Category Archives: Knitting

Knitting, Those Cats

Addis – not just for breakfast anymore

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Warning: This post contains graphic photos of violence against Addi Turbo knitting needles. Sensitive souls might want to pass this post right on by.

It may shock you to discover that I’ve been working on a sweater. (Marina? Marina? Are you ok?! Maybe someone could help Marina to her feet…)

The sweater in question is the Knitting Pure and Simple Neck Down Shaped Cardigan #241.

“Mmmm… ring binder rings…” -Mayhem

Ok, maybe that’s not the most helpful picture – is this better?

I’m knitting it from Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece. So far, it isn’t much to look at.

“Kitty bed with tasty treats built in! Yay!!!” -Mayhem

“Ahhh – Addis! My favorite!” -Mayhem

*crunch crunch crunch* -Mayhem

Knitting, Reading, Viewing

Trying to catch up

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I took a bit of a computer break over the holiday weekend and am frightfully behind in bloglines. Please let me know if you’re having a contest you’d like me to mention, as I’ll probably read about it on your blog long after the deadline has passed… Thanks!

Check out Frarochvia’s new etsy shop!

Reading Update
The Harlequin: An Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter Novel by Laurell K. Hamilton. Wow, there was actually a wee bit of a plot mixed in with all of the sex. I was pleasantly surprised by that, but disappointed that the entire book only covered maybe 24 hours – it could take years to get to next week at this rate! At least Edward was in the book – he’s one of my favorite characters.
Aunt Dimity’s Death, Aunt Dimity and the Duke, Aunt Dimity’s Good Deed, and Aunt Dimity Digs In by Nancy Atherton. Apologies to whoever recommended these to me – I am obviously much enjoying these lovely British mysteries about the amazing Aunt Dimity, ghost.
Tilt-A-Whirl by Chris Grabenstein. This mystery is set in a seaside New Jersey town, told from the perspective of a part-time summer cop. This was a well-written and engrossing read and I’ll be interested in seeing where this series goes next (the next books are already in my library list).
Damsels in Distress by Joan Hess. I’ve never really gotten into Hess’ Maggody mystery series, but I do enjoy the Claire Malloy mysteries. The latest features shenanigans amongst the members of ARSE (Association for Renaissance Scholarship and Enlightenment) at a RenFest.
Knit Two Together by Connie Lane. When Libby inherits a rundown yarn shop from her estranged mother, it changes her life. Definitely formulaic, but since it’s a Harlequin, I was fully prepared for that.
Love, Lies and a Double Shot of Deception by Lois Winston. Another formulaic romance, but I enjoyed it anyway. Come on, it has a picture of coffee on the cover (and it was $0.70 at the thrift shop).

Viewing Update
Bridget Jones’s Diary. Of course I had to watch this after watching Pride and Prejudice recently! My favorite P&P allusion was when Bridget was listing Mark Darcy’s faults and one of them was the length of his sideburns. Hee hee.
Love Actually. A very sweet film and another chance to see Colin Firth sans crazy P&P sideburns. 😉

Knitting Update
I actually am working on a non-sock project, which I’ll talk about it a few days. First, I need to get some input on this sock I’ve started. I can’t decide whether using the 9 to 5 pattern on this yarn is a good thing, or whether I should rip back and just knit the sock in stockinette. What do you think?

“I just can’t decide, Mom – I like them both! Maybe if I ate one of those Addis while I was thinking…” -Mayhem

Contests, Knitting, Randonymity, Reading

I solemnly swear that I do not knit catnip into my socks

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Ugh – the past two nights I’ve been awakened in the wee small hours by some very serious thunderstorms. Last night it was 70 mph wind, torrential rain, nonstop blinding lightning, and thunder that set off car alarms. Poor kitties – they are nervous wrecks!

Hockeymom’s having a contest – caption the (a-hem!) picture and you could win some of her hand-dyed yarn or roving. I think Tink or MamaTulip might have a lot of fun captioning this picture (hint: taken while tailgating before a Foreigner/Def Leppard/Styx show..) – maybe you could convince Hockeymom to come up with a non-knitting prize. 😉 Leave your captions by 6 pm, September 3.

Reading Update
Spare Change by Robert B. Parker. I’m not big on Parker’s Spenser mysteries, but I do enjoy the Sunny Randall mysteries. In this one, Sunny teams up with her father.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J. K. Rowling. Yeah, I listened to it again. 🙂
Vineyard Stalker by Philip R. Craig. I love the J.W. Jackson Martha’s Vineyard mysteries, but sadly, they will soon come to an end, as Craig died earlier this year. According to his son Jamie, Craig left three completed mysteries (of which I assume Vineyard Stalker is one) and one incomplete mystery.

Knitting Update
Friday night I finished the 9-to-5 Socks (follow that link for yarn and pattern details). They took six days and I totally love them!

Although not as much as some around here do…

“Don’t make any sudden moves, Mom – I’d hate to have to hurt the socks.” -Chaos

“Because I really, really love these socks. How do I love them? Let me count the ways…” -Chaos

“Mmmm… purple stripey socks…” -Chaos

Contests, Knitting, Reading

Working 9 to 5… ha!

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Lynne is celebrating her third blogiversary with a contest! Leave her a comment (by midnight, August 24) about why you started blogging and you could win some lovely sock yarn.

Reading Update
Careful What You Wish For by Lucy Finn. A light romance about a single mom who finds a genie in the Diaper Genie… Of course the genie is sexy. Duh. 😉
The Ghost Orchid by Carol Goodman. If you haven’t read one of Goodman’s novels, lucky you! You have them to anticipate. This one’s about a medium and some mysterious events related to a seance in 1893, which come to light more than a century later when resident artists stay at the same house. Goodman blurs past and present, reality and dream, until you’re not exactly sure which is which.
The Scent of Shadows: The First Sign of the Zodiac and The Taste of Night: The Second Sign of the Zodiac by Vicki Pettersson. This series, set in Las Vegas, is about superheroes named after signs of the Zodiac, Shadow battling Light as is the way of superheroes. 🙂 It’s very involving and well-written overall, although I think there’s a major logic flaw…

Knitting Update
Friday afternoon I started another pair of socks – the 9-to-5 Socks. The name particularly amused me, since I was home early from work, resting for a bit more switch work that night – only midnight to 3 am this time! Woo-hoo! (Although rumor has it we have one more night of this stuff, sometime this week…)

I’m knitting these from Wool2Dye4 Supersock, as dyed by me in May.

Initially, May was more interested in the cord on my sock bag…

“Mmmm… rattail cord… Funny, I would’ve thought that rat tails had more flavor.” -Mayhem

“But oh, Addi cords are ever so much chewier!!” -Mayhem

*off-camera snatching away of Addis*

Knitting

Cats conversing over cables

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Thanks everyone – yesterday was a much better day than Wednesday! And the heat broke a few days ago – yesterday was a picture perfect day here: upper 70s, negligible humidity, cool breezes, blue skies, and sunshine. Ahhhh… In fact, the members of my family who are goin’ up nord to da cabin this weekend will be taking their woolly socks and sweaters, as temperatures are supposed to drop down to the 30s overnight!Oh dear – the Neatnik continues to demand more Chaos pictures!!

Remember this sock, knit from Regia Bamboo?

I was knitting the Sockamania May sock way back when and discovered that the ankle was too tight. Last Sunday I decided to rip out that sock and do something else with the yarn. Surprisingly, the baby cables from Sensational Knitted Socks didn’t look too bad – I think this pair of socks will be a holiday present.

*sniff sniff sniff* “No fresh nip in this bag. Darn it.” -Chaos

“Haven’t I seen this yarn before?” -Mayhem

“Y’know, I think you’re right, Mayhem. I think we saw it as a different sock a few months ago.” -Chaos

“Well, it’s no stripey sock, that’s for sure.” -Mayhem

“Neener neener neener, Mom – I see you trying to take our picture!” -Chaos

Alongs, Knitting

Did someone mention stripey socks?

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Wanda’s having a birthday card exchange – check out the details if you like to get cards on your birthday but don’t seem to do so in our electronic age.

Back in June, when I was in Denver at Michaele’s place, I started a pair of stripey socks, from Meilenweit Colortweed. I’m kind of glad I’ve been distracted by Sockamania socks since then so that I didn’t finish these socks until this past weekend because this is a perfect Project Spectrum colorway (orange-purple-brown)!

“These are, of course, for me.” -Mayhem

“Don’t you be telling me they aren’t for me!” -Mayhem

“Because I really, really like these socks. I will love them and hug them and call them stripey socks!” -Mayhem

“See? I hug them! And hug them again!” -Mayhem

Knitting, Reading

Back to reality

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Many, many thanks to the Procrastinatrix, who turns out to live three blocks from me and to have had the audiobook of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows just lying around!! I spent the weekend enthralled, listening to 21 hours of Harry Potter and knitting. No spoilers in the comments, please! I really appreciate that I was able to listen to the book without having encountered a single spoiler, and I hope that others are able to do so as well.

But now I must blearily return to reality… I’m further behind in bloglines than ever, so please let me know if you have a contest you’d like me to mention!

I finished the Sockamania Spiralling Socks, which took me exactly one week to complete.

“Hold that thought, Mom. I’ll be back!” -Mayhem

While we wait… The Trekking Pro Natura (wool/bamboo) was ok to knit, but I’m really curious about how these socks feel after they’re washed. Will the bamboo get softer?

“Ok, I’m back! Did you miss me?” -Mayhem

But of course…

“I think these are ok, but I still like those stripey socks more because they’re stripey! When are you going to show them the stripey socks, Mom?” -Mayhem

Shhhhhhhh, Mayhem…..

Knitting, Reading

Spiralling Mayhem

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Don’t forget about the Project Spectrum mix cd contest! Submit your email entry by 6 pm CDT, Wednesday, August 8.

And don’t worry when there’s no post from me tomorrow – the Knitty Professor will be staying at Casa de Chaos y Mayhem tonight and I’m taking tomorrow off to play.

Reading Update
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling (audiobook). Making good progress on listening to books 1-6 before I get the book 7 audiobook from the library.
Candy Apple Red by Nancy Bush. No, no, not that Nancy Bush! 🙂 This is the first Jane Kelly mystery – it was an entertaining read, and I’ll definitely read more in this series. It’s kind of fun that protagonist Jane Kelly is lactose intolerant. Hmm, maybe there’s an open niche for a mystery series featuring a gluten intolerant sleuth…
Water Like a Stone by Deborah Crombie. The most recent Kincaid and James mystery is as engaging and well-written as all the previous books in the series.

Knitting Update
Can you believe it?! Two posts in a row about knitting?? I’ll wait while you all recover…

After taking a month to knit the Serpentines, I’ve already made great progress on this month’s Sockamania Spiralling Socks, which I am knitting from Trekking Pro Natura (75% wool, 25% bamboo, color #1607).

“I don’t see any sock in here! Oh, but that ball of yarn sure looks tasty… Does bamboo taste like kitty grass?” -Mayhem

“Oh! Here’s the sock! Maybe I can quietly gnaw a little hole in it while Mom’s distracted with the camera…” -Mayhem

“Hmph. I don’t see why you’re so unreasonable about me tasting your knitting. It was only going to be a wee little hole. Hmph.” -Mayhem

Contests, Knitting

Serpentines finished!

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Jenn’s having a contest – guess what material the pictured countertop is made from and you could win some dishcloth cotton. Contest ends at midnight CDT today (August 6).

Bethe’s having a contest – guess what color she picked for the zipper, lining, and thread of her bag and you could win a fibery prize. Leave your guesses by 3 pm EDT, August 7.

Rosemary’s having a contest – guess what processing the featured picture went through and you could win one of her gorgeous shawl pins. Leave your comment by midnight PDT, August 8.

MezzoDiva is participating in the Toronto 2007 Weekend to End Breast Cancer (September 8-9). If you donate money in support, you will receive a copy of her lovely Campanula sock pattern.

Knitting Update
I finally finished my Sockamania July Serpentine Socks on Saturday! (Why, yes, that’s after the July 31 “deadline” and well after the end of the Tour de France…)

I knitted the socks from Sundara sock yarn (Lenten Rose colorway). I used 80 stitches instead of 68, adding my extra stitches in the stockinette columns between the paired cables. The stockinette columns looked too wide and plain after I added the extra stitches, so I added left and right twists down the middle of each stockinette column to increase the visual interest.

“Oh, big kitty, I see what Mom’s talking about. It really does help.” -Mayhem

“Whatever, Mayhem! Like you have any clue what she’s talking about.” -Chaos

“Hmph. The big kitty didn’t have to be so mean! I’ll show him!” -Mayhem

“MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM! The big kitty was mean to me!!!!!!!!!!” -Mayhem

Contests, Dyeing, Knitting, Those Cats

Attack on the Fortress of Solitude

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Jackie’s giving away two Ravelry invites – check out the details on her blog. She’ll select two lucky participants at noon EDT, July 27.

Speaking of which, the Knitty Professor needs help naming her new Delft “puking cow” creamer. Submit your name ideas by the end of the Tour (July 29) and you could win some yarn and your very own “puking animal” creamer!

Well, I was going to have pictures of the yarn I dyed with Deb and Jeanne on Saturday. However, now that the yarn is finally dry, it’s been very cloudy and too dark to photograph well. Maybe tomorrow! For knitting, I continue to plod away on my Sockamania Serpentine Socks (1.2 completed), which are also my TDF KAL project. Likelihood of completing my Tour is very low, especially since I’m heading “up nord to da cabin” on Friday for the weekend. But hey, at least I haven’t resorted to doping, right?!

Chaos has long considered the top of the refrigerator and adjoining cabinet as his Fortress of Solitude, because Mayhem wasn’t able to get up there. All of that changed recently…

“La la la la la la, I can’t see her!” -Chaos

“Hey, this is my Fortress of Solitude, Mayhem! Mine!” -Chaos

*whistling innocently* -Mayhem

“Go away! My Fortress! Mine!” -Chaos

“Hey!” -Mayhem

“Take that, big kitty!” -Mayhem

“Eeeeek! Run away!” -Chaos

“I rock.” -Mayhem

“Hmph.” -Chaos

“I didn’t want to sit on that stinky old refrigerator anyway, so there!” -Chaos