- Simon & Garfunkel, At the Zoo

On Saturday, I went to the Minnesota Zoo with some friends and their kids. Right away, I ran into Catherine of Yogurt & Granola – knitbloggers are everywhere!

Here are some of the better animal photos I got, starting with a very active red panda.

This tiger never got close enough for a really good picture, alas.

The zoo has lots of native Minnesota animals, such as coyotes.

That coyote was getting ready to pounce on another coyote – doesn’t he just look like he’s up to no good?!

I interrupted this otter in the midst of cleaning its tummy.

Not a lot of open water yet for the swans.

The bald eagle was definitely keeping its eye on everyone, possibly trying to decide who was a tasty morsel…

Back at home, the local wildlife looked unconcerned.

“I’m pretty sure I could take that eagle. Besides, I’m in my Box of Invincibility.” -Chaos

Recently, I won a contest over at knit’n lit and Jenn sent me a fun purple prize pack: a type of Opal I haven’t tried before and some KnitPicks alpaca that has “scarf” written all over it. Thanks, Jenn! How ever did you guess that I like purple?

“May! May! You’re missing the yarn!” -Chaos

To celebrate his 2000th post, FuriousBall sent a cd of his very own music to each interested commentor. Thanks, FB – it was very soothing to listen to while I did my taxes the other night…

“May! May! You’re missing the cd!” -Chaos

And Elspeth sent me some goodies just because. Aw, thanks, E!! Hidden by Chaos’s head is a mix cd. Clockwise from there is a cute “meow” card, a scissors with a sheep on it, a very cool sheepy tote bag, a gorgeous skein of yarn (more on that in a minute), two black cat notebooks (the one on the right says “Black cat with cool face, but actually goofy” and the one on the left says “Stella’s story: Her name is Stella. She is very popular with the boys, though very stylish and selfish”), two sheepy chip clips, some flavored coffee, a tiny ram notebook, and some cards with which Chaos is trying abscond.

“May! May! You’re missing the lots of stuff! Hmm. I don’t know where that Mayhem’s gotten herself off to, but at least I don’t have to share this nifty ribbon.” -Chaos

“Mmm… ribbon, let me lick you…” -Chaos

“What did I miss?! What did I miss?! Ewwww, big kitty, get a room!” -Mayhem

A more detailed shot of the yarn label – can you see the misspelling? E noted that cat hair isn’t intentionally spun into this yarn, but apparently is just natively in the spinning environment. Hee hee – maybe I should get “guaranteed cat hair” labels for everything I knit!

Have a great weekend, everyone! (And rest assured that I took the ribbon away from Chaos before things got too out of hand…)

Lynne’s having a “one year since first flying to the US” contest – explain three differences between the two pictured socks and you will be entered in a drawing for some yummy sock yarn and stitchmarkers. Contest closes 6 pm PDT, March 30.

Mim’s having a signs of spring contest. Post pictures of your favorite signs of spring, then let her know about it before 5 pm MDT, April 1, when she’ll randomly select someone to win a “yarn-y prize.”

It’s birthday month at Knittymama’s and she’s having a “best of 2008 so far” contest to celebrate. Leave her a comment with a link to the best knitting pattern/article/blog post/etc you’ve seen so far this year. On April 15, she’ll randomly select a winner to receive an adorable mini project bag or needle roll.

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I actually had something to blog, but after finishing my taxes, my brain is utter mush. “Thanks” to Maryse for triggering this “must do taxes now!” thing. So let’s look at this nice picture of Chaos breathing deep the calming waves of Feliway feline pheromones, shall we? (See the little misty shadows on the left? That’s the stuff.)

“Ahhhhhhhh…” -Chaos

“Like, I feel totally mellow, dudes. You should try this stuff.” -Chaos

The first two people to guess where Kristi’s photos were taken will get 8×10 prints of that location. Get your guesses in by Thursday or Friday of this week.

Holly’s been participating in the 52 Pair Plunge (knit a pair of socks each week from April 1, 2007, to April 1, 2008). This experience has inspired her to revamp the poem “The Charge of Light Brigade” into “The Charge of the Sock Brigade.” Help her add verses to her poem and if your verse is particularly good, you could win some sock yarn!

• Yesterday morning was rough. First, I dreamed about one of my coworkers in a way that left me feeling a titch uncomfortable around him in the office yesterday. D’oh! Second, between hitting snooze the first time and actually crawling out of bed a while later, I completely convinced myself that it was Friday morning. Double d’oh! I was so sad when I realized how very wrong I was…

• After years of searching for US00/1.75mm circular needles for sock knitting, suddenly there are two choices: Hiya Hiya (strangely not mentioned on their own website, but available from retailers) and Addi Lace. Many thanks to Bethany for alerting me to this development!

• Cloud Cult, First Avenue, Saturday, April 26 – who’s with me?? The only person I know who wants to go is FuriousBall, but he’s inconveniently located in New Jersey. Of course, if I miss them then, I’ll be able to catch them June 21 at Rock the Garden in the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden.

• Does it surprise you to learn that, with all the vampire and shapeshifter sorts of books I read, I’m not a fan of horror? Well, except for H.P. Lovecraft, but he’s too darn scary to read very often.

• Have I mentioned that I will most likely be spending several weeks in the UK this September? My stepmom will be teaching at Alnwick Castle (the castle in Harry Potter) and I will have the chance to stay in the castle with she and my dad! I’m also hoping to spend some time with the Paos.

• My ASL I class is done for the quarter. Of the eight sessions, I was sick for one and the instructor had to cancel the last class due to a family emergency. I’ve signed up for ASL I again next quarter, as I really don’t feel ready to move on to ASL II. If the instructor disagrees, ASL II is two days after ASL I, so I can change classes.

• I have been knitting – expect a major bib photoshoot sometime soon, as a plague of babies is about to descend upon my office. Although, since Mayhem knocked a beer over onto my bib-in-progress last night, it looks like I have some bib washing ahead of me, too. I’m guessing it’s poor form to give baby gifts that smell like beer…

“I can’t believe you told about that, Mom. I’m so ashamed… now everyone will think I’m clumsy!” -Mayhem

Um, sweetie? I have some bad news for you – you are clumsy… I’m sure if Chaos ever stops biting your whiskers off, you’ll be much more graceful. (P.S. Probably you should stop nursing from him, too.)

Every time I post pictures of murals in my neighborhood, people comment that Minneapolis sure seems to have a lot of murals. Interestingly, I’m not sure I’ve posted pictures of many murals from outside my walking neighborhood… and not even all of those! Plus, they keep changing. Remember that Mountain Dew mural? This is what it looks like now:

Sure glad I got pictures of it before they changed it!

Intermedia Arts is always doing something interesting with its facade.

Penn Cycle has a mural in a narrow alley, which is hard capture due to the angle.

This is the Dunn Brothers Coffee offering:

It’s hard to tell if this is a mural or graffiti in the Planet Soccer parking lot, isn’t it?

“Hey, Mom, you wouldn’t mind if the big kitty and I painted a mural on that boring white wall in the living room, right?!” -Mayhem