Category Archives: Knitting

Knitting, Reading, Those Cats

Bibalicious!

48 Comments

Heh, it appears that there are others out there who have Vexing cats as well… And check out the comments from the Whiskers post for links to stranger uses of whiskers than putting them into a sake cup…

I have a whole bunch of wonderful mail to blog about – hopefully I will have my pictures organized by tomorrow. Really, I will. Most likely, at least! 😉

Reading Update
The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova. Wow. This epic and intense book is, at one level, about searching for the reality of Vlad the Impaler, also known as Dracula. But it’s so much more – including a multi-generational love story and a glimpse into the history of a complicated region (Bulgaria, Hungary, Turkey). I don’t want to say too much about the book, because I think part of enjoying such a book is having it unfold, without a lot of preconceptions.
Sins and Needles by Monica Ferris. The latest of these knitting/needlecraft mysteries is pretty much on par with the rest of the series. Not great, but not so bad that I didn’t finish the book. And these are set in the Twin Cities metro area…
The Good, the Bad, and the Undead, Every Which Way But Dead, and A Fistful of Charms by Kim Harrison. These are the other books about Cincinnati witch Rachel Morgan. There are pixies! Vampires! Demons! Werewolves! A troll! And more… I definitely enjoyed this series and will be keeping an eye out for more books.

Knitting Update
So, um, I’ve knitted a few bibs for some recent and impending babies… I’m not sure that May has the build to be a bib model.

“You’ll notice that, if I actually needed to wear a bib, this one wouldn’t cover the strategic areas.” -M

“And as a skirt?! I’d be arrested for indecent exposure!” -M

So I hauled out asked my usual bib model to do the honors. (Please ignore May’s tail as she sashays through the shot, gloating about her bibless state.)

“The shame, the shame… Oh, woe is me!” -C

“I wouldn’t suggest trying this again, missy. You’ve had your warning!” -C

So, back to the petite model…

“Are you done yet?! I want to play with my mouse!” -M

“Well, you may not be done, but I am. Remember what I said about this as a skirt!” -M
Knitting, Reading, Those Cats

Woot woot – it stripes!

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For the readers among us, check out the From the Stacks Winter Challenge – read five books from your shelves by January 30. If you submit your book list by November 15, you’re entered in a drawing, and if you submit five reviews by January 30, you’ll be in another drawing for an amazon.com gift certificate. Here’s my list:

Lambs of God by Marele Day
The Chemistry of Joy: A Three-Step Program for Overcoming Depression through Western Science and Eastern Wisdom by Henry Emmons, MD, with Rachel Kranz
The Club Dumas by Arturo Perez Reverte
Like the Red Panda by Andrea Seigel
Heft on Wheels: A Field Guide to Doing a 180 by Mike Magnuson

I’m knitting self-striping sock yarn that I dyed myself and feeling very thrilled that… it actually stripes. Who woulda thunk it?? (Check it out – Frarochvia is knitting socks from some sportweight that I dyed at the same time!)

“Forget the yarn – it’s more fun to play with sharp pointy toys!”

“Really, Mom, you’re such a worrier. I’m sure it’ll be fun even after someone pokes an eye out – especially if it isn’t me.”

“Well, ok… Hey, with my tongue out, do I match the yarn?!”
Contests, Knitting, Reading

*gasp* An FO!

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Carol and Margene are asking us to use the two weeks from November 18 – December 2 to Knit Unto Others. This is the second year they’ve coordinated this effort, and this year there will be prizes for those who participate!

Hope everyone had a great weekend! Mine was extremely relaxing, which I really needed after some long days at work last week – and with more long days ahead in the next week or two. Spending so many hours working in front of the computer is cutting way down on my blog reading time and inclination – when I get home, I can’t bear to be in front of the computer anymore. But I’m also frustrated about being behind in what everyone’s up to. *sigh* And then I have this significant birthday coming up in less than two weeks, which has me a bit contemplative about life, the universe, and everything. So, I’ve been distracting myself with reading and knitting (I know, how is that different from any other time?!).

Reading Update
Incubus Dreams by Laurell K. Hamilton. Another Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter novel (book 12, apparently) – um, yeah, I couldn’t help continue rereading this series… Moving right along!
Blood Trail, Blood Lines, and Blood Pact by Tanya Huff. More books from the Vicki Nelson series about Toronto vampire Henry Fitzroy. These are good reads. I’m curious how accurately they depict Toronto (well, beyond the obvious supernatural stuff…) – they seem very descriptive of the city!

Ok, totally not in time for Socktoberfest, but I finally finished the Flatiron socks, knitted from yarn I dyed.

A little color correction actually got them slightly closer to reality – the pink and purple defeats my camera. Strangely, no cats were lured by knitting photography…

However, lurid yarn on the floor (more hand dyed, now wound up for a new pair of socks) drew them right out.

“Stay back, big kitty! Your aged eyes might not be able to deal with this brightness!”

Knitting

In which I rant about content theft and start a meme of sorts

43 Comments

I don’t know if all of you have heard about bitacle.org grabbing blog content from feeds (“scraping”) and repackaging the content (“splogging”). To check on your blog, go to bitacle, select aggregates, and type, for example, “stumblingoverchaos” or “mamatulip” or “knitiotsavant” or “yarnharlot.” I don’t expect to make any money off my blog – but I sure as heck don’t expect anyone else to make money off it either! This crap has already lost us a great blogger in Mama Tulip and I know many others are discouraged by bitacle’s use of their content. (Edit: Just to clarify, bitacle recently removed the ads from the aggregate blogs. However, there is no guarantee that they won’t put the ads back in once all the furor dies down.)

There are some things you can do to protect your content (lots of details here and here and here). One of the major things you can do is set your blog to only send a few lines of your content in your feed. Have you noticed that you can only read a line or two of my posts in bloglines? In WordPress, that’s controlled under Options -> Reading -> Syndication Feeds – set to Summary. This actually appears to be effective, since the main feeds of my new blog are not appearing in bitacle. They were getting the Comments feed, which I have disabled.

In a fit of pique about content theft, I deleted my blogspot blog (all of which was in bitacle). This was stupid of me, as anyone who’s still subscribed to the blogspot feed has probably noticed that someone snatched up my blogspot address and is using it for something other than cute cat pictures and occasional knitting… Please unsubscribe from that feed!!

Anyway! I’m done ranting about this for now. 🙂

So, what are your favorite or most used items that you’ve knitted? When I looked around, I discovered that they were humble things indeed, as you can sort of see in the picture below. (No, of course I didn’t knit Chaos! Heh.)

“Damn, I didn’t get out of here fast enough. Oh well, at least I’m not blind this time. Should’ve let that little scamp check this stuff out and report back.”

From the left, my merino-silk fingerless gloves, which see a lot of use at work in the winter as I huddle typing in the cold building at 6:30 am. Next is my ipod shuffle necklace (Regia cotton jacqard), which accompanies me on most of my walks. On the left is a mug cozy (either Fixation or Esprit), which is perfect for keeping my fingers warm and absorbing moisture from the outside of iced soy mochas in the summer. Underneath it all is one of the very first felted bags I ever made (black Lamb’s Pride, with a skein of Kureyon for the stripey bit) – this bag has carried my coffee, lunch, snacks, papers, and so forth to and from work every day for the past four (or is it five?!) years. Humble, yet sturdy, and doubles as a cat bed when I’m at home.

What knitted items do you find yourself using all of the time? I’d love to see and hear about them!

Knitting, Randonymity

Fiber festival in my closet

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As I mentioned yesterday, Karrie’s asked those of us who didn’t go to Rhinebeck to pull some fun things out of our stash (that we might not even remember purchasing) and pretend we’ve come back from Rhinebeck with them as wonderful new purchases. This is budget fiber festival at its very best! Because you know, I have plenty of yarn in my stash that I don’t even remember that I have. Let’s take a look at a few things, shall we?

Of course, any fiber draws a few felines around here…

*sniff sniff sniff sniff sniff*

I did manage a slightly less obstructed picture below. From the left, a skein of nettle yarn. Yup. Nettle. I picked that up at the At Home Store in Fairfield, Iowa, when I was there for an Anna Zilboorg workshop. I think I was planning to make some sort of bath scrubby from it, but unless this stuff gets a lot softer after washing, it would completely strip off your skin – and not in a good way.

Next is a ball of Brooks Farm Duet (mohair/wool) from the Taos Wool Festival a few years ago. It might become Clapotis at some point. Below the Duet is a small skein of La Lana Phat Silk Phat (wool/silk) picked up in Taos. This might become a very narrow little dressy scarf.

In the center, Regia Bamboo, which I picked up maybe a month ago – I’m fascinated by the idea of bamboo socks, but I’ll probably wait to knit this until spring, since right now I’m just interested in knitting warm woolly socks. Above that, May inspects a ball of Opal Zebra – I forgot I had this, but I’m very curious about what it will look like, so maybe I’ll knit it soon (of course, “soon” is subjective…).

Underneath May is a skein of laceweight silk from Blackberry Hills, purchased at Yarnover a few years ago – someday, someday, it will become a shawl (no, not Adamas :p ). Below that, three small skeins of Rovings Polwarth and silk – also from Yarnover. This would make toasty warm socks. (Hmm, I’m detecting a theme of silk here…)

“Are zebras tasty, Mom?”

Another picture of May from mid-September. She’s definitely sleeker now! She’s also has more silver-tipped fur on her legs and sides – I think she’s going to be a different sort of stealth tabby than is Chaos.

“I feel pretty! Oh, so pretty! And so rumpled! Oh, so rumpled!”
Contests, Knitting, Reading

There was snow on my car this morning

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One of Michaele the Knitty Professor’s pet peeves is men who wear pants that make them appear as if they have no ass. Submit stories, photos, and haikus about these assless men and the best submission will win a prize.

Trek is having a limerick contest. The rules are great! Highlights incude that you must refer to fiber or homebrewing and you cannot include the word “Nantucket.” Heh! Contest ends 11:26 am, Friday, October 27 – I’m assuming EDT.

Sunday morning, I was lying blissfully asleep in my flannel sheets when the roof repair guys began work. Yikes! I’m on the top floor of condos, and they started right over my place. Remember how stressed Chaos was when the window guys were working outside?? Pretty much a rerun of that, except there were two cats hiding behind the toilet this time. Hopefully the roof repair guys finish very quickly…

Reading Update
Burnt Offerings and Blue Moon by Laurell K. Hamilton, books 7 and 8 of Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter. Ok, these two books were ok, but things were starting to fall apart with the addition of the wereleopards, Asher, and in particular, Raina’s munin.
Charmed to Death by Shirley Damsgaard. This cute book is the second in the Ophelia and Abby mystery series, about a librarian witch and her grandmother, living in small town Iowa.
Derik’s Bane: A Wyndham Werewolf Tale by MaryJanice Davidson. Hee hee – you know how books sometimes have a categorization on the spine? This one is “paranormal romance.” 🙂 It was a light and fun quick read. I’m waiting for the first book (Undead and Unwed) in Davidson’s Twin Cities vampire series, which sounds a wee bit lighter than the Anita Blake books. 😉
The Chocolate Cat Caper: A Chocoholic Mystery by JoAnna Carl. Ok, how could I resist this one? Chocolate! Cat! Yum! Not sure if I’ll read any of the other books in the series, but this was fun.
Something’s Cooking: An Angie Amalfi Mystery by Joanne Pence. Another of those irresistible $0.69 mysteries at the thrift store. I spent a fair amount of time shaking my head that I kept reading this book… but I did. And I was surprised at how things turned out. Um, if I found another in the series for the same price at the thrift store, I would probably read it. But I’m not going to bother looking for them at the library.

I’ve been making steady progress on the Flatiron socks from the yarn I dyed. I’m enjoying the spiraling and pooling – it’s fascinating to see what they’ll do next.

“I’ll pose for this picture, Mom, but you know as soon as you’re done, those Addis are toast!”

“Neener, neener, neener, May – look at my lovely whiskers. Ha! Yours are all bitten off.”
Contests, Knitting, Reading, Those Cats

Monday, Monday

55 Comments

Thanks to everyone who’s been asking about the Chaos Kitty. Here’s where things stand: Chaos is happy and active and is off antibiotics (for a skin infection – hence the shaved butt). He went back to the vet on Saturday and the consensus is that he’s having autoimmune issues. (Aw, he’s taking after me!) This last bout was triggered by him sneaking some of May’s food. May seems to be grain sensitive. (Aw, she’s taking after me, too!) She has trouble if she eats any of Chaos’ food. He has trouble if he eats any of her food. Ack. Cat feeding time around here is very intricate, let me tell you!

Brigitte is having a contest to name the sweater she’s working on. The contest deadline is 5 pm Eastern, Friday, October 20.

Rabbitch wants to put hats on as many of Vancouver’s 1300 homeless as she can and is offering prizes to those who knit hats. You can send your hats to this address. Deadline is December 1.

There’s still time to enter V’s contest by sending her some yarn for her blanket. She’ll draw for prizes on November 1.

Reading Update
The Crocodile on the Sandbank by Elizabeth Peters. This was the very first Amelia Peabody mystery and interestingly enough, really the only one that I enjoy re-reading.
For Better, For Worse by Carole Matthews. Your basic chick lit – it was good enough that I finished reading it, but not good enough that I’ll recommend it or pass the book along to anyone. Your mileage may vary.
Guilty Pleasures by Laurell K. Hamilton. After reading the Sookie Stackhouse books and thinking how much more I enjoyed them than I have the recent Anita Blake (Vampire Hunter) books, I decided to re-read the very first Anita Blake novel. It’s good. At what point did the series deteriorate? Guess I’ll have to re-read them in order to see if I can figure that out.

I have quite a few bibs to knit, since there’s a baby infestation bearing down upon us. You have been warned.

“Oh oh, I think the big kitty mentioned something about this…”

“What the…?”

“Hmph.”

*fight fight fight*
“Almost free – whew!”
Contests, Knitting, Reading

Vacation continues…. ahhh….

35 Comments

Anne is having another contest! She wants to see pictures of a trip to one of your local shops – and it doesn’t have to be just yarn shops. She hasn’t selected an end date, as this involves a little bit of work for people. She’s very curious about local oddities. Hmm. Probably not St Sabrina’s Parlor in Purgatory, the piercing and tattoo parlor a few blocks away…

Ahhh… My vacation continues, albeit much quieter than last week. I’m so relaxed that I didn’t blog yesterday and I don’t want to ever go back to work! 🙂 Strangely, I’m not getting as much knitting or closet organization done as I’d hoped. Oh well.

Reading Update
Witch Way to Murder by Shirley Damsgaard. Have I mentioned that I’m a sucker for books with a black cat on the cover?! So that’s why I picked up this one, about a reluctant witch and her grandmother, living in smalltown Iowa. It was a fun read.
Definitely Dead by Charlaine Harris. The most recent Southern Vampires novel. Move over, Anita Blake. Sookie’s way more fun and the story moves along much less ponderously! I think I’m adding Quinn to my list of sexy fictional males…
Concourse by S.J. Rozan (cd). The second book in the series about NYC PIs Bill Smith and Lydia Chin. This series is along the lines of Marcia Muller, Sara Paretsky, etc., and is one that I will definitely continue reading (or listening to).
Grave Sight by Charlaine Harris. Not one of the Southern Vampire series, this book is about Harper, who was struck by lightning when she was 15 and can hear dead people… It was an ok read, but nowhere near as good as the Stookie books. And the hardcover was so poorly edited that it pained me to read at points – things like someone ordering French toast and bacon, and then on the facing page, conversation stopped while he waited for his eggs and toast to be set in front of him. These sort of consistent inconsistencies make it it hard for me to get into a story.

I have an FO!! I’ll wait while you all recover. 😉

This baby sweater was knit from 4.5 skeins of KnitPicks Shine Worsted, color terra cotta. The basic pattern was Knitting Pure & Simple’s neckdown baby cardigan, although I used attached i-cord for the edgings and buttonbands. The buttons are the only purchase I made during Saturday’s yarn crawl.

“Hmm, I wonder if I can bite one of these buttons off?”

Can you see the silver-tipped fur on May’s front legs? She’s developing some more distinct tabby markings – I don’t think she’s going to be as black as Chaos is.

“Maybe best not to while Mom’s watching, so I’ll just pretend that I’m interested in her silly sweater. Fur just seems so much more attractive and efficient.”

*purr purr purr*
Contests, Knitting, Randonymity

Tidbit Tuesday

53 Comments

Hockey Mom is having a contest to guess when her second blogiversary is. She hasn’t quite decided on what the prize will be, but she’ll let everyone know soon.

The KnitPicks Shine I won in Cindy’s contest arrived Friday and it was the perfect thing for a baby sweater, so I cast on within minutes of opening the package. Only 20 more rounds on a sleeve, weaving in ends, sewing on the buttons, and I’m done! Hopefully an FO picture tomorrow…

I also started another pair of socks (must always have socks in my purse). I’m knitting these from some yarn I dyed, using the stitch pattern from Kristi’s Flatiron Clog Socks.

Jeanne did a lovely job of summing up our Yarn Crawl adventures of Saturday – check it out! The only pictures I took all day were on our drive back from Excelsior, where we decompressed with Deb at 318, knitting, noshing, and nipping. Ahhhh… Anyway, having the rare opportunity of being a passenger, I played with my camera. Can you find the full moon in each of these pictures?!

May has a question for everyone.

“Mom says some of you think I’m going to be a big kitty! Do you think I’ll be as big as the big kitty??”
KALs, Knitting

Vacation, I forget what day

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Carole and Susan are hosting a knitalong to use up those single skeins of yarn you have lying around: Lonesome Skein. (My pattern coming out in the December issue of MagKnits might help you with any leftover skeins of Kureyon…)

On Tuesday, I met up with Renee and went to see The Science of Sleep at the Uptown Theater (love sitting in the balcony there!). Renee, of course, has a much more thorough review of the film than I’ll ever manage. Watching the film was like looking at Dali painting. I enjoyed it, but was thoroughly confused! After the film, we walked over to Tum Rup Thai – I had the green curry over rice and Renee had a red curry over rice noodles. YUM. Then we walked over to Zeno (no link because their website seems to have vanished) and had coffee and chatted and knitted. Ahhhhh… Thanks, Renee!

Last night, Jeanne came over and we knitted and chatted and sipped pinot noir and watched some cat antics. Ok, that’s a lie – we watched cats sleep. Very stimulating, that. But – I did finish weaving in the ends of my Regia Silk (charcoal) waffle socks (two rounds k2p2, two rounds knit)! Yes, an actual FO, for those who’ve forgotten that there’s knitting on this blog now and again. This first picture’s for the Neatnik, who is very fond of cat butt photos.

*yawn*

If you miss the face of Chaos (not just his butt), this one’s for you:

“If that last picture was more revealing than you claim, the socks are toast!”

And just because Mayhem is busy being Mayhem…

“Hee hee! Big kitty, you will never expect my attack from here!”