Be gone?

May 15, 2008 Chris 42 Comments

Moraie is celebrating her second blogiversary with a contest. To participate, leave her a comment guessing what number the blogiversary post is and identifying the guy in the linked picture. She’ll take guesses until midnight PDT, May 20.

Yesterday it actually felt like spring! (Everyone ok after that shock?) I headed out into my neighborhood to get to know my new camera better and take a few somewhat random pictures.

I hope you embiggened that last picture for maximum amusement. 😉

“What do you mean, it defeats the purpose of towels on the furniture if I’m under the towels? Why do they call it FURniture then?” -Mayhem

Randonymity

Oh oh…

May 14, 2008 Chris 23 Comments

Remember the six bibs I knit a few weeks ago? Turns out I got bad information about the gender of one of the two babies and now need to crank out a couple of new bibs lickity split. Later!

“I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear the ‘B’ word. Lalalalala…” -Mayhem

Contests, Knitting

Warning: Radioactive pandas

May 13, 2008 Chris 37 Comments

Wendy’s giving away a copy of The Splendid Table’s How To Eat Supper. To be included in the random drawing, leave her a comment (before May 15, 5 pm EDT) with an easy and healthy recipe.

Jane’s having a contest – she’s about to become a Mac owner for the first time ever. By May 15, leave her a comment giving her your favorite Mac tips if you have any, or tell her why you think she’s making a good/bad choice.

Sarah’s giving away a copy of Shear Spirit: Ten Fiber Farms, Twenty Patterns, and Miles of Yarn. To be included in the random drawing on May 17, leave her a comment with a link to your favorite sock pattern if you’re a knitter or include your favorite recipe if you’re not a knitter.

Are you a list maker? If so, check out Listography, where you can build your own personal database of lists.

Who knew Chaos was moonlighting at lolcats?! 😉 And how cute (and accurate) is this one?!

Knitting Update
The Radioactive Panda (Cotton) Socks are done!

“Ow! My eyes! My eyes!” -Chaos

Hmm, you can’t really see the second sock in that picture, can you? Is this better?

See that little bit of fluff on the floor between the socks? That’s all the yarn I had left over – less than a foot. I had to rip out my bindoff on one sock and start binding off 1/2 round sooner so I wouldn’t run out of yarn. In addition to my other complaints about Panda Cotton, please add “pathetic yardage.” Here’s a closeup of the “extra” yarn:

See the Sights

Where are you, spring?!

May 12, 2008 Chris 36 Comments

I’m back, and only 140 bloglines entries behind… *whimper*

A picture from the cabin window at about 8 pm, Saturday, May 10:

From my condo upon returning home yesterday, around 5:30 pm:

Spring isn’t exactly speeding in to Minnesota this year, is it?

“The big kitty and I were talking while you were so cruelly gone, Mom, and we’ve determined that it’s all your fault that there aren’t more leaves and birds. Please resolve this situation to our satisfaction immediately.” -Mayhem

Randonymity, Reading

Minnesota turns 150 on Sunday!

May 9, 2008 Chris 39 Comments

It’s Minnesota’s sesquicentennial on May 11 and Minnesota Monthly has an amusing article called “How Minnesota Saved Civilization.” I knew Post-Its were invented here, but I didn’t know about the electric toaster and kitty litter! Yay, us. 😉

Amusing bit see on a Biffs truck (but not captured on film): “13,000 lbs of very gross weight.” Truth in advertising, indeed. 🙂

Thanks to CursingMama for introducing me to the Caffeine Click Test. I achieved both “jittery” (151 clicks) and “spastic” (156 clicks).

Reading Update
Nightlife, Moonshine, and Madhouse (Cal Leandros, Books 1-3) by Rob Thurman. For the first half of book one, I wasn’t sure I was going to keep reading, as Cal is, quite frankly, a huge and annoying PITA. But I slowly got sucked into this gritty urban fantasy series and read all three books in about as many days.
Eternal Lover. This was a collection of four novellas. I read the stories by Jackier Kessler, Richelle Mead (a tale about Georgina Kincaid, succubus), and Lynsay Sands (sadly, not part of her Argeneau Vampires series). This whole collection is completely skippable.
For a Few Demons More by Kim Harrison. Another solid urban fantasy (about witch Rachel Morgan) that had me sniffling a bit near the end. The next/latest book (The Outlaw Demon Wails) is already on its way to me from the library.
Mortal Groove: A Jane Lawless Mystery by Ellen Hart. The Jane Lawless mysteries are set in the Twin Cities and feature restaurateur Jane and her theatrical friend Cordelia. This is a well-written series that will be especially enjoyable if you’re familiar with the Twin Cities. In this book, Jane’s lawyer father is running for governor.
Comfort Food by Kate Jacobs. The author of The Friday Night Knitting Club returns, this time with a novel about cooking show host Augusta “Gus” Simpson, her family, and friends. Although you can read the first chapter online, I don’t think the first chapter does the rest of the book justice – which was exactly what I thought about The Friday Night Knitting Club, too. (I have a slightly longer review over at LibraryThing.)

Weekend Update
I’m heading up north to my brother and SIL’s cabin later this morning. Rumor has it that the lakes “up nord” may still have ice or there may still be snow on the ground. I’m sure you know how much I hope those rumors are unfounded! Have a good weekend! And shhhhh… don’t tell the kitties…

“I heard that. How could you leave us?! Look at how cute I am!” -Mayhem

P.S. As I continue to experiment with various settings on my new camera, I often end up with adorable pictures that aren’t the greatest quality, like the one above…

Those Cats

Cute vampire or goofball zombie? You decide.

May 8, 2008 Chris 37 Comments

Contests, Randonymity

In which I reveal a small winning streak

May 7, 2008 Chris 37 Comments

Amy Artisan’s giving away five copies of Kate Jacobs’ newest book Comfort Food. (Comfort Food is not a sequel to The Friday Night Knitting Club; it’s about a celebrity chef.) Leave her a comment about your favorite comfort food by May 21 to be included in the drawing.

Connie’s son is working on a project for his college graduation in June and would really appreciate it if you stopped by to answer a few questions for him before May 10.

Sign ups for Summer of Socks close on May 15! Nope, I’m not going to sign up – knowing me, I’d never knit another sock again. 😉

Thanks to June for an interesting post that sort of broke my brain. No, not the part about gas mileage – the optical illusion below that.

So, a few weeks ago I had a bit of a contest winning streak. First I won a copy of Vicki’s Bloomin’ Hat pattern – thanks, Vicki!

Next I won some Dream in Color Smooshy and a WendyKnits sock pattern for donating to Nikki’s Relay for Life contest. I was particularly excited about this, since I didn’t have any Smooshy yet. The Smooshy is much more purple than it looks in picture, which is a good thing. 🙂 Thank you, Nikki!

“Smooshy sounds nice and cushy, like something that should be a kitty pillow, and it’s just my size!” -Mayhem

Um, no way, May! Finally, I won a gorgeous limited edition skein of Lavender Sheep sock yarn for donating to Debby’s Get Your Guts in Gear fundraiser (still time to donate before the last prize drawing!). Thank you so much, Debby! I am honored to have a skein of Charlie’s yarn.

You’ve already seen how much Chaos enjoys the ASPCA bracelet that Debby included…

“Must. Steal.” -Chaos

Knitting, Randonymity

Sock in peril!!

May 6, 2008 Chris 40 Comments

Hee hee – I thought this was a pretty good lolcats.

In addition to Celestine, I’ve also been working on a pair of… socks. These socks are from Panda Cotton Print (cotton, bamboo, elastic nylon), color Night Lights. I don’t know why it didn’t occur to me sooner that these would be somewhat lurid vivid socks. At first I was going to use a pattern with a relatively plain foot (K2 P2 *K* P2 K2) and a lacy cuff, but after knitting 3″ of cuff, I had to admit that the lace was completely lost in this colorway. The sock now has a 2×2 rib cuff.

I don’t plan to knit with Panda Cotton ever again – although it makes a great knitted fabric, it’s evilly splitty if your attention wanders for but a moment. Bah.