As you may have read already, Wendy was in town for the opening of the Bohus Exhibit at the American Swedish Institute. Catherine and her husband hosted a party in Wendy’s honor at their condo, which had the most amazing view of downtown Minneapolis. (Please excuse the graininess of my pictures – I was using the “available light” setting on my camera for most of the shots.)

Here’s a picture of the knitbloggers gathered together (yes, I know, everyone who was there has a variation of this picture on their blog – but in this one, my eyes are open!) – from the left, Wendy, kmkat, me, and Susan.

And now… the blackmail shots! Probably best if no one tells Lucy that her mom was consorting with strange Ragdolls, hmm?

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Over the weekend, I stopped at IKEA and couldn’t resist picking up a new cat bed. I think Chaos likes it.

“Don’t let that paw get any closer to my new cat bed, Mayhem!” -Chaos

“But Mom bought that for both of us, big kitty!” -Mayhem

*zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz* -Chaos

Tuesday night Deb and Jeanne came over for knitting (which we did remarkably little of) and birthday celebrations (ur doin it right). Deb took some great pictures (including a really nice one of Jeanne and I, although it does illustrate how desperately I need a haircut). Deb gave Jeanne and I those nifty cabled Starbucks mugs – and mine came with a super duper black Sharpie because I’d fussed about the lack of color options in the mugs a week or so ago.

Mayhem took quite a liking to Deb.

“Mom, this nice lady doesn’t have that pesky bookholder in her lap like you always do.” -Mayhem

“I like you, nice lady! Plus I suspect you might not be as attentive to your yarn as Mom is. Bwa-ha-ha!” -Mayhem

Although if you go over to Deb’s, you can see that Mayhem might just have been lurking around waiting to send a text message and not planning to create extra ends for Deb.

Have a great weekend, everyone! Here in Minnesota, we’re looking forward to some much warmer temperatures (this is, of course, relative), which will bring snow.

Hopefully things will get back to what passes for normal around here now, but no promises!

Time to extend much-belated thanks for some lovely birthday gifts gifts I received. A few days before my birthday, Jeanne and Deb came over to celebrate with me. Jeanne brought along an extremely tasty flourless chocolate cake she baked for the festivities.

Chaos menaced my guests.

“Hand over that tissue paper, lady, if you know what’s good for you!” -Chaos

Mayhem was a bit more subtle.

“I wonder how much wrapping paper and tape I can eat before Mom notices?” -Mayhem

(Hmm, no pictures of Jeanne, as she was taking pictures of me. And no pictures of me because I look absolutely demented in every single one of them.)

Deb gave me a toasty, autumnal skein of Misty Alpaca sock yarn, It Itches, adorable non-skid pawprints for the bottom of socks or slippers, and a very fun scissors case (with scissors even!). Thank you, Deb – and no, you aren’t going to be re-gifted with the yarn on your birthday.

“Excellent! A scissors with a carrying strap. I’ve been looking for one of these.” -Mayhem

From Jeanne, a knitting pinup calendar (hmm, probably not suitable for my cube at work), the Yarn Harlot’s page-by-day knitting calendar (hopefully more suitable for work), a cat lady birthday card (inside it says “After a while you stop counting”), and more luscious sock yarn. (Yes, Jeanne, I know there’s something else. It was very tempting and harder to photograph. We’ll get there.)

Jeanne also gave me an adorable pocket needle gauge, which Mayhem really, really likes. I’ll probably have to hide it if I ever want to see it again. Thanks, Jeanne!

“I’ll keep a close eye on it, Mom! Nothing will happen to it. I promise! Hee hee hee.” -Mayhem

And although they couldn’t be here in person, the paos were with us in spirit. They sent my beloved dark chocolate covered rice cakes, a chocolate coffee stirrer, a great card (“Women invented chocolate. Men invented calories.”), more gorgeous sock yarn, and a test that I’m supposed to administer to the kitties. Thanks, mrspao and pao!

“I can watch this yarn for you, too, Mom! Hee hee hee.” -Mayhem

Vacation Summary So Far
Friday – Biked, went to the library, picked up new glasses, read, knitted.

Saturday – Moaned about the rain, read, knitted, met Jodi of A Caffeinated Yarn at Common Roots for coffee, conversation, and knitting while she was in the area.

Sunday – Moaned about the rain, read, knitted, ripped, re-knitted, bothered the cats, randomly selected contest winner. Congrats to Lisa! Your copy of Night Shift will be on its way as soon as I make it to the post office.

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Reading Update
Gale Force (Weather Warden, Book 7) by Rachel Caine. This is a series I continue to enjoy, but boo hiss to the cliffhanger endings! (If you read either Caine’s Weather Warden or Morganville Vampire series, check out the free online short stories on her website.)
Birthright and Two of a Kind (Impulse / The Best Mistake) by Nora Roberts. It’s starting to scare me how much she’s written…
Acheron (Dark-Hunter, Book 12) by Sherrilyn Kenyon. This book was hefty – over 700 pages worth of heft. The first half, about Ash’s human life, is not easy reading. The second half seemed really choppy and not very well-written – not sure if I was just reading too fast, or if I had expectations for this book that it couldn’t quite meet.
Witch in the House by Jenna McKnight. Another light’n'fluffy paranormal romance, featuring a witch and a Pierce Brosnan lookalike PI.

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“I didn’t do it! You can’t prove it! Oh, wait, what?” -Mayhem

Emma’s celebrating her blogiversary with a contest – guess which color she and her husband will paint their bathroom and you could win a skein of Wollmeise! Leave your guess by midnight CDT, April 18 – winner will be announced when a color is selected.

Thanks to Rebecca for letting me know about this very funny YouTube video. “Corporal cuddling” is my favorite means of cat discipline. Hee hee.

On Saturday, Jeanne and I journeyed out to the market at Yarnover (imagine an extremely mini Stitches event or the like). While there, we had the chance to participate in Franklin’s 1000 Knitters Project. Here are Franklin and Jeanne:

I’m sure Jeanne will post the picture of me at some point.

We also spent some time wandering around at Uncle Hugo’s/Uncle Edgar’s (support your local independent booksellers if you want them to survive!) and then had a tasty lunch at Chiang Mai Thai. A very pleasant way to spend a rainy/snowy/sleety/windy Saturday.

Oh, what did I buy at Yarnover? Jeanne and I each bought a skein of the same yarn – 823 yards of Rovings‘ fingering weight Polwarth-silk to dye this summer.

“Is a Polwarth a type of kitty? Or a kitty snack?!” -Mayhem