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Sunday, January 19, 2020

While Miz Kittling Knits: Unbelievable



When I first learned how to knit, I quickly learned that I needed discipline. I still need it in order to fight the urge to start multiple projects. Why is that so bad? Because the more I begin, the more I won't finish. Anyone else out there have the same problem?

Right now, I'm happily knitting away on cowls as you can see in the photo. Denis and I have a wager as to how many cowls I can stack before they topple to the floor. These are all made using the same ribbed pattern I talked about in a previous post, and all except one are made with Lion Brand Wool-Ease Thick & Quick Yarn, which is super bulky, super warm, and 80% acrylic 20% wool (so it's not scratchy).

From the top to the bottom of my cowl pile, the colors are Butterscotch, Palazzo (using a double strand of a 100% acrylic discontinued Isaac Mizrahi craft yarn), Bluegrass, Raspberry, Campfire, and Kale.

I'm working with a color called Lollipop right now, a color that almost seems to be a touch radioactive.

But I'm having urges, which come from buying lots of yarn in new colors and types. I'm working on a table runner that doesn't have to be done until next Christmas, and I've started something else that I think I'm going to try to unravel and start over with a different pattern.

In the yarn bowl, you can see what I want to unravel. It's a shawl using two strands of a fingering-weight yarn from Purl Soho. Called Tussock, it's 60% superfine kid mohair and 40% silk.

The colors I'm using in the pattern are Anjou Pear and Ripe Boysenberry, and although I love the feel of the yarn in the portion I've completed, there are problems. Working with the yarn is a lot like trying to work with strands of a spider web. I kid you not! Extremely fine and sticky. I could overlook this if it weren't for the fact that I chose the wrong shawl pattern. 99.9% of the pattern is the stockinette stitch, which is a yawn, and if working on something is deadly boring, chances are it will never get done, right? There's only one thing keeping me from unraveling and beginning again: something tells me that unraveling spiderweb-like yarn is NOT going to be fun!

What have I been watching on television while I'm cowling and fighting shawl avoidance?

A limited series from Netflix called Unbelievable. (Here's its official site on Netflix.)

"After a young woman is accused of lying about a rape, two female detectives investigate a spate of eerily similar attacks. Inspired by true events."

As I watched the eight episodes, I vaguely remembered reading about the case that Unbelievable is based on, and it also reminded me of an Emmy-winning documentary called I Am Evidence, which made my blood boil so many times I lost track.

The three female leads in Unbelievable are fantastic. Kaitlyn Dever is the teenager Marie Adler, and although her behavior is sometimes impossible to fathom due to her upbringing, her plight still can break your heart.

Detective Grace Rasmussen (Toni Collette) and Detective Karen Duvall (Merritt Wever) are a study in contrasts when it comes to their personalities, but their work ethic and sense of responsibility to the victims are superb.

I don't know how I stumbled across Unbelievable-- it might have been one of Netflix's recommendations-- but I'm certainly glad I did. It's far from being light-hearted entertainment. It's serious. It's gritty. And it can be downright mesmerizing. Perfect for keeping a leg elevated and the knitting needles clicking.


17 comments:

  1. You're knitting so much I can't keep track. Love those colors, especially Bluegrass.
    And the show Unbelievable is a very good one to knit by. I've read about it and about the true case it's based on. That cast is terrific. I can't wait to watch this.

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    1. I've finished "Lollipop," and now I'm on "Hudson Bay." Then there's "Raisin" and "Lagoon" and...

      I think you'll enjoy watching Unbelievable, Kathy. I've been wondering if you've seen I Am Evidence?

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  2. Those cowls are beautiful, Cathy! And I do like that lollipop yarn. I can just feel how soft it all must be. As for Unbelievable, I keep hearing how good that is and wondering whether I should let myself get drawn in. I have to be in the mood for grit to watch something like that, but it does sound very well made.

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    1. It is extremely well-made, and it doesn't go overboard on the grit, if that makes sense.

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  3. Beautiful yarns and lovely transformations into cowls! I seen the trailers for Unbelievable, but have resisted so far because I don't need the tension at the moment, but I will give it more consideration. :)

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    1. I didn't watch it all in one go, and I don't remember feeling all that much tension. What I do remember is wanting to get back to it the next evening so I could watch more. (But I certainly understand not needing any added tension in one's life!)

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  4. I never heard of "I am Evidence." Will check it out.

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    1. I could've chewed my way through a full pallet of boxes filled with tenpenny nails as I watched it, and then I got irked with myself for being so shocked that something like that would happen. Hello? Earth to Cathy!

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  5. I first read Unbelievable just before it was released on Netflix..it’s a vital story

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  6. I have seen Mariska Hargitay on TV explaining the lack of testing of thousands of rape kits around the country. She was shown visiting a storage area for them in one city: huge facility, lots of shelves full of them.
    She made it clear she's on a mission to help remedy this.

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    1. Probably hundreds of thousands of untested rape kits. One storage facility was an old warehouse with broken windows and birds flying around inside. One woman in particular has been leading the charge to get these tests taken care of, and-- lo and behold-- they're discovering all sorts of serial rapists and murderers who've been allowed to roam free. But, hey, it's not important because it's just a bunch of women who asked for it. And boys will be boys. (Not that I have strong feelings about the subject...)

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  7. You have the normal reaction of a woman.
    When potential jurors lined up in the courthouse for Weinstein's trial, they were asked to raise their hands if they could not be impartial. Half of the arms went up -- all women.
    Then the judge asked the women who were up for the jury if they had ever been sexually assaulted or knew someone who was. Many had and were excused.
    I just hope he ends up in jail for years, eating bread and water, with no privileges. And I hope he has to hear testimony, like Larry Nasser did.

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    1. I hope he does, too, but as for my reaction being normal for a woman, it should be a normal reaction for men, too.

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  8. You are absolutely right. It should be a normal reaction for a man. Not all men understand this and movies and TV do not help enlighten them. And many institutions propagate the wrong messages.
    Well,there are 7 men and 5 women on that jury. We'll see what happens.
    All I can say is that I hope the Me Too movement has made inroads in consciousness.
    I once tried to explain to a male friend how I had to walk down the street at night very carefully and where there are lights. And I told him a guy flipped out at my corner and chased me down the street, screaming at me. I just got in my building in time (my landlord had just installed key-locks in the outside doors, luckily). I slammed the door and the guy was banging on the door and screaming. After I told my friend, he couldn't understand it. He asked why the guy did it. He asked what I did. He didn't understand why I was so careful walking a few blocks at night.

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    1. That's another thing that chaps my hide. Why do so many men think women had to do something to draw "this unwanted attention" to them? I got asked that once and my response was "breathe." During a time when I walked to and from work, I had a rapist break into my home, and shortly after that, I had a stalker trying to pinpoint where I lived. I've ducked down alleys and climbed over my back fence so he wouldn't find out. I gave my mother a slip of paper containing what he looked like, and the make, color, and license plate number of his car and told her that if I was ever late coming home, call the police with that information.

      What did I do to warrant this? Breathe. Just. Like. You.

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  9. And you brave dog saved you, I believe.

    As I listened to some young women last year describe bad experiences of abuse, it brought back a lot of memories of incidents when I was younger. All kinds of settings: sitting alone in a subway in the afternoon, sitting in Washington Square Park's fountain (no water in it), walking down the street, working in an office, going on a date at college, etc.
    I think all women have stories. Young women today call it out, do all kinds of things I wouldn't have dream of doing. Good for them. The Me Too movement helped with emboldening them. Still so many perpetrators lost jobs (some of them), but nothing else.
    They're still rich and privileged and out of jail.

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