College #72, movie news, and a teeny tiny giveaway

Hello!

So first, College. I feel like I'm in the home stretch! My stitching bug is working in full force and I'm so excited. Every stitch feels like the last! So close! I mean, not really - I still have the entire row to stitch, but it just feels so close!

Before:

After:

Crazy, right? Those are the beginnings of the very last row! I'm confident that College will be finished this year, particularly if I'm resolute in working on it - which I am! Every day a little bit closer!

Next up, the much promised movie news. I'm sorry to say that I can't divulge much, but I can divulge that my part of filming has ended. It was absolutely the best time of my working life and I will likely seek out more projects in the future, particularly while steady full-time work evades me. The film is as of yet untitled, but IMDB refers to it as "Steve Jobs" and the cast includes Michael Fassbender, Kate Winslet, and Seth Rogen. That's pretty much all I can say about it. Not sure when the release date will be, but I will keep you all posted on it and once a trailer gets released I'll link that. It really was an absolutely incredible experience. I got to talk to some amazing people I never thought I'd get to meet. And Michael Fassbender is one of my absolute favorite actors (along with Cumberbatch and Hiddleston) so it was an honor to be working alongside him, as well as such an accomplished and amazing woman as Kate Winslet. She is truly inspiring. So that's my brief "acting" career. It's not much, but it's a start!

Finally, I have a teeny tiny giveaway for my knitting friends. I'm working on downgrading my stash. When I was learning to knit I bought some yarn that I have since found no use for. So, instead of taking up space in my things, I've decided to throw it up here as a giveaway!

They are both mystery sock yarns. The dark one on the left is 49 grams and the light one on the right is 47 grams. I'll leave this tiny giveaway open until 11:59pm PST March 31. Just leave a comment stating which one you'd like (dark, light, both) and your e-mail address. If more than one person wants a certain one then I'll draw a name randomly. Also, if you have a friend you think might be interested in free sock yarn, let them know! I'm not trying to get more followers, I'm just trying to get rid of stash and clean up a little bit. Spring cleaning I guess. And yes, I WILL ship international.

Also, in the future, once I finish a knitting project if I have a decent amount of yarn left over and I have no plan for it, I will likely do this again. Spread the yarn, right?

In completely other unrelated to anything news, I am trying to learn German. Right now I am fairly elementary ("Ich bin eine Frau" & "Eine Biene" being my most impressive sentences) but once I get a little bit better I will probably be asking for a German pen pal! Yes, that's right! Someone I can write ridiculous letters to in German who is willing to not only mail a corrected version back to me but also write me back in German to see if I can decipher and understand the letter and respond appropriately. Probably a dumb idea but there you go. I'm nowhere near there yet.

So, with that, happy stitching everyone!

College pages 17 and 18 finished!

It took me long enough but I have FINALLY finished pages 17 and 18, and consequently row 3, of College of Magical Knowledge.

Before:

After:

I'm really quite happy with it, and have one more row and exactly 36,000 stitches left. I have a feeling that finishing this project will be much akin to finishing grad school: after I put my last stitch in and pull out the gridding I will stare at a wall for two hours, not knowing what to do with myself. I'll grid up page 19 today and put in the first stitches. Hopefully, it will all go smoothly.

I received some questions in the comments in recent weeks. One was asking what movie I'm working on. Last day of filming is next Monday and after that date I'll let you guys know what it is and who's in it. Also when it comes out to the best of my knowledge. They keep putting me in scenes with the main actor (not complaining) so there's a good chance you'll actually be able to see me, if you're not too busy staring at him on screen. Wouldn't blame you if you missed me because of that, though.

The other question I got is how I calculate anticipated date of completion in my sidebar under each project. This one is a bit more complicated to answer. Basically, I'm crazy. I have a tally app on my phone that I use when I'm stitching, and every stitch I do I mark it off on the tally. Then, at the end of my stitching night, I put it into a spreadsheet I've created. This spreadsheet calculates my average number of stitches a night, how many days it would take me to complete the project at the current stitching average, and then spits out a date based on today's date of when I can anticipate to finish it based on all those numbers. So yes. I'm utterly insane. If, however, this sounds like the kind of obsessive compulsive that's right up your alley then let me know in the comments, along with your email address, and I'll send you a blank copy of the spreadsheet for you to fill in. Some basic Excel skills required (like knowing to click the corner of a cell and drag it down for the formula to continue) but it's not difficult and I'm willing to help anyone out who needs help.

Back to filming, I'm having the best time of my life. I'm learning a lot of new things about myself. I'm happier and I'm more confident. I'm starting to be more comfortable in my own skin. And I don't want any of it to end. Also, in four days of filming, I have already earned 2 of the 3 required SAG vouchers to join SAG. Will I join? I don't know. Probably not. The investment is huge and I'm not entirely certain it's something I want to pursue as a career just because there's so much luck involved. But, in the meantime, I made some fantastic memories, got to meet some absolutely incredible stars, and had the time of my life. One more day of filming left!

I also signed up for another half marathon. It's the moonlight run in July in Davis. My goal is to beat my previous half- time, so here's hoping for the best (and training my butt off).

Today I will grid up the next page of College and get started on it. I'm also working on part 3 of the AAN Halloween SAL so I hope to have that done soon.

As always, happy stitching!