Harry Potter

Not a very original title, but we went to see HP and the Half-Blood Prince last night. I was a bit in the dark, because although I've read all the books and seen the films, I had forgotten what happened in the last one. Nevertheless it was really good, very well-done and much darker than the previous ones, while retaining the funny parts to make sure it was not too serious for a younger audience.

The film opened with Harry in a cafe attempting to chat up a waitress, a good nod to the fact that the cast and characters are growing up. Although the acting of the main characters has vastly improved since the first film, I still cringed at a few various points where responses seemed a bit stilted or overdone.

The cinematography was amazing as always, with swooping views of Hogwarts and nicely-done CGI (this made me laugh when I thought about the early days of CGI and how things have moved on since then!). I felt a bit cheated that more was not made of the story of the Half Blood Prince, as I think this could have been really interesting, but obviously some things had to be cut down to make the film a manageable length.

One thing I really loved in the film was the amazing array of handknitted items on show! I absolutely covet Hermione's grey knitted hat (and have queued this pattern on Ravelry ready for when my knitting skills improve), and there were also some great scarves and jumpers. I would also love to try to make Luna's lion hat which made everyone laugh out loud, but think that might be a bit of a stretch!

Other things happening this week:

- We are in negotiations to buy a new house (exciting and scary!)
- Going to Leamington Spa this weekend for a friend's birthday (exciting!)
- Found a blog by my favourite graphic artist - new compelling reading! Lucy Knisley

Finished shawl...at last

Just a quick post to say I finally finished the shawl I was crocheting for my stepmum's birthday. I can safely post about it now as my parents went to Italy today. I hope she likes it! Here are a couple of (bad) photos:

Pancakes likes the shawl (and anything made of wool)!

I also made a hat which only took a couple of days, as an antidote to the shawl.