Category Archives: Knitting

In which Jeanne conducts an experiment involving Mayhem and knitting

Congrats to elaing8, who won the copy of Deadly Obsession by Kris Norris!


It turns out that for years, Jeanne has believed I stage those knitting pictures (well, back when I had regular knitting pictures!) in which Mayhem sniffs, gnaws, or lounges about on every single piece of knitting I place on the floor. Jeanne decided she needed to see for herself what really happened when knitting is placed on my living room floor.

So, when she was visiting recently, she waited until there weren’t any kitties in the living room, got up from her chair, and placed her gorgeous sock on the floor. Before she made it back to the chair, Mayhem appeared!

“Hey, what’s up? Did I hear knitting hit the floor?” -Mayhem

“Oh, look at that. Where did this stripey sock come from? Mom, I know you’re not knitting much of anything these days.” -Mayhem

(Ouch!)

“That’s it? Where’s the other sock? Where are the knitting needles? I like it best when there are knitting needles to chew.” -Mayhem

Anything else to add, Jeanne?? 🙂

Dear City of Minneapolis: I would be much happier if my tap water didn’t smell like dead fish. Thank you.

Congrats to Janna, who won the copy of Julia Barrett’s newly released steamy romance, Beauty and the Feast!

Oh! You only have until 8 pm today (March 17) to enter your picks for DA BWAHA! The grand prize is an iPad…


  • I wish I was kidding in the title about my tap water.
  • Ewww!
  • Minneapolis gets its water out of the Mississippi River.
  • All hail the Brita pitcher!
  • On Sunday, we hit a record-breaking high temperature of 64F.
  • Very, very unusual for March in Minnesota.
  • All the snow is gone, except for the biggest piles.
  • The rivers are flooding, since the snow melted before the ground thawed.
  • Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
  • Is it weirder that my cats have their own email addresses and respond to comments directed at them, or that some of you carry on conversation with my cats in email? 😉
  • I wonder how long I’ll have this post-it reminding me to throw out the scary old eggs in the fridge before I remember to throw out the scary old eggs in the fridge?
  • I continue to slog away on the leg of the first sock.
  • Would you like to see the sock?
  • Tough. You’re going to see it anyway:

“Oh, what have we here?” -Mayhem

“Needles or yarn, needles or yarn – which to bite through first?” -Mayhem

  • Eeep! *rescues sock and needles*
  • Maybe next time I’ll get a cat-free photo.
  • Well, I can always dream, right?! 🙂

Random Post of Randomness and Poop

  • I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised that our two weeks of glorious sunshine have given way to a week (so far) of clouds and rain.
  • I miss the sun.
  • The snow is mostly gone, since it’s also been unseasonably warm.
  • I think I’m preparing for the start of Daylight Savings Time this weekend by already feeling tired.
  • Ok, I’m back. The previous reminded me that some of contests from yesterday’s linkity post actually end in EDT/CDT instead of EST/CST. All fixed now.
  • I have started a new pair of socks.
  • I’m already past the heel and into the leg on the first sock!
  • Too bad my sister-in-law’s birthday is tomorrow and I’m sure she really wants two completed socks instead of one sock, 2/3 done.
  • Earlier this week, I was sitting innocently on my couch, type typing away on my laptop when a yowling black blur of stench hurtled past me and shit-o-caust arrived in my living room.
  • *blink blink*
  • What caused this most horrible and inauspicious event?
  • Chaos exiting the litterbox at high speed with poop attached to his butt by one of my hairs that he’d consumed.
  • He was, apparently, fleeing in terror from the poop chasing him.
  • I must have missed the chapter in the cat owner’s manual where it prepared you to have to chase down your pet as he fled from his own poop, hold him down, and clean his butt with toilet paper.
  • Because? I’m pretty sure I’d have remembered that chapter.

“Have no doubt that I will get you for sharing that, Mom. And also? It never happened.” -Chaos

For the First Time, Crazy Aunt Purl’s Kitties Speak Out! [CONTEST CLOSED]

Crazy Aunt Purl (aka Laurie Perry) is nearing the end of her blog tour to support her new book, Crazy Aunt Purl’s Home Is Where the Wine Is: Making the Most of What You’ve Got One Stitch (and Cocktail!) at a Time. Since Laurie’s probably answered every possible question there is to ask about her book at this point in her blog tour, her cats have stepped up to be interviewed… for the first time.

Today, Chaos and Mayhem are excited to welcome Bob, Sobakowa, and Frankie from Crazy Aunt Purl to Stumbling Over Chaos! Bob, Soba, and Frankie live in Los Angeles with Laurie.

Chaos: Excited? We are awake.

Mayhem: Speak for yourself, big kitty! Hi, other kitties!!!!!!!! Mom said you live far away. I hope you don’t live at the vet!! The vet is far away.

And May is a titch excitable… Perhaps you three can begin by telling us a bit about the book?

Soba: All I know is that I’m not on the cover – again – and she’s going to hear from my lawyer.

Chaos: So I heard that you actually wrote this book, Soba, but didn’t get any credit for it. Any truth to that, and if so, why do you let your mom get away with treating you so cruelly?

Frankie: I’m an airhead.
Bob: I’m scared. Or hungry. Or scared. Or hungry.
Soba: Obviously I have a more existential relationship with the manuscript, as my way of working is more self-directed, but I don’t need the recognition of a byline. Lesser cats may feel slighted by indignities like pooping in a box or having a stunt cat pictured on the cover of her human’s book, but I have loftier aspirations. Total world domination.

Chaos: Did you always know you’d be so successful at being crabby, Soba, and can you offer any advice to kitties who’d like to do the same?

Soba: I don’t think of myself as crabby. I think of myself as unfortunately equipped with claws but no thumbs.

Chaos: I feel your pain! The no thumbs thing really sucks, especially since Mom put locks on the cupboards. Hmph. Ok, Bob, you’re so laid back. Any tips for maintaining your boyish cool in a female dominated household?

Bob: Find a quiet spot in the closet.

Mayhem: Do you dye your fur, Bob? No one is that shade of orange!

Bob: I once ate half a bag of cheetos that I found in my human’s handbag. Maybe that did it?

Chaos: Are the rumors about Bob faking his dumbness true? Is it true he really has a degree in Economics, and it’s all an act?

Bob just fell off the bed, and is unable to answer this question.

Mayhem: Ouch. Poor Bob. I bet that hurt. Frankie, how do you deal with the pressure to be beautiful all the time? I myself find it requires many hours of napping to sustain.

Frankie: When you’re naturally gorgeous like me, you don’t feel pressure to stay beautiful because you just are. But finding people to appreciate your beauty nonstop is so hard! They always want to do things like “sleep” and “watch TV” so I have to stand on their stomachs or block the TV. It’s hard work being appreciated for your beauty.

Mayhem: Do you ever see ghosts? I do!!

Frankie: Not since we moved. Now we see more dust bunnies.

Chaos: Is it true that pets that live in California are all famous?

Soba: Only the ones with good representation. Our agent is with CAA….

Mayhem: What’s your favorite flavor of yarn? I like all kinds!!

Bob: I prefer knitting needles to yarn. Much easier to ruin.

Mayhem: Oh, yes, knitting needles are nice, too!!
Chaos: What kind of parties do you have when your mom’s at work?

Soba: I hate cats, so I spend most of the day trying to open the door and get to Starbucks so I can be with my own kind.

Mayhem: Do you have any suggestions on how to get our mom to quit spending so much money on yarn and buy more toys and treats?

Frankie: Have you tried throwing up on the yarn?

Mayhem: Oh, I’ll have to get the big kitty on that. He’s a very pukey kitty.
Chaos: What happens to you when your mom leaves for a while? (We’re pretty sure our mom stood in the hallway for two weeks when she said she was going on vacation, because even she wouldn’t visit the vet for two weeks.)

Frankie: We have a British nanny who stays with us. She’s like supernanny, only taller.

Chaos: How do you punish your mom for leaving you alone?

Bob: Hairballs.
Soba: Targeted furniture shredding.
Frankie: Constant meowing when she returns is really helpful.

Chaos: Oh yeah, I work the constant meowing, too. So very effective, isn’t it?
Mayhem: Is it true that fluffy white birds [snowflakes] don’t fall from the sky in California?

Frankie: We have lint. Does that count?

Chaos: I still miss Roy. Care to share an amusing anecdote about the Old Man?

Bob: He could actually open doors! He was so tall that if he stood on his hind legs and put his paws on the long type of door handles he could open all the doors. It was amazing.

Mayhem: Where does your mom buy your catnip? Does she have an inside line to a reputable source?

Chris breathes a sigh of relief that May didn’t bring up Frankie’s bust for catnip possession last summer.

Frankie: Living in California has its advantages, as we have legalized the catnip trade for medicinal purposes. Soba uses it for her “glaucoma.”

Chaos: Do you like it when your mom has visitors? How do you react? I stand at the front door after Mom buzzes someone in and I greet them with growling and hissing.

Soba: I enjoy discourse with new humans. The other cats hide under the bed and pretend to be invisible, the fools.

Mayhem: Thank you for visiting with us, kitties from faraway!!!!!
Chaos: Whatever.


And thanks for letting your cats visit with us today, Laurie!

Laurie’s publisher HCI has offered five copies of Home Is Where the Wine Is for me to give away, so make sure you mention that you’re entering the contest when you comment.

Contest Rules

  • To enter, leave a comment below stating that you are entering the contest. Leave your comments by 7 pm CST, Thursday, March 4.
  • If you haven’t commented before, your comment will not be visible until after I moderate it. Please do not leave a second comment because your first doesn’t show up!
  • If your comment is actually an advertisement or if your CommentLuv link turns it into an advertisement, your comment will be deleted. (Most of you do not need to worry – this just refers to some pretty clever comment spam.)
  • Winners will be selected by random number.
  • You must leave a valid email address in the “Email” portion of the comment form.
  • Please make sure that your spam filter allows email from stumblingoverchaos.com!
  • If a winner doesn’t respond to my congratulations email within 48 hours, I will select another winner.
  • Only residents of the US and Canada are eligible to win.
  • No PO Boxes.

Good luck!

The Eternal Socks of Not-Quite-Eternity

Congrats to Faren, who won the copy of The Guardian by Mary Calmes!

Many thanks to JessaLu – I won a gorgeous skein of sock yarn in her blogiversary contest! And thank you, Nicole, as it looks like your referral led to this. 🙂


So apparently these were not quite the Eternal Socks of Eternity. 🙂

“Oh, what’s on the floor?” -Mayhem

“Hmm…” -Mayhem

“Mom hasn’t made one of these stripey kitty beds for ages!” -Mayhem

“Although I don’t understand why she didn’t make this kitty bed sparkly and pink! With feathers! Everything’s better with sparklies and feathers!” -Mayhem

“Woe. Woe. My life sucks.” -Mayhem

It came from the phone…

Congrats to Dana, who won the copy of My Everything by Julia Rachel Barrett… and congrats to Julia on the release of My Everything today!


Today’s little series of photos has no theme other than that all the pictures were taken with my phone. You’d never guess that I actually have a real camera that has a bunch more megapixels, based on how many pictures I take with my phone and its crappy 2.0 megapixel camera. 🙂

We have indeed gone to Winter Parking Restrictions. See the ticket shoved into the snow on the windshield of the car below? Always a lot of ticketing and towing during Snow Emergencies and Winter Parking Restrictions. (If you’ve recently found yourself shoveling a lot of snow, you might want to check to make sure you’re doing it properly.)

Pizza is one of my favorite foods and I make it nearly every week. I start with Rustic Crust Gluten Free Pizza Crust and top it with pizza or spaghetti sauce, Hormel Turkey Pepperoni (which says gluten free right on the label), sliced mushrooms, and low fat mozzarella. Yum! (No, you’re right, I’m not going to quit my day job to become a food photographer any time soon.)

My beloved mp3 player, looking stealthy and mysterious in its black silicone skin.

And for the knitters, especially poor Nicole, who reads “Misadventures in Stock Photography” as “Sock Photography” every time, the Eternal Socks of Eternity!

“Hey, Mayhem, you missed the socks and needles on the floor.” -Chaos

“Big kitty! I think I saw a bird fly by the window. Bird! Bird! Bird!” -Mayhem

“That girl is bird crazy. Let’s see if I can irrevocably tangle this ball of yarn before Mom can rescue it…” -Chaos

*Neither yarn nor birds were harmed during the production of this post.

Supercalifragilinkalicious

Contests

  • Jessica of Racy Romance Reads is having contests to get rid of her paper books. For your chance to win two of the pictured books, let her know what was the most recent addition to your keepers shelf. Contest closes 2/13.

Books & Reading & Stuff To Think About

Make, Learn, and Do Stuff

Be Amused

Get Your Cute On

Reading  Update
Posted To Death (Simon Kirby-Jones Mystery, Book 1) by Dean James. This was a delightful and slightly twisted version of the British village cozy mystery, because Simon is a gay vampire (he can be out in sunlight and doesn’t need to drink blood, as long as he takes his medication) and well-known historian (who secretly writes romances and mysteries under several pseudonyms). Definitely recommended if you enjoy mysteries with a bit of snark and a complicated cast of suspects. (Also, for the wary, I would give this book a no-pepper heat rating – a very safe read.)
The Dickens With Love by Josh Lanyon. ebook. Very well-done holiday-themed m/m romance about a disgraced book hunter reduced to working for shady and unpleasant clients, one of whom has charged him to secretively and preemptively purchase a newly discovered Dickens’ Christmas story before it goes to auction.
Carol of the Bellskis by Astrid Amara. ebook. Another very well-done holiday-themed m/m romance (Hanukkah this time) about a paralegal who breaks up with his boyfriend (also his boss) because his closeted boss is backing out of their vacation plans. The paralegal heads off on vacation to his aunt and uncle’s kosher B&B alone… and finds himself taking care of all the guests, with his aunt and uncle nowhere to be found.
Falling by Cassandra Gold. ebook short. I really enjoyed this m/m short about a guy who gets accidentally knocked down the stairs at his apartment building and is taken to the hospital by his sexy firefighter neighbor.
Force of Law by Jez Morrow. ebook. Good m/m romance about a mechanic who believes he’s being used by his ex’s billionaire cousin for revenge. For the first third of this, I wasn’t sure I was going to keep reading, because the power dynamics were making me really uncomfortable. Things turned around after that, fortunately.
Melting the Slopes by Ethan Day, William Maltese, and Jason Edding. ebook collection. No surprise that there was at least some skiing in each of these tales of m/m romance, based on the title, huh? Ethan Day’s humorous romance “Snow Ho” was my favorite of the three stories, followed by the romantic suspense of William Maltese’s “Bottom’s Up”.
Let It Snow! by Michael Barnette. ebook. Kinda meh m/m romance – it actually was mostly ok for a while (bit of awkward language, etc, but not too bad), but then the story basically stopped, jumped to the epilogue, and everything was tied up in a nice tidy bow. *blink blink*
The Sound of Cicadas by Tory Temple. ebook short. Decent m/m romance short about two guys who see each other for the first time in ten years at their high school reunion – will they be able to get past their hurt pride and misunderstandings?
The Chocolatier by Elizabeth Jewell. ebook. Sweet (sorry, couldn’t resist…) m/m romance about a guy who makes chocolates that are rumored to make people fall in love. So how comes he’s still single?
To Find and To Keep (Book 1) by Serena Yates. ebook. Well, I won’t be reading the second book… The writing in this m/m romance was awkward and stilted, and the two guys? Read more like chick lit heroines.
The Mask He Wears by Fae Sutherland & Marguerite Labbe. ebook. Ok m/m romance about a lawyer, who has a marriage of convenience, confessing his feelings for his male secretary and really making a mess of it.
Hearts Afire November by Pepper Espinoza & India Harper. ebook collection. Two ok m/m romances about firefighters. The first was about a firefighter who starts to hang out with a street musician whose firefighter father died in a fire. The second is about a firefighter/investigator who becomes involved with the insurance investigator assigned to a series of fires… the insurance investigator who’s a former arsonist. The ending of this one didn’t work so well for me – I thought someone was way too quick to forgive something pretty major.
Silver and Gold by Devon Rhodes. ebook short. Enjoyable holiday m/m romance about a guy in his 40s whose first love wants to get together with him, at the same time he meets a younger man he really clicks with.
Sutcliffe Cover by Ariel Tachna & Madeleine Urban. ebook. Ignore the cover, as there are no mustaches or cowboy hats in this enjoyable m/m romance about a guy who owns a stable and riding school and becomes friends with an accountant who starts taking lessons at the school. If you’re looking for an angst break, this might be it for you. (Is it just me, or does that face look photoshopped in?!)
The Elf and Shoemaker by M. L. Rhodes. ebook. Nicely done m/m fantasy romance about the owner of a new age shop who’s about to lose his business when help comes from a most unexpected source. (If you have a mysterious old mirror wrapped up and tucked away somewhere, I’d really recommend you get it out and hang it up!)
FU by Mia Watts. ebook. This one was for Kris’ m/m rut challenge. I generally don’t read multiple partner books because it just doesn’t make sense to me how it could ever work. In this steamy tale, Parker is mistakenly assigned to a male dorm at Fullerton University (FU f’s up) and things get… complicated while Housing tries to sort it out. Ultimately, things do get simple in the end (whew!), but along the way, part of the story does qualify this for Kris’ challenge. So, I confirmed for myself that, while it was a fun read (Mia always puts together a fun’n’steamy read), I’m still a prude when it comes to multiple partner books, especially in regards to the power dynamics. O_o (I received this book from the author because she’s nice like that.)
Matchmen, Ltd. by T. C. Blue. ebook. Good m/m romance about the employees of gay matchmaking agency, Matchmen, Ltd. The book is split into three parts, each of which follows a specific employee. Hmm. I guess, since one section in this book turned out to be multiple partner, it fulfills the m/m rut challenge, too, because I kept reading and didn’t skip it, as I am wont to do in such situations. (Damn, Kris says no. Hmph.)
Ryland’s Sacrifice by Kim Dare. ebook. Good paranormal m/m romance about a PhD student who desperately needs money for tuition and food, so allows himself to be “thrown” to a pride of werelions, with unexpected results. Although this might sound like a multiple partner book, it isn’t. (I received this book from the author because she’s nice like that, too.)
A mysterious book that I can’t talk about yet, but which was a darn good read. 🙂


“What? Why are you laughing at me?” -Chaos

Potholes, potholes, everywhere potholes. Potholes, potholes, fill them up, please!

  • We had about eight inches of snow from Sunday night through Tuesday morning.
  • Nothing compared to the East Coast, true (hope you’re all battened down for Round Two out there!).
  • But still… Enough for a Snow Emergency and maybe a switch to Winter Parking Restrictions until April 1.
  • When Winter Parking Restrictions go into effect, you can only park on the odd side of the street because the streets have gotten too narrow for vehicles to pass each other or for emergency vehicles to make it through.
  • The title of this post would be my plea to the City of Minneapolis. O_o
  • I don’t know what happened over the last week (well, beyond the snowfall), but southbound Lyndale Avenue by the Walker Art Center is barely passable now.
  • Five miles per hour is a reasonable speed there, unless you’re trying to break an axle.
  • No clue what’s up with spam blog comments this week. (You never see them because Akismet holds them, then I run Worst Offenders to delete the high volume stuff. I have Worst Offenders set to delete three or more comments from the same IP address, which is why I recommend only leaving one comment at a time until after your first comment has been approved!)
  • Anyway, I’ll have ten or 15 spam comments for hours and hours… and then I’ll have 500. 😮
  • Um, I might’ve won a couple more contests this week. Many thanks to LB and to Smart Bitches!
  • There’s a reason I’m limiting myself to the number of contests I enter these days! 🙂
  • If you get an error message when you try to comment, will you please send me an email about it? I’ve been trying a couple different things to help things run more smoothly around here, but it’s hard to tell if they work without feedback. Thanks!

“You can only dream of being this beautiful. It’s the burden of a Panther Princess.” -Mayhem

Scandal of the butt-enhancing box

  • Knitters who’ve given up in despair of me ever giving away a knitting-related book (even though there is knitting in Keeping Promise RockAmy reports that all of her books, except her short story, If I Must, include knitting)… Wait, where was I? Oh yeah, knitters who’ve given up in despair of me ever giving away a knitting-related book, hang in there a few more weeks! On February 25, Crazy Aunt Purl (aka Laurie Perry… or is it the other way around?) will be visiting SoC, plus I’ll kick off a giveaway of her new book, Home Is Where the Wine Is.
  • Yay! It’s warm again here.
  • Warm being in the mid-20s (F) during the day.
  • No need to even zip my jacket.
  • Of course, that also means it’s snowing quite regularly.
  • And apparently all the weather changes are triggering sinus migraines. (Thanks for helping me put together the puzzle pieces, Debby!)
  • On the plus side, while this is my pager/on-call week, I have yet to see the pager.
  • The guy handing off the pager had some complicated vehicular crisis, so hasn’t been to work this week.
  • This guy has so much bad vehicular luck that I sort of hate to park in the same ramp he does…
  • Rumor has it my no-pager luck ends today.
  • Still, as Jeanne pointed out, any missed pager time during pager week is good!

“Hee hee! No one will ever find me. Best. Hiding. Spot. Ever.” -Chaos

“Hey, how’s it going under there, big kitty?” -Mayhem

“What?! How did she find me??” -Chaos

“Oh, and that box makes your butt look big.” -Mayhem

“…” -Chaos

“So this is the new year, and I don’t feel any different.”

– Death Cab for Cutie, “The New Year” (No, really, I haven’t used this title before. Really. See? Similar, but different.)

I realized that I was running out of time to do a 2009 in review post and not have it be utterly silly. So, allow me to present my year in reading and knitting.

Reading
In 2009, I read a lot. Really. A lot. Um, 811 books is a lot, right?! Here’s the complete list, sorted by rating and then by author. You’ll notice that there are some books that look as if I read them in 2010 – those are rereads that I also read in 2009. (For reference, I read 388 books in 2008.)

My now beloved ebook reader had a huge impact on my reading last year. Although I didn’t get the reader until April, I read 500 ebooks last year; 445 of those were m/m titles. At this point, I would rather read ebooks than print books!

Please note that part of the reason for what looks like a crazy number of books read last year is because ebooks tend to be shorter overall than print books. While I tagged 79 books as shorts (all were ebooks), I didn’t start using that tag until a few months ago.

In 2009, I completed two reading challenges by joining them after I had met the requirements: 2009 Support Your Local Library Challenge and 100+ Reading Challenge. That’s apparently the secret for me and challenges – find out about them after I’ve completed them without knowing I’ve completed them. 🙂

Knitting
This was not a good year for knitting, due to neck/back pain and lack of inspiration. (And, sadly, 2010 isn’t off to a great start knittingwise.) I completed a neck cozy, a baby blanket, a sweater that was mostly already knit, some bibs, and seven pairs of socks.


“Um, Mom? Those knitters aren’t stupid. They’re going to remember that you posted this same sock done to the same point already. But whatever. It’s your blog, your shame. Doesn’t mean I have to stick around to witness it.” -Chaos