Category Archives: Randonymity

Randonymity, Reading, Tales of the Neighborhood

Hang on for the ride!

35 Comments

If linear’s your thing today, better move along. Here? Not so much. You have been warned!

Don’t forget to leave your comment for the SoC “But since I wasn’t blogging then…” contest before 5 pm CDT today!!

Reading Update
In the Bleak Midwinter and A Fountain Filled with Blood by Julia Spencer-Fleming. These are the first two Claire Fergusson (Episcopalian priest) and Russ Van Alstyne (police chief in Millers Kill, upstate New York). The books are well-written and suspenseful and I already have the next few on reserve at the library.
A Deeper Sleep by Dana Stabenow. The latest Kate Shugak novel – these extremely well-written and suspenseful mysteries are set in remotest Alaska. You definitely want to read them in order!
24 Declassified: Trojan Horse by Marc Cerasini. Really, what can I say? 🙂

Of course, I didn’t drink any green beer on Saturday, but I did accompany my SIL to a midday bowling tournament and took a few pictures…

Something I don’t write about very much, strangely, is how much I love music. Ye gads, I don’t even have a music category on this blog! But I happily listen to my ipod at work all day, listen to my beloved 89.3 The Current in the car to and from work and while knitting at home, and listen to all sorts of interesting things via my favorite music blogs: Largehearted Boy, Cable & Tweed, An Aquarium Drunkard, Chromewaves, and the MPR Current Song of the Day.

So yesterday, when MamaTulip tagged me with a music meme, I decided to play along, even though I usually don’t do memes. (Although I have put a few music memes on a separate page, for the morbidly curious.) Basically, list seven songs that you are into right now or seven songs that you can listen to over and over. My list will be a mixture – and I might have more than seven…

Chaos isn’t much for music…

“I am so hungry. Diets suck. Hmm. I wonder if that kitten would be tasty?” -C

“I think it’s best if I hide under here for a while, don’t you?!” -M

Randonymity

Things that make me happy: Shaun the sheep

53 Comments

My favorite animated film of all time is A Close Shave, an Oscar-winning Wallace & Gromit short.

My favorite character in A Close Shave? Definitely Shaun the sheep. I have accumulated a little bit of Shaun paraphernalia (especially compared to some people!). Tiny Shaun sits on my phone at work.

I also have a stuffed Shaun.

“Tastes… sheepy. Mmmm… sheep.” -C

“Are you sure this is our best side, Mom?” -C&M

So when Amy posted some pictures from the March 2007 issue of Simply Knitting, I immediately thought of Shaun and had to go buy the magazine (available at Borders).

Someday I will actually knit myself a Shaun – I already have yarn for it! Check out Wendy’s knitted Shaun, which inspired me to track down the pattern on ebay.

Contests, Randonymity

“I waver from the dead to the half dead.”

27 Comments

Update: Let’s try this again – apparently I managed to set this post as Private earlier. Whoops… Sorry! See the next paragraph……..

That quote from Atmosphere’s song “Smart Went Crazy” sums up how I still feel after the time change. Why is this so hard?! Actually, until I just looked up the lyrics, I’d always thought it was “I wake up from the dead to the half dead,” which I thought was absolutely perfect. Ah well.

Vicki Knitorious is having a contest to celebrate her blogiversary. Guess how many posts and comments she will have when she sits down to post on the first day of spring, and you could win a copy of Cables Untangled. Leave your guess through March 18.

Stephania’s giving away the socks she knitted for Sock Madness! If you have size 7 feet (about 8.5 inches long), leave a comment by noon CDT, March 16, and you could have some brand new spiffy socks.

Michelle is having a contest to name the cute sheep figurine she got. If the name you suggest by March 31 is picked, you could win fibery goodies.

Keana is having a blogversary contest! Leave a comment by 5 pm March 16 and you could win some Rowan or some of her own hand dyed sock yarn.

My apologies to the folks subscribed to my atom feed – the plugin that I’m using to keep the contest reminder up at the top of my blog seems to ping Bloglines every few hours, making it look like that post has been edited. Definitely time to ask the plugin creator about that…

Thanks for all the feedback on my RPM socks – I kept going with the STR and am about 2″ into the cuff.

Other than that, I got nothin’ today. Brain is a sleepy blank… I think Chaos has the right idea. Do you think my boss would notice if I followed his lead and took a little catnap under my desk?

“…zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz…” -C

Randonymity

Hey baby, wanna swap?

21 Comments

Due to my own silliness and the draconian return/exchange policy of a local yarn shop, I have an extra copy of Jan Messent’s Knit a Fantasy Story. I confused this book, which I already own, with another of Messent’s books, Knit an Enchanted Castle. D’oh!

Anyway! If anyone is interested in this book and would be interested in swapping something for it, please let me know. Here are a few pictures from the book. Also, the cover picture is the actual copy up for swap, but the interior pictures are from my own copy – I wanted to avoid breaking the spine for the pictures.

Update: chittavrtti and I have worked out a swap for this book. Stay tuned, because I’ll be featuring pictures from some of my other Jan Messent books in the future – her stuff is amazing. I doubt I’ll ever knit any of it, but I love to look at the pictures.

This one’s clickable – check out the detail of this farm!

Sheep!!

A wizard

A dragon

A unicorn

A knight in shining (knit) armor

A witch and a black cat!

Randonymity, Reading

It should’ve been Friday days ago…

41 Comments

This is going to wander a bit. 🙂 I definitely need to start with a few things that make me happy:

  • Eating peanut butter off the knife while I wait for my toast in the morning.
  • Fixing a knitting mistake without ripping back.
  • Playing fetch with May when she brings the mouse/fluff ball close enough for me to throw it for her – and also the soft “pooft-plop” as she careens headlong into the front door in pursuit of her toys while fetching.
  • Listening to Chaos’ breathy little cat snoring – this is probably the only cute snoring I can think of!
  • The word “tohubohu” (TOH-hoo-BO-hoo), which means chaos or confusion.

Reading Update (because reading definitely makes me happy)
Operation Hell Gate: 24 Declassified by Marc Cerasini. “…a number of early CTU missions were declassified. The following is one of them…” Entertaining, if not great literature.
Night Vision: A Jane Lawless Mystery by Ellen Hart. This series is set in the Twin Cities and features restaurateur Jane Lawless and her theatrical friend Cordelia Thorn. This is a very well-written series, but it definitely isn’t a cozy. The latest book examines celebrity stalking.

It has just been one of those weeks. I’m feeling pretty healthy at least – even with working until 5 am Thursday! Yeah, still haven’t recovered from that one – but at least I was able to work from home. I’m not the only one who’s sleepy…

“How is a kitten girl supposed to get her beauty sleep with that thing flashing in her face?!” -M

That didn’t seem to bother Chaos. Hope you all have a good weekend and that the Daylight Savings Time change doesn’t mess up your sleep.

“…zzzzzzzzzzz…” -C

Contests, Randonymity, Reading

*cough cough cough*

59 Comments

Eve is conducting a comic-reading study and is looking for participants. If you participate by March 31, you could win some yarn! You don’t have to be a knitter to participate – presumably no non-knitters would be forced to take yarn.

I can’t possibly be the only WordPress blogger getting crushed by comment spam, can I?! I swear, I must’ve had 3,000 spam comments in the past week. I have added the Worst Offenders plugin for Akismet to see if that helps make things more manageable – so far, so good. I know a lot of people use Bad Behavior, but when I tried it for a day or two, it blocked many legitimate commenters, so it has been banished. Other than Spam Karma or adding a verification word, do any of you have good tips for fighting comment spam?

Reading Update
Revenge of the Wrought-Iron Flamingos, We’ll Always Have Parrots, and Owls Well That Ends Well by Donna Andrews. Three more Meg Lanslow mysteries, as our brave blacksmith takes on a Revolutionary War reenactment, a sci-fi convention, and a 30-family yard sale. These are fun, goofy, and well-written; I’m enjoying them!
Don’t Look Down by Jennifer Crusie and Bob Mayer. Think chicklit meets 24. Can a stoic Green Beret and a woman who makes dog food commercials find true love?

Here are a few pictures of our parking lot from inside my car when I finally ventured out into the snowy world on Saturday. Our plowing company is so in trouble.

I have a cold again. Blech. Alas, I can’t take stuff like Airborne, which is not recommended for people who have autoimmune disorders, so I’m toughing it out. Chaos is very unhappy about my cold.

“Mom, you keep sneezing and coughing and you scare me and I have to run away and hide and then it looks like I’m a ‘fraidy cat! Hmph. You’re bad for my image.” -C

“Face it, big kitty, you are a ‘fraidy cat! It’s just coughing and sneezing. What’s the big deal?” -M

Contests, Randonymity, Reading

Nothing says “dork” like trying to take a self-portrait

69 Comments

La’s having a contest – post pictures of the cute little feet in your life (furbaby or otherwise) over the next week and you could win some La-made stitchmarkers. (Here’s my entry, La!)

Reading Update
Delete All Suspects by Donna Andrews. This mystery series feature artificial intelligence Turing Hopper, who helps a human private investigator solve crimes. I guess this would be classified as a “techno-cozy” mystery – really, mystery niches are amazing, aren’t they?!
Murder with Puffins and Crouching Buzzard, Leaping Loon by Donna Andrews. These were the first Meg Langslow mysteries I’d read and I enjoyed them much more than I expected – they’re very silly and feel a bit like reading a comedic melodrama. Definitely a nice break from 24! Anyway, Meg works as a blacksmith, making ornamental items – what was I just saying about mystery niches?!? And yes, the titles are all bird-themed, although none of the characters is an ornithologist.

Refined Raglan Photos
Ok, bowing to peer pressure, here you go – me modeling the refined raglan. Don’t I look thrilled? If you’ve been reading for ages and ages, you might notice that this sweater looks awfully similar to something… (You will need to click on the picture to see the cable detail.)

In an attempt to make pictures of a black sweater more interesting, here’s Mayhem! (My baby is all grown up! *sniff*)

“Did you see it?! I was just sitting there in the previous photo, minding my own business when I was rudely snatched up!” -M

And Chaos!

“Why is that thing clicking and beeping and flashing at us?! Obviously we’re running out of time and we’re all going to die!!” -C

Knitting, Project Spectrum, Randonymity

Let it FO! Let it FO! Let it FO!

48 Comments

Limedragon is having a contest – give Trekking XXL color #76 a better name and you could win a skein of sock yarn! Submit your suggestions by midnight CST on February 28.

Guess how many books Chappysmom has read since January 1, 1996, and you could win some Koigu. Leave a comment with your guess by February 28.

We had a little snow over the weekend… This picture doesn’t show the final accumulation. See the Beetle? By the time the snow stopped falling, that Beetle had snow nearly to the top of its tires!

I did finish two projects over the weekend, although I didn’t finish my refined raglan (after I redid the neckline for the third time, we needed some time apart…). I finished the stripey gift socks, made from Cascade’s new Sassy Stripes yarn, using the stitch pattern from Kristi’s Gentleman’s Socks. I’ll definitely use that stitch pattern again.

“Hello! I’m lying here, May. Quit walking across me!!” -C

“Mmmm…. socks….” -M

(Although it may occasionally look like May is nearly Chaos’ size, that’s all illusion. She’s about 8 lbs; he’s about 15 lbs and looking trim! Yesterday, I noticed that one of his paws can entirely cover her eyes, nose, and mouth. Alas, I did not get a picture.)

I also finished my Project Spectrum socks. The stripes matched up pretty well between socks, until I bound off the second sock… See the little white blop? Grrr…

I decided I had to fix that, so I gathered my tools.

Voila!

Much better. (My toe-up bind off always looks wonky until the socks are washed.)

“This cat bed certainly lacks in cushiness, Mom. Why did you put those boards in it? Do you think I need more back support when I sleep?” -M

Contests, Randonymity

*yawn*

31 Comments

The online knitting magazine For the Love of Yarn is having a contest – leave a short comment about who taught you to knit and you could win a Yarn Safaris sock knitting kit.

Have you checked out Good Yarn Karma yet? It’s an intriguing idea to move along some yarn or fiber that just isn’t working for you and perhaps find new inspiration in someone else’s unloved yarn or fiber.

Vicki Knitorious is going to be in the Twin Cities this weekend! If you’re in the area and you’re interested in getting together with Vicki, Deb, Jeanne, and I to knit and chat Sunday afternoon, please let me know.
Update: We’ll be meeting at D’Amico & Sons at 2210 Hennepin Avenue South at about 4 pm on Sunday, February 25. We should be easy to spot – I look exactly like my little icon in my sidebar (although the cats won’t be with me!).
Update the Second 2/24/07: CANCELED! Vicki had car trouble, plus the weather is crappy. She will reschedule. We will not be meeting at D’Amico on Sunday.

Thank you all so much for your supportive comments yesterday! I don’t have much to say today other than TGIF – it’s one of those sleepy mornings and I’m already thinking I need a second soy mocha. 🙂 Hopefully by Monday I’ll have an FO or two to show you – I have less than an inch left on the second Project Spectrum sock and maybe 20 rounds left until I finish the neck of the refined raglan.

Here’s a picture of Chaos and May checking out the snow a few weeks ago. Suddenly it’s much warmer here (+50°F on Wednesday) and most of the snow in this picture is gone – although it sounds like we could get more snow later today and over the weekend.

“I know you think that white stuff looks like birds falling out of the sky, May, but trust me, it isn’t.” -C

“You’ve got to come down sometime, May – and then look out! Bwah-ha-ha!” -C

Knitting, Randonymity

The muffin incident

78 Comments

Shall we start with some foreshadowing? Last week, Leah was nearly run down by an impatient driver in a Whole Foods parking lot; the driver then proceeded to scream at her. In her post, she commented “it amazes me how horrible we can treat each other just because we are strangers.”

*insert ominous music*

A few days ago, I stopped in my neigborhood co-op on my way home from work and was delighted to discover that it was gluten-free cherry almond muffin day and there were muffins remaining. (The muffin schedule varies monthly and seasonally. There’s a gluten-free muffin every day, but usually they are long gone by the time I get to the co-op. It’s been at least six months since gluten-free cherry almond muffins were on the schedule.) I carefully placed the last five muffins in a bakery bag (the muffins freeze really well).

This guy walked up to me and asked if I planned on taking all of the gluten-free muffins. Um, yes, since I just put them into the bag… He freaked out and called me a jerk, then a bitch, then an asshole, then started saying things like “You look like a nice person, but you’re obviously a nasty bitch!” WTF?! He continued stomping around and shooting me nasty glances and saying crap like that as I took my cart and walked down the next aisle. A few minutes later, I happened to look up as I was getting something out of the freezer and he was standing at the end of the aisle, flipping me off and yelling, “Bitch!!!!” I flipped him off in return, grabbed the last few things I needed, and got in a checkout line.

I was really quite freaked out by then and kept darting nervous glances around as I paid for my groceries and headed out of the store. I would not have been at all surprised if the guy had darted out, pushed me down, and taken my bag of muffins! Fortunately, that did not happen – I got in my car, drove home, froze the muffins, and sat down to write Tuesday’s list of things that make me happy. Like Leah, I had a strong urge to “accentuate the positive” and not dwell on the incident.

I’m writing about it now because I can see the utter surreality of the situation. Since the muffin incident, I have been observing people more closely, seeing how easily we lash out when angry or impatient instead of dealing with it, or excusing ourselves, or apologizing, or just being kind to the people around us. I can see where I do the same thing sometimes (although certainly not to the degree of the muffin man), and I’m resolving to be more patient and more aware of others.

Related to being aware of others and accentuating the positive, I knitted a few pieces for the Blanket of Hope that Rebekah’s putting together from some yarn I dyed last summer. Hopefully Rebekah will be able to use these for fill-in bits throughout the blanket.

Besides knitting, some other positives…

*purrrrrrrrr* -C & M