Normally the phrase ” Christmas in July” makes me cringe. It’s usually a ploy by advertisers/retailers/media to get consumers and viewers into the buy-buy-buy mentality that makes the holiday season so profitable six months ahead of schedule.

But sometimes….sometimes, it’s a smart thing. Like, say, when you’ve decided to embark upon holiday knitting that includes (thus far) two adult sweaters, two pairs of socks, one bag,  one pseudo-bag/holder thingy, one pair of slippers, and four washcloths. Plus an assortment of Christmas ornaments and whatever else comes up between now and the holiday season.

This weekend, I carefully set aside all of my personal projects and picked up the needles for my Dad’s sweater. As it’s an aran, it’s going to take the most work. The first repeat was living hell, until I got smart and added stitch markers. I’m beginning to memorize the pattern, so things are going a bit easier, but it’s still tricky. One chart is a 26 row repeat, and one is a 6 row repeat, so they don’t fit nicely together. I considered using a row counter, but realized a) I’d lose it and b) it would require more math than I am willing to do.

Aside from that, I saw the X-Files movie. It could have been better, but it also could have been worse. There was some nice humor, but I was deeply saddened by how painfully thin Gillian Anderson seemed, and also how cynical we’ve become. In the sense that it was reflective of a different atmosphere between the early 1990s and today, the tone of the movie was very accurate and well done, but it makes me sad. Where did all the people who believed in possibility go? Not just extreme possibilities or the paranormal but…well, anything, really. We’ve all stopped believing, and that’s just sad.

So, after that, I spent my knitting time curled up in front of seasons two and three of the X-Files, and happily lost myself in a world where people weren’t excessively thin, cynicism wasn’t as extreme, and Dana Scully was my hero.

Actually, you know what? Dana Scully is still my hero. Take that, world.

Tarot Card of the Day: Ten of Pentacles