Now that winter break’s here, I’ve done nothing but knit. Yes, I’m feeling considerable guilt because there’s a bunch of things I should be doing, but I’ve had absolutely no motivation for anything recently – well, since grade 9 really. It’s a bit late to fix the problem, eh? (an excuse for laziness, of course).
It is supremely relaxing, though it’s actually pretty hard on my fingers since I have literally been knitting all day. It’s not really worth a repetitive stress injury for so I should really watch out for that.
While I knit, I really hate the silence, so I’ve been listening to Harry Potter audiobooks. So I’ve really gotten back into the whole Harry Potter business. It’s funny, Harry Potter has been the one thing that I’ve stuck with consistently. I’ve tried to get into these other fandoms, but none of those works ever engage me enough. I leap to tell people how underwhelmed I am by the Hunger Games. I think it has to do with the rave reviews that I’ve heard for it and the hype that surrounded it. It was built up so high by the people around me that the actual thing itself could never live up to it. It also had to do with the writing. No one can pull off first person (great sweeping generalization…) – except for Nick Carraway. Personal bias, sure, but The Great Gatsby is gorgeous. Anyways, I thought The Hunger Games was entertaining enough, but I didn’t fall in love with it. Not like I fell in love with The Great Gatsby, with the Potter series, with The Little Prince.
In my view, it’s along the line of Twilight. I see why people like it, I just don’t. Although, I actually found Twilight a bit more engaging to read, I suppose because I read it in my 12/13 year old days. I fell out of that fandom quickly enough. Any form of extreme behaviour turns me off. Rabid fan girls fall into that perfectly.
But even with Potter I like to stay away from the “crazies”.
So I had a hankering to make a house scarf because I’m reliving my childhood through the audiobooks. For some reason, Harry Potter is the thing that has stuck with me. I tried to get into all these other things that have giant followings and I haven’t really felt anything for them. Like Doctor Who. Yeah, I’m ready for what attacks come my way. But I also have a hard time getting that enthusiastic for anything. Even with say, the Canucks and Potter, I love to discuss, but I would not defend to death. I think you know what I mean.
“J.K. ROWLING IS A GODDESS AMONG US.” “HARRY POTTER IS THE BEST BOOK SERIES EVER WRITTEN.” That sort of thing.
I’m perfectly happy criticizing it. It’s still mainstream fiction and it does read like it. I think it has it’s place in the culture and in my generation and it will survive to be studied at the elementary and even up to the high school level. But I don’t think it’s even to merit real Potter scholars, people who get PhD in literature studying Potter, I mean.
I mean… I’m fairly exasperated by the “essays” on Potter (ie. symbol hunting sessions) and even that new podcast by MuggleNet that claims to provide “comprehensive insight into the literary thematic elements and scholastic endeavors that author J.K. Rowling has provided in her writings of the Harry Potter series.” All I can think of is my English teacher saying, “You guys have good ideas, but they just need to be developed.” They certainly don’t say anything revolutionary. But again… target audience.
Anyway, here’s my WIP Gryffindor scarf. It’s taking forever because it is double knitted, but it’ll be super warm. Worth it.
One of my friends requested a house circle scarf and since I realized I didn’t have enough time or yarn to make a full-fledged Ravenclaw scarf, I decided to do a trial run of a circle house scarf.
I chose the book colours because I an a nationalist (or a … um… bookist?) after all.
heiding away. 