, if something about the name Glenn Jacobs has been bothering you this whole time, perhaps you know him as the mayor of Knox County, TN.

Or maybe you know him as his much more successful in-ring gimmick, which he wrestles in to this day...

You might just know him as...

KANE!

So there you are, kids - the story of how a man fought and scrabbled his way in to almost accidental fame despite horrible gimmicks to become a world famous pro-wrestler and a politician. Do I quite understand how one goes from a Unabomber gimmick to the beast which slew Superman to a Hobby Lobby Monster to a generic tough guy to a sadistic dentist before ending up as a literal Demon? Not in the least, but it's amazing.

Never give up kids.

You may be the Christmas Creature today, but tomorrow, you may be world famous.

Keep crackin!

Go Enjoy Something
FC