Category Archives: Knitting

Contests, Knitting

Retro kitties

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It’s Wendy’s 6th blogiversary and she’s having a WendyKnits trivia contest. First prize is a $50 gift certificate to the Loopy Ewe! Deadline to enter is noon EDT, April 3.

Knitnzu is having a snow melt contest – guess when the monstrous pile of snow will finish melting and you could win yarn. Leave your guesses by April 4, 6 pm EDT.

My KnitPicks Options needle case arrived from Zonda! I also had her make me a sock knitting bag from the same fabric. I absolutely adore both.

“Can’t… quite… reach… itchy spot.” -Chaos

“It sure was nice of Mom to get us this brand new kitty bed, wasn’t it, big kitty? Is this a pillow over here?” -Mayhem

“Dum dee dum dee dum… Maybe if I ignore the itchy spot, it will stop itching… Did you say something, May?” -Chaos

“I was just wondering if this was a pillow or what.” -Mayhem

“Um, May? You’re a cat. You don’t need a pillow. Suck it up and be tough like me! Cursed itchy spot. Where’s Mom when you need her?” -Chaos

“Well, that sent May off in a huff, didn’t it? Oh, what do we have over here?” -Chaos

“Cool! This comes with a nifty purple cat toy! Purple’s my second favorite color, you know. Hey, I don’t feel itchy anymore!” -Chaos

Oh oh – gotta go and rescue that cable!

Contests, Knitting, Randonymity, Tunes

Random entropy

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Check out this amazing knitted music video!

AmberMoggie is celebrating her 500th post – leave a comment about your favorite yarn and you could win yarn, needles, and stitchmarkers. Winner will be selected March 24.

Chappysmom has a nice post about the Match It for Pratchett campaign to support Alzheimer’s research.

Ruth is having another contest. She comes up with really creative contest ideas that I have a hard time summarizing, so I’ll just send you over to her place for the details. :) The contest is open until May 10. (This was moved over from yesterday’s post – so you are experiencing deja vu.)

When I went to bed Wednesday night, there were four kiwi fruit on the counter. When I got up Thursday morning, there were three. Hmm. Fortunately, the fourth kiwi was found in the living room behind my knitting bag, unmolested.

Last night I met and knitted with ikisti, a very cool knitblogger who lives all of eight blocks away from me. Eerily, she lives in the same apartment building I did before I bought my condo. *insert Twilight Zone music here*

Remember my Keen World post from last Friday, with the picture of all my Keens carefully arranged in a circle? Keep that circle in mind as you look at the pictures below. In the first picture, the red Xs indicate shoes that were removed from the circle and worn during the past week. The green X indicates a pair of sandals removed to be washed when Chaos horked in them. (Why, yes, that would be the only pair I hadn’t worn yet.)

“Still waiting to learn the point of this game…” -Mayhem

“Maybe I’ll just have a little nap while I wait…” -Mayhem

Not quite a week later, this is what remains of the circle. What a remarkable demonstration of entropy in action!

…or possibly just Chaos and Mayhem in action…

Contests, Knitting, Reading

Expanding Options

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Ali’s having a spring 2008 knitting goals contest. Let her know what your spring knitting goals are, and you could win Blue Sky Dyed Cotton and more. Contest closes at midnight CDT, March 20.

Janet’s having a seven weird things contest – if you’ve already done that meme, you can leave her a link to your list or you can leave your list in her comments. She’ll randomly select a winner to receive a gorgeous skein of Manos Silk Blend on March 21.

Yay! Cyn’s black kitty Cosmo is doing better!

Reading Update
Falling into the World by Karen Brichoux. I loved Brichoux’s novel Coffee and Kung Fu and have kept up with her writing since then. In this novel, she explores how the death of a woman’s mother six years ago has affected and trapped her, her sister, and their father.
Bowled Over by Kasey Michaels. Mystery author Maggie Kelly’s Regency hero stepped out of the pages of her novels and into her life; the shenanigans continue in the latest book in this series (#6). I just wish the book didn’t have distracting asides into the “mind of the killer.”
The Myth-Hunters (Book One of the Veil) and The Borderkind (Book Two of the Veil) by Christopher Golden. These were well-written contemporary fantasies and I’m looking forward to the third and final book when it comes out next month.
Babel-17 by Samuel R. Delany. This book was formative for me. I read it in elementary school, and the powerful message it conveyed about how the language you know shapes the way you are able to think affects me to this day. It’s science fiction, won a Nebula Award, reads more like poetry than prose at various points, and isn’t for everyone – but if it’s for you, it’s powerful.
Holy Smokes (Aisling Grey, Guardian, Book 4) by Katie MacAlister. More light’n’fluffy paranormal romance from Katie MacAlister.
Big Boned: A Heather Wells Mystery by Meg Cabot. The most recent mystery featuring former teen singing sensation and inadvertent sleuth Heather Wells moves her story along in a most satisfying fashion.

Knitting Update
I finally talked myself into ordering a set of KnitPicks Options interchangeable needles. I haven’t used them yet, but I have plans to. As have so many others, I thought the case that came with the needles was totally fugly, so I’ve commissioned a case from ZKnitter, using some funky retro black kitty fabric.

“Well, at least it isn’t more socks.” -Mayhem

“Do you think if I do my best Vanna impression, KnitPicks would hire me to be their spokeskitty?” -Mayhem

“You don’t? Well, pooey. I’m outta here.” -Mayhem

Contests, Knitting

Finally Flatirons

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Leave a comment with a post title idea for Romi (before 11:59 pm PDT, March 13), and you could win one of her gorgeous shawl pins!

Ruth is celebrating her blogiversary and mention in Knitty’s Cool Stuff with two contests. For the first, guess how many times during the past year that she’s used a number in her post titles. Leave your guesses by 9 pm MDT, March 17. For the second, participate in Ruth’s “Alphabet Soup” challenge – you could win a $50 gift certificate to the LYS or online store of your choice, plus $26 donated to the charity of your choice!

Please send good wishes to Cyn and her black kitty Cosmo, who is very sick right now.

At long last, I finished my Great Adirondack Flatirons (follow link for yarn and pattern details – I’m feeling lazy). I knitted one sock from each end of the ball of yarn in order to use as much of the yarn as I could. (The whole dividing the ball of yarn into two by weight thing has never worked that well for me.)

*yawn* “More socks? Hey, what’s that over there?” -Mayhem

They look pretty good inside out, too.

“It was a toy! I like it when you get boxes with these fabulous toys.” -Mayhem

Here’s a macro shot, right side out:

And a macro shot, inside out:

Knitting

Twisty little cables

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Whew! The STR Mustang Sally Cable Twist Socks are finished – and finished days before the gifting deadline.

Notice how much darker the sock to the right/top is? Yet both socks are from the same skein of yarn…

“Don’t mind me, Mom – I’m just here to get my HPFM*! I’ll be out of the frame in a second.” -Mayhem

“I’m contemplating the nature of the universe back here. Leave me be. Do not tempt me with your socky concerns.” -Chaos

“Well, ok, perhaps I do need to check out these socks to see if they will be part of my Feline Universal Theory (FUT)…” -Chaos

*Hot Pink Furry Mouse

Knitting, Randonymity, Reading

Peeking under my bed

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Filled with “Must Have Cardigan” fever, Jeanne and I each ordered a copy of Street Smart to get the pattern. (I was extremely impressed with the service we got – Jessica of Weaving Rainbow even checked to make sure I’d meant to order two copies; she’ll have more copies of Street Smart soon).

“You’re boring me, Mom.” -Mayhem

“Does that come in black?” -Chaos

I realize my pictures of the CueCat barcode scanner yesterday didn’t emphasize its feline qualities, so here it is with a similarly shaped cat carving from MamaTulip:

“Now this is much more interesting!” *sniff sniff sniff* -Mayhem

*sniff sniff sniff* -Chaos

“Mmmm…. cord…” -Mayhem

Looks like I need to get the bitter apple out again, doesn’t it?!

Last night I finished scanning my books, other than the odd copy that I’ve loaned out and some knitting books/booklets that don’t have barcodes or ISBNs. For the morbidly curious, you can take a peek at my library – I recommend filtering by a keyword tag, such as “knitting” or “cycling.” (Yes, Van, you will find something if you filter by “zombies.”)

I was even inspired to pull out the boxes of books from under my bed! Wanna take a peek?

Perhaps you need a bit more info about what you’re seeing (beyond that I have enough wrapping paper for the next five years)? About eight years ago, my brother helped me build a queen-size futon frame (well, ok, he did 95% of the work – thanks, Matt!). This particular frame turns all the space under the futon into dust-free storage – I can fit a total of 24 copy paper boxes under the frame, with space on top of the boxes for a layer of luggage, ski poles, wrapping paper, snowshoes (on the other side, sorry) and a broomball stick (helpfully keeping me from being crushed by the futon as I rummage around). The amount of storage this adds to my wee condo is considerable and much appreciated. When in use, the futon rests on two removable slatted sections:

Sorry the picture is blurry – I was attempting to balance on one foot and take the picture while using my other foot to prevent the futon from falling back into place. It didn’t go so well, but I think the bruising will be minimal. 😉

Knitting

Not that you’d know it from all the cat pictures recently

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…but really, I am still knitting! (Yes, I’ll pause for y’all to recover from the traditional shock of discovering this is a knitting blog.) The first Cable Twist sock is nearly finished and feline interest in this project remains high.

“Addi addi addi addi addi…” -Chaos

Here’s a macro shot of the cable twist detail. Loves me some twisted stitches, I does! (See Mayhem’s nose sneaking toward that strand of yarn? I fear she doesn’t share my love for and appreciation of twisted stitches.)

“Yarn yarn yarn yarn yarn…” -Mayhem

Do not fear, Gentle Readers – I expend a great deal of effort to keep Mayhem from actually connecting with yarn. Cat carrier love notwithstanding, I don’t want to make that vet visit…

Knitting

More examples of poorly composed photos

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There are days when it’s nearly impossible to take a picture around here. See the spiffy new sock I’ve been knitting?

“Addi snack!” -Mayhem

No? How about in this picture?

“Sock snack!” -Mayhem

Sheesh. Let’s try that again, shall we?

“I wonder how far I’ll get with all of this snacky goodness if I grab and run?” -Mayhem

I can live with that one! 🙂 Excuse me while I go rescue my sock…

This pair will be a gift – the stitch pattern is from the Cable Twist Socks pattern and the yarn is STR Mustang Sally. Here’s a cat-free close-up:

Contests, Knitting

Examples of poorly composed photos

41 Comments

Stop by and wish Carole a happy blogiversary! If you leave a comment on her blogiversary post by 8 pm EST, February 1, you could win brownies.

Kerry nicely summed up our local weather right now. We aren’t getting the blizzards that other parts of the state are getting, but the windchill is -41°F as I type this. As Kerry noted, when your home goes from the +41°F of Monday to this, it makes very startling booming noises as it contracts.

I’ve been working on another pair of Kristi’s Flatiron Socks from Great Adirondack Silky Sock (color Nightshades). Please ignore that furry bit wandering through my first photo. It wasn’t there when I started taking the shot… This sock was going better (as in I was turning the heel) before I took these photos and realized the sock is a bit too short for my foot – and now the sock is a bit shorter, waiting for me to reknit the foot back to the heel!

“What random furry bit?! That’s me! Hmph.” -Chaos

“I’ll random furry bit you!” -Chaos

“Hey, this is a new needle flavor, not the usual Addi flavor…” -Chaos

Contests, Knitting

In which I finish a pair of socks, bitter cold notwithstanding

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‘Tis the season for destashing! Wanda’s having a multipart yarn stash sale. Mouse is also starting a multipart stash sale – yesterday was fiber and novelty yarns.

It must also be the season for contests! Brace yourselves…

To celebrate her birthday, the Knit Witch is collecting embarassing stories – share your embarassing story with her by midnight EST, January 23, and you could win yarn or a yarn bowl.

Guess how many baby socks Diane knitted in the first 20 days of January and you could win some sock yarn! Contest closes at noon EST, January 25.

Ambermoggie’s having a contest to brighten up the dark winter days and to thank everyone for their good thoughts during Mr. Mogs’s cancer woes. Leave a comment about why you’re looking forward to spring and you could win some goodies (orange yarn, stitch markers, and an elemental figure). Contest closes January 26.

Phyl’s having a pet foot contest (The Central Park Footie) – send her a picture of your pet’s foot by 6 pm EST, January 27, and you could be eligible for sock yarn.

Whew!

Knitting Update
I know, I know – probably poor Marina’s fallen over in shock. 😉 I finally finished my plain old socks! The yarn is Wisdom Yarns, Marathon Socks – Boston (color 212), knit on 2mm needles. I love this colorway! Stripey blue, purple, and black – life is good.

“What? What do you mean, I’m not the subject of this photo?!” -Mayhem

“Fine, be that way. But I’m sure everyone will like the other photo better!” -Mayhem