The Midwest Master’s Seminar

April 29 – 30, 2006, will find me in Neenah, Wisconsin, participating in the Midwest Master’s Seminar. I’ll be taking Rainbow Dyeing in the Microwave (Merike Saarniit), Exotic Stitches for More than One Color (Anna Zilboorg), and Twisted Traveling Stitches (Anna Zilboorg). I’ve taken a class from Anna Zilboorg before, right after Knitting for Anarchists came out, and learned a lot. Looking foward to learning even more this time!

Is anyone else going to be at the Midwest Master’s? Anyone need a roommate?!


Yesterday I drove to St. Peter, Minnesota, for the day to visit a friend. It wasn’t the greatest driving weather. Although the roads were just wet and not slippery, it was very foggy coming home last night.

The view from my front window right before I got on the road yesterday.

While I was in St. Peter, I stopped at Mary Lue’s Yarn and Quilt Shop, which has a cute shop cat:

Here’s a picture for the spinners:

And these made me think of Project Spectrum:


“What’s with all this being gone?! I’m starting to think this knitting stuff is not in my best interest.”

A Knitblogger’s Field Trip

Today is the Knitblogger’s Field Trip, organized by Becky of Knitting Interrupted. The premise is simple – show the blogging world your backyard. So, with no further ado, I present my backyard, er, alley. Ta-da!

It’s not going to be a very bright day today.
In fact, that white stuff? Not there yesterday. Not snow. Sleet. Blech.
Hey Sandy, check out that sky! 😉

Inside, SRM was rousted out from under a cabinet this morning, using the trusty yardstick. Check out this rare midair footage:

“SRM, oh sweet SRM, how I love thee. Let me count the ways…”

“Hey, give us some privacy! You paparazzi, you are all the same.”

A mystery and a meme, but no tagging

Thank you all so much for your fabulous and sweet comments of yesterday! *sniff* Love you guys.

*collects self*

Ok, in the interest of actually having some knitting content, here’s what I’m working on these days:


What? You can’t tell what it is? Excellent! It’s a secret project, so you shouldn’t be able to figure it out yet. Hopefully it’s at least a bit Project Spectrumesque.

Carrie K tagged me for another book meme. I like book memes. 🙂

Name five of your favourite books, in no particular order. (This is subject to change, depending on what I can remember at any given moment.)
To Say Nothing of the Dog, or How We Found the Bishop’s Bird Stump at Last by Connie Willis. Come on, it’s science fiction written in the form of a Victorian novel, inspired by Three Men in a Boat: To Say Nothing of the Dog! (1889) – what’s not to like? You must keep reading past the first 100 pages, even if you’re confused. The narrator’s confused. You’re in his headspace.

Bellwether by Connie Willis. Light-hearted satire about a trends researcher. There are sheep in it.

Someplace To Be Flying by Charles de Lint. What can I say… I want to be a Crow Girl.

War for the Oaks by Emma Bull. Not only is it a good read, it takes place in Minneapolis.

The Bee-Keeper’s Apprentice by Laurie R. King. I like most of the books in this series. It’s a great take on Sherlock Holmes.

What was the last book you bought?
I bought several books last weekend at Magers & Quinn and Booksmart (about 8 blocks from my condo – I love Uptown, Minneapolis!): Kafka on the Shore, Quicksilver, Separation Anxiety, and Women Who Love Cats Too Much.

What was the last book you read?
Dying to Sell by Maggie Sefton. I thought it was another one of her knitting mysteries when I reserved it at the library. Turns out it’s a realtor mystery and not that great… but I read it anyway. Right now I’m reading S is for Silence by Sue Grafton.

List five books that have been particularly meaningful to you.
Underground: The Tokyo Gas Attack and the Japanese Psyche by Haruki Murakami. I read this shortly after 9/11 and the parts about terrorism resonated.

Egalia’s Daughters: A Satire of the Sexes by Gerd Brantenberg. Turns some of our basic perceptions of male and female roles topsy turvy and makes very effective points in doing so. I particularly liked “hysterical” being changed to “testerical.”

The Control of Nature by John McPhee. Looks at several places where humans are trying to control nature, including the Mississippi in Louisiana and the mudslide-prone areas in southern California. Written in 1990…

White Noise by Don DeLillo. Nails life in America in these modern times…

Knitting Without Tears by Elizabeth Zimmermann. This is the book that demystified knitting for me.

Name some books you want to read but just haven’t gotten around to yet.
Kafka on the Shore, Quicksilver, Lambs of God, Blue Shoe, Julie and Julia… I could go on and on.

“Hey, I’m just hanging out on my tissue paper, thinking about a snack. Leave me alone. Go find SRM. That might make me less cranky.”

Cha(o)sing the blues

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been reading about lots of folks with the winter blues. It makes sense – it’s been winter for a while, and for those of us in the more northern parts of the continent, it’s been cold and cloudy and dark. But as I was noticing the prevalence of the blues, I realized that I was feeling far less blue than I had for a long time; in fact, upon careful contemplation, far less blue than I’d felt for well over a year.

The past year has been been a rough one here at Casa de Chaos – but rough in the sort of way that sneaks up on you, that you don’t realize is rough at the time – only in retrospect. It was a year of mild but ongoing health issues… and the discovery of several new health issues. It was a year of having a brief but promising relationship fizzle in a disconcerting way. It was a year of finally admitting that I’m happier not dating. It was a year of learning that some key friendships had little to hold them up when things were rough, but that others were unexpectedly sturdy. It was the year that all of these things coalesced and I slipped deeper and deeper into myself.

Then I began reading some blogs… and then some more blogs… and then discovered a blogalogue running in my head. Eventually, that blogalogue demanded out and I started Stumbling Over Chaos (well, I’ve been stumbling over Chaos for the past several years, but you know what I mean!). I started slowly and realized that I loved blogging. I loved that it required a tiny daily act of creativity and creation, which had seeped out of my life. I loved that it helped me find new interest in my knitting. I loved that it got me thinking outside myself. I loved the connections that developed with other bloggers through the acts of writing, reading, commenting, sharing, and caring.

Thus, as others fight the winter blues and blahs, I find myself with more energy, more connections, and more joy than I’ve had in my life for a long time – far beyond the past year. I’d like to acknowledge all of you who’ve stopped by and shared in my life and the life of my chaotic cat, and all of you whose blogs I’ve been reading, because you’ve all been part of this revitalization. Thank you!

“If you’re blue, I think you’ll feel better soon, too.”

Fall Fiber Festival anyone?

As you might’ve read on Scout’s blog, she and I are working on an early October meetup in New Mexico. New Mexico is one of my favorite places – I spend an amazing amount of time gawking at the sky. I love Sante Fe and Taos and am looking forward to getting to know Albuquerque better, with help from the Scout and hopefully some of the other knitters in the area.

But we’d love to lure some other bloggers out, too. Let us tempt you with the Taos Wool Festival (October 7th and 8th, with workshops before and after) and the Albuquerque International Balloon Festiva (early mornings, October 6th through 15th).

The area has so many other cool things, I’ll just include a few.

Petroglyph National Monument, at the west edge of Albuquerque – I took the picture below in the spring of 2003. Seeing such ancient human artifacts was powerfully moving.

Bandelier National Monument isn’t that far away, either. Chaco Culture National Historical Park is a bit of jaunt, but it’s on my list of places to see. The High Road to Taos from Sante Fe is a spectacular drive that takes you through some lovely and fascinating communities like Chimayo (most famous as the “Lourdes of America”).

In addition to the Wool Festival, the area has some fun yarn shops, such as Taos Sunflower, Weaving Southwest, La Lana Wools, Needle’s Eye, and Village Wools (where Scout works!). I also stopped at several cool spinning/dyeing/weaving studios in Chimayo and along the High Road. And if you’re willing to go a bit further out, Tierra Wools in Los Ojos is fascinating.

Georgia O’Keefe lived in the area for years, and I highly recommend a visit to the Georgia O’Keefe Museum in Sante Fe. She lived on the Ghost Ranch and in Abiquiu – and it looks like the Abiquiu Studio Tour might coincide with the Balloon Festiva and Wool Festival. I went to a knitting retreat at the Abiquiu Inn in the spring of 2003 – here’s a picture of me taken in that area:

I’m sure Scout and I will be posting more about this as it develops. Please leave a comment if you’re interested in participating in our very loosely organized knitting “festival”!

Needless to say, the Cat Chaotic was a bit upset upon hearing I might be gone for a week or two this fall…

“What??? Did you clear this with me?! I don’t think so, missy. Your place is right here, keeping me entertained and fed.”
Edit: SRM has returned! I have no idea where he’s been for the past six weeks. Chaos just brought a sparkly mouse for me to throw and I threw it once before I realized that it was red and had no ears or nose… Chaos is very happy! He is a blissful SRM fetching feline machine right now.

Sedated in the 80s

Mama Tulip, EE, and some other bloggers are doing a “Blast from the Past” this week, so I thought I’d dig out a few of my ancient and amusing pictures. This should help you understand why 80s fashion should not ever return!

1982, with one “Patches” at a friend’s house. Badly permed hair and short shorts. Ewww!

1986, at a holiday party. I am so drunk in this picture. I was a cashier in a liquor store – boy, do liquor store employees know how to party or what… Anyway, note the big hair, dangly single earring, and gorgeous sweater dress.

1987. Would you buy a used car from this woman?!

1989. If you weren’t a bride in the 80s, count your blessings. If you were, you can commiserate. Big asymmetrical permmed hair. Whoa. There’s a reason I don’t wear makeup anymore – I got it all out of my system in the 80s…

In which I find a scary book

This book would be funnier if this wasn’t on the first page:

“You know you’re spoiling your cat when… your cat is on the Internet.”
Oh oh.
“Don’t believe it, Mom! And definitely don’t read any more of that book! Here, I’ll just eat the book and solve the problem.”

Strawberry fields forever

Blame Jeanne… I’m not sure I would ever have thought of putting a hat on Chaos if it wasn’t for Jeanne’s cats in preemie hats pictures… Yes, I did wash the strawberry hat after this photo shoot – the new dad is allergic to cats (poor thing).

“Are you sure this hat is flattering, Mom?! I’m not sure that red is my color.”

“Really? Chicks will dig me in this hat? Oh, ok then.”

“Hmm, let me try a little ‘come hither’ look.”

“Oh no! I can’t be seen with fur out of place!! Let me just touch up this spot…”

“…so… sleepy…”

25 Things About the Cat Chaotic

Wow – I’m overwhelmed. Thank you all so much for your kind words about my Hourglass Sweater!

Not much going on here today – I’m working on a knitting project that’s a gift for someone who may or may not read my blog, so I’m erring on the side of caution and waiting a while to post about it.

Yesterday Mama Tulip posted her list of 100 things, which reminded me that I love those lists and that I want to do one for myself, too. But it’s going to take me a bit of time to work on that, so instead I shall give you 25 Things About the Cat Chaotic.

1. Chaos and his brother Diablo were born on September 28, 2003, to an unwed teenage mother (Riley).

2. Although I instantly named him Chaos, my brother named him “Hoho” and calls him that to this day.

3. Because Diablo was so evidently a boy and Chaos didn’t look like that at all, we thought he was a girl for the first ten weeks of his life. This doesn’t appear to have left scars on his psyshe.

4. Chaos weighs about 15 pounds. Even the vet agrees that this is a good weight for him.

5. He has a “jungle pouch” that he was born with, but is not a fat cat – he’s a muscley house panther sort of creature.

6. Chaos was diagnosed with Feline Lower Urinary Tract Disorder (FLUTD) in August 2005. This is controlled with a special diet.

7. He loves to play fetch.

8. The only acceptable fetch toys are sparkly mice (most famously SRM, who is still missing) and the little plastic pull tabs from the top of Silk Soymilk cartons.

9. Chaos forms attachments to blankets and articles of clothing, most memorably my green sweatpants. Just a few days ago I had to rescue a wool blanket that he was dragging around before it got too many fang holes in it. (Do you know how heavy a wool blanket is?!)

10. Of his kittenhood stages, the messiest was his Jackson Pollock Phase. This consisted of him finding my mug of mocha everytime I left the room, sticking his paw into it, becoming disgusted at the goop on his paw and shaking off said goop onto all surrounding surfaces, then repeating until I returned to the room. Remember that monstrous mirror in my living room? Very hard to remove mocha from. Also hard to remove mocha from my laptop, the carpet, the cupboards…

11. The second messiest stage was his Raccoon Phase. All toys and “found” objects were dropped into his water dish to see what happened, then fished out with much splashing.

12. Additionally, when he had a self-waterer, he would put his little kitty arms around it and flip it over to watch the water run out onto the floor. He no longer has a self-waterer.

13. Chaos is a binge eater. Whatever amount of food he gets, he will eat it all in just a few minutes. If it’s too much food, he’ll hork it back up.

14. Because of this, he gets fed three small meals everyday.

15. He starts to whine and become very pesky about 1.5 hours before feeding time. In an attempt to get him to quit bothering me, I tried an automatic feeder. In less than a week, he had figured the feeder out and could extricate the entire day’s worth of food. He no longer has an automatic feeder.

16. Chaos likes to hop back and forth over the head of anyone sitting on the floor. I have needed more glasses adjustments due to Chaos colliding with the side of my head than for any other reason in my life.

17. He is able to open my folding closet doors. Said closet doors are all secured with bungee cords, since he has not developed anti-bungee technology yet.

18. In the morning, prior to being fed, Chaos purrs louder than any other cat I have ever heard. I can hear him through my bedroom door.

19. Chaos likes to hang out in several places you wouldn’t catch most cats dead in: on top of his litter box and in his cat carrier.

20. He does not approve of crazy living room dancing and will jump around trying to nip my hands should I start dancing.

21. One of his periodic interests is trying to eat the couch. He bites it and tries to rip holes in it with his teeth.

22. Chaos never uses his claws on the furniture – just on his scratching post and cardboard scratcher.

23. He likes having his claws trimmed because he knows he’ll get a treat.

24. His “treat” is Fish Flavored PetroMalt, which he would get anyway to prevent hairballs.

25. Chaos loves tuna, but does not get to have it very often. He loves tuna so much that he will start whining and begging when I get out any sort of can or the can opener or even open the drawer in which I store the can opener.

In which I achieve both Olympic Gold and Stashalong Failure

Sorry to send so many of you off to get your eyes checked – I was really excited to have finished (including some steam blocking) and wanted to share but didn’t have time to goof around with the timer and all. Thanks for all your kinds words!

Here’s the sweater in action. (Ignore my red eyes. Me fixing red-eye results in eyes that look like bottomless pits. Trust me that the red-eye is better.)

Besides providing evidence of Chaos’ evil nature (the glow! the glow!), it should also give you a better idea of what a big cat he is. (He’s not fat, either.) This monster can handily fish things off the counter when he stands on his hind legs. But I digress. Back to the sweater…

It’s not easy to take a good photo of a black sweater that’s 50% silk – very reflective. What you can see in the picture below is that there were definite color differences between the skeins. It’s much less pronounced when I’m wearing it (and not being photographed). I didn’t knit from two skeins at once because that’s just such a drag to do when knitting in the round.

Pattern: Hourglass Sweater from Last-Minute Knitted Gifts

Yarn: Brooks Fiber Farm Four Play (50 silk/50 wool)

Modifications: As part of my training, I gathered advice from others who had knit the sweater (let us pause and give thanks for Google). Based on my research, I added some short rows to the back of the neck and am very pleased with the results – no sweater strangulation. I also decreased the size of the neck opening. I’m not a fan of bell sleeves, so I completely redid the sleeves. Finally, since I hate sewing (and with tips from Jeanne), I picked up and knitted in the hems and the neck – which meant that this sweater required very little finishing.

Thoughts on the Result: I love this sweater! I already wore it to work today. Circular swatch notwithstanding, my gauge on the body was a little loose while my gauge on the sleeves was a little tight (my average gauge was perfect!). My sweater fits more loosely than many other Hourglass Sweaters I’ve seen, but I think it’s still very flattering.

Thoughts on the Knitting Olympic Experience: If I planned and prepped for all my major projects like I did for this one, I’m sure I’d have a lot more knitting success stories. I was also very surprised at how quickly I knit this. Had I truly applied myself, I would’ve been done last weekend. Because I apparently don’t have a good grasp of my knitting speed and skill, I didn’t select a sufficiently challenging project. That said, I think I’d rather be in the “pleasantly surprised” boat than in the “oh oh, I think we’re sinking!” boat.

If you’re wondering what those blobs are at the bottom of the picture… That’s my leftover yarn. I originally had five skeins. I purchased two extra skeins, just in case… and I so didn’t need them. Of the seven skeins, I have three full skeins remaining (plus that little bit on the right). So, just to finish off my Stashalong aspirations in fine fashion, I headed over and joined the Rockin’ Socks Club. Sorry, Kim

“Dang it, you really messed up my fur during that photoshoot! It’ll take me hours to get it just right. I can understand how yarn led you astray. Happens to me all the time.”

Art journaling, reading, knitting, and cat parenting. It's a wild life.