Horror with Humor

You may be aware that I have a deep-seated fondness for Horror movies. I watch them all year long and don't mind the gore, the screams, the tension and everything that goes along with the genre. But sometimes I want a little more from my Horror movies...I want comedy. Inspired by Andi over at Untangling Knots who is doing a month of Horrible movies in the Horror genre I thought I'd post some of my favorite horror movies that are intentionally (or unintentionally) funny.

 

First on my list is Shaun of the Dead. It's a 2004 zombie movie starring Simon Pegg and Nick Frost as two friends who somehow miss the impending zombie apocalypse and go on a quest to save Shaun's (played by Pegg) girlfriend and his mother. Gore ensues as Shaun and Ed travel through the zombie-infested city and hole up in a pub with their companions. While there is definitely violence and gore I find that the level of comedy does much to alleviate the ick-factor and the whole movie ends on a positive note.

FO: Rockefeller

 Remember this? It was a Mystery Shawl KAL back in July. Mine has been finished for about a month but I was finally able to grab a daylight picture. I've already worn this shawl several times and I think it's going to be a favorite this Fall and Winter.

Pattern: Rockefeller by Stephen West

Yarn: MC - Black Trillium Fibre Studio Lilt Sock in Hedwig (cream color)

CC 1 - Sincere Sheep Agleam in Neblina (gray)

CC2 - Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in Chocolate

Needle: US #4 Hiya Hiya Sharp Interchangeable

Mods/Notes: It's pretty obvious that I ran out of yarn knitting the second wing of the shawl. I grabbed the brown out of my stash and continued to knit the stripes. I ran out of the gray and put this shawl aside for a time and then emailed the wonderful Brooke at Sincere Sheep and she dug some gray out of her stock and sent it up my way. At first I was unsure of the stark contrast between the brown and cream but it's totally grown on me along with the two shades of gray. It looks more like a design choice than an accident.

That October Feeling

I love October. When I lived in California October meant crips mornings, warm days, and cool nights and even in Seattle where there is approximately 2 weeks of Fall weather before everything turns nasty I always get that October feeling. The past couple of weeks have been especially nice weather-wise and I've been feeling the urge to cast on all sorts of woolly things. Last night I caved and cast on for the Neely O'Hara socks by Feministy which is part of her sOcktoberfest KAL. I'm using US #1 needles (the pattern calls for #0) and Sincere Sheep Keen in the Epiphyte color which I picked up at the 2011 Sock Summit. The BFL makes for great stitch definition with the textured pattern of the sock.

The plan (formulated since late last night/early this morning) is to knit four pairs of socks this month. If I finish this first pair by the 16th I'll receive the Sock Thief pattern for free. The Hazel Knits group over on Ravelry is also having a KAL for Fireweeds by RoseHiver. I purchased the kit when Wendee had them on her site last month and just need to wind the yarn and dig out my needles. Finally, my SIL requested a pair of socks for Christmas and since she has tiny feet I thought I'd knit a pair of BFF socks out of some stash yarn. After writing that all down it seems kind of crazy but Socktober fits in nicely with my efforts to downsize my stash and my sock yarn. I'll update with progress...I hope.

FO: Cupido Cowl

 Last month I went to a yarn garage sale where several women were de-stashing yarn and fabric. I picked up several great yarns (Plucky Knitter Primo Worsted!) including a ziploc bag with several skeins of Rowan Kid Classic. It just so happened that the previous evening I was looking up this particular yarn on Ravelry to knit the Cupido Cowl so I snapped up the bag of yarn for...ahem, two whole dollars, and brought it home.

Pattern: Cupido Cowl by Hiroko Fikatsu

Yarn: Rowan Kid Classic (approx. 1 1/2 balls)

Needles: US #8 Hiya Hiya Sharp Interchangeables

Mods: I cast on 132 stitches since I had extra yarn in my cast on tail (the pattern is a 4 stitch repeat) and knit until I was just about out of yarn. This yarn is one of the nicer mohair blends that I've knit with and it has good stitch definition while still looking fluffy  and soft.

FO: Zombie Socks

My zombie socks have been finished for about a month but I finally dug out my camera and took pictures. These are the first socks I've knit that are self-striping from an indie dyer and I couldn't be happier with the outcome. My only issue is that the red bled a bit into the lighter "zombie flesh" stripes and turned them slightly pink in places. It's my own fault for not adding a bit of vinegar, or a color keeper, to the wash since I was pretty sure that bleeding would occur in the wash. I still love them and am waiting for it to cool down enough in Seattle to warrant cashmere blend socks, these things are toasty!

Pattern: improvised

Yarn: Out of Step Dyeworks Self-Striping MCN

Needle: Addi turbo US #1 1/2 32" circular

Update

Hi! I'm still alive and knitting. I've got a ton of finished objects to photograph and share; mostly because my Ravelry page keeps staring blankly back at me every time I log on. I've been using Single Skein September to power through some holiday gifts before, you know, it's actually the holidays. Every time I finish a knit and lay it aside I feel better about my next, and last (for a while), quarter of school and the frenzy of Christmas activity that attends finals week and the two weeks following. And you know what? I'm actually enjoying  knitting these things ahead of time since it means that I won't have to squeeze in gift shopping between studying for finals and writing term papers. Photographic proof will be provided shortly, knit on.

Motivation

I've been posting a bit this Summer about organization. While I've shared some things with you (my stash) there have been other things that I've done and habits I've established that haven't made it to the blog yet. I thought I'd do a round up of things I've read about, tried, and been inspired by in regards to organization. Without further ado:

UFyH.  The operator of UFyH has a no-nonsense, motivational, supportive, and humorous approach to "unfucking your habitat". You can follow via tumblr, facebook, or twitter and I've found it to be exactly my cup of tea. The idea is that something is better than nothing and even if all you do in a day is make your bed, it's an achievement. She doesn't advocate cleaning marathons but rather 20/10s (clean/rest) that eventually move your home toward a manageable state of cleanliness and organization. By the look of her followers' before and after shots it's working great for a lot of people. She even has an app available for iphone and ipad that provides random challenges, motivation, and a customizable list function (I own it, and it's awesome). Did I mention that she curses?

FlyLady. Similar but different to UFyH. Her method is "baby steps" toward organizing and maintaining a clean home. FlyLady is definitely geared toward the stay at home crowd but she does have modifications for working people/students. While I know her method works for some, I was turned off by the religious undertones and too-structured cleaning schedule. If you prefer more structure and email digests of stuff to do this may be your ticket to clean.

Apartment Therapy. This is a beautiful website full of inspiration for everything to do with your home. Small spaces, organization, green living, DIY, and more. They've got tons of guest articles, videos, and great advertisers that illicit lots of oohing and aahing.

How to Clean Anything. This website does exactly what it says, gives information on how to clean anything. If you've got kids, pets, a propensity for spilling coffee on yourself (me) then you can get information on how to clean just about anything and everything.

Ravelry. For the fiber enthusiast. The best tool I can think of in regards to my obsessive knitting habit. It indexes, categorizes, you know...organizes all of my knitting stuff. I've met a ton of great people and stayed in touch with a whole virtual community with this one tool.

 I am, by nature, an organized person and somewhat neat freak (thanks, mom) and I generally am an efficient manager of my time so I rarely feel too overwhelmed by either my home, work, or school life. However, clutter has a tendency to creep into my home and things get left "to do later" and I suddenly get tired of moving that bag for the ten billionth time and that's when I visit the above websites for inspiration and motivation to get things going again.

Have you tried any of these? Success? Failure?