puppets and knitting

Today some friends and I went to see a puppet version of The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me at the Little Angel Puppet Theatre. My friend Max helped build several bits of the set, and the audience was full of excited kids and happy adults. We had a great time; the performers seemed to be having a wonderful time, too. The Little Angel has been going for more than 50 years, but recently the Arts Council of England cut its funding. Earlier this month the British Theatre Guide published an article on the reasons (*cough* Olympics *cough*) and effects of this cut, which can be read here. Despite funding cuts and recent economic worries it's heartening to see a theatre manage to keep going through donations and fundraising.

In knitting news, today I was given a flier for my friend Fi's knitting festival, Unravel, which will be held in The Farnham Maltings in February. Fi is a fantastic knitter and designer, and I can't wait to see what she's put together. Today I also swung by Loop to pick up the right size circular needle so I can knit a hat with the yarn I bough in Maryland this summer:


The color makes me very happy!

To round out my puppetry/knitting day, I've been watching Wool 100%, a Japanese film about two elderly sisters who take in a feral, obsessively knitting girl. It features wild knitting, puppets, an accordion and a very fetching pair of silver Louise Brooks haircuts.

Happy Thanksgiving!

It has been many years since I've been in the US for Thanksgiving, and a couple of years since I've cooked a Thanksgiving meal. This year two of my favorite people came round for dinner, which made it a very nice day indeed.

Here I am at the start of four hours of cooking..


..and some of what we had to show for it. Veggie Thanksgiving, mmmm.


Ben and Max made the (very tasty) pumpkin pie, which had to be baked in a springform tin as my pie plates are temporarily awol.


Yummy. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!