Ok, I’ve been reading about SocktoberFest everywhere and was thinking to myself, “Heh, last thing I need right now is another along to not complete!” But it turns out that SocktoberFest is another of Lolly’s wonderfully no-pressure alongs – simply knit socks in October. That’s it. No tricks. No gimmicks. Well, I can manage that – I always have a pair of socks in my purse. So I’m in!

It’s 39F here right now – brrrrr!!

Hopefully I’ll be taking Chaos to the vet in a little bit – let’s just say that his digestion has been, um, messy, for the past day and I’m a bit worried. So, to distract all of us, I present the Hat Edition of WTF Wednesday.

Of course, even if he’s not feeling up to snuff, Chaos had to get in on the photo action (butt on left) – so did May (paws on bottom).

But I’d hate for y’all to miss out on a good picture of those hats, so here they are again in all-too-vivid color:

Apologies in advance for any nightmares you might have as a result of that picture… In this next picture, do you think she’s saluting? Or about to cover her eyes to escape the horror? (Or is she a he??)

This picture reminds me of something or someone, but I’m drawing a blank. Twiggy maybe?

Crocheted bobbles in lovely 1970s colors, anyone?!

Alas, I don’t think these pictures cheered Chaos up.

Even Mayhem looks concerned…

Me? Crabby. Managed, in the course of trying to resolve some ipod issues, to brilliantly delete my playlists… If you’re waiting for a mix from me, I’m sorry! I have to recreate them from screen shots due to my own stupidity. (Strangely, that doesn’t make me feel better.) On the plus side, I really don’t think my toe is broken – thanks to everyone who sent me well wishes!

Becky is celebrating her blogiversary and her new blog with a contest! Drop by before September 24.

Craftlilly Jennifer has started a new KAL, FiberFlix. Think Knit the Classics, but with films instead of books.

Edit: D’oh! Missed that it was Talk Like a Pirate Day. Whoops… Thanks to Mouse for the reminder.

Reading Update: Who Killed Marilyn Monroe? by Liz Evans. The first Grace Smith mystery at last! (No, I didn’t manage to say anything clever to Cute Library Guy…)
Magic Kingdome for Sale… Sold! by Terry Brooks. Chicago lawyer Ben Holliday buys the magic kingdom of Landover from a catalog and leaves his job and friends behind to go live as Landover’s king. This was a very clever premise and enjoyable book. I’m sure I’ll read a few more in the series, if the quality stays decent.

For those who have been worried about Chaos being usurped by Mayhem on the blog…

May appeared startlingly unconcerned…

Whew! Brace yourselves…

Craftlilly Jennifer has a nice list of KALs and contests for you to check out.

Keohinani is having a model your socks contest. Deadline is September 30, 12 pm, Hawaii Standard Time.

Celtic Kelly and her husband Moose will be Walking for the Cure on October 1. She’s awarding a prize (probably Fleece Artist) to a random sponsor for this good cause!

MrsPao is having a “What flavour crisps does James Bond eat?” contest to help her husband Pao make it to Google’s number one hit for that topic. A winner will be selected randomly after 9 pm GMT, October 31 – knitters can win some lovely Fyberspates sock yarn or non-knitters will receive other non-yarny goodies. (Hee hee, I just participated by posting that link! Woot woot.)

Teyani is having a “guess how many skeins of fiber she’s dyed since the beginning of the year” contest. The winner will get to pick a skein of Chasing Rainbows Superwash Sock Yarn; contest runs through September 24.

Andi is having a contest – she’s giving away a goodie bag to the first commenter to guess Baby K’s name.

Geraldine is having a caption contest and is giving away copies of her vegetarian cookbook. The deadline is September 30.

Check out Zimmermania – a knitalong that starts September 23 and features the patterns of Elizabeth Zimmermann.

Have I mentioned how impressed I am at the amazing breadth of contests and knitalongs y’all come up with?! Very cool. Keep on sending them in to chris at stumbli……

To finish off my crazy busy week last week (well, crazy busy for me at least), I went to see Greg Brown at the Fitzgerald Theater Friday night with my friend Wendy. Somehow Wendy scored amazing seats – 5th row, main floor center. Damn. I think the last time I saw Greg Brown at the Fitz, we were second balcony, obstructed (a genteel way to say the seats were behind a massive damn pillar!). This show was way heavier on the blues and less folksey than I’ve experienced at a Greg Brown show before. Good show, but I think both Wendy and I were ready for some more up tempo music that never arrived. Probably my favorite part was Greg’s second song of the evening, a no holds barred political song that had everyone laughing and cheering.

I spent the rest of the weekend lounging around, reading, not cleaning, drinking mochas, knitting up my pattern that will be in the December MagKnits (I need to finish tweaking and take a few pictures), and just generally recuperating from last week. I need to start getting things together for my Knitblogger’s Tour of the West – can’t believe I leave on the 30th already! Oh yeah, I stubbed the #$*^&!! out of my left pinkie toe on Saturday. I’ve never had a stubbed toe turn such amazing colors in such a short time…

Ok, ok, I know you’re all actually just here for the cute cat pictures!

Mayhem is about as sweet and wispy as she can possibly be – to give you an idea, those little pokey hipbones there? About 1.25-1.5″ across! Awww…

She and Chaos had a pretty rough weekend… Although poor Chaos is on a diet – he snuck a pound or two on while I wasn’t looking these past few months!

May also practiced her posing – the pressure of being a knitblogger’s cat!