how excited were we to hear that george a. romero was releasing a FOURTH in his series of "dead" movies -- i am not much of a first-run moviegoer but i try to make the festive trek at least once during the summer months and thank GOD there will be no dennis quaid or jake gyllenhall for me this summer! i get dennis hopper, john leguizamo, and ZOMBIES!
i. love. zombies. i am fascinated with the (predictable) way in which humans will vilify even their most dearly loved ones the moment those loved ones make a transition -- in this case, to death -- that those "left behind" cannot understand. you've changed! = you're monstrous!
i love that romero's zombies come from all walks of life, with all the distinctions of their identities still sorta flopping off of them. i love his use of multiracial casting that reveals no "token" players. and i love the fantastic fun of angry, stumbling carrion ripping into the flesh of the living!
yes! yes! yes!
all those years volunteering for the opera company of philadelphia as an onstage extra and all they ever gave me was nun, whore, townswoman... never "zombie". some people have all the luck.
"bub" from 1985's day of the dead is such a sympathetic, sweet character. as soon as i heard about land coming out, we rented the original three, and before we had even finished watching dawn, i knew -- i wanted to knit bub.
i started with some single-ply costwold from akuta that i had been doing on my wheel. this stuff that i spin up with the akuta fleece, undyed, unanythinged, is kind of like the "simple syrup" of knitting and felting. and i was sure bub's head would need to be felted.
i began knitting on two circular needles, casting on simultaneous sock toes using the queen kahuna book's "invisible cast-on" (yes, that's what it is called. i think it's on page 90.) these sock toes, inverted, made bub's deep, tortured eye sockets.
then, i must admit, i just kinda went. i might as well have been playing with clay or with papier maché. he just happened.
miles to go, just on the head itself -- shaping, painting, hair... and of course those sexy blue eyes of bub's! then i can dye the yarn for bub's body (i will be doing some testing of colors soon -- all kool-aid, i think) and then get to work on his outfit. the rest of bub will NOT be felted, just knitted. alas, i tried to keep his neck stitches "live" but the waste yarn i used was NOT a piece of red heart as i had thought. it fused right in there. no matter because bub wears a neck collar and chain, as we all know!
i would like to give him fingers. you know, the beautiful "tape recorder scene". well, we'll see how it goes -- right now both bub and i need a few days of recovery and perspective.