Category Archives: Randonymity

Randonymity

Ahoy, Mayhem!

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On Mondays, Maryse has started listing three things she feels positively about. I think that’s a great idea and will probably try that randomly – plus it reminds me of the beginning of Amélie. Let’s see if I can come up with some now…

  1. Pulling tags off of a purchase and having them come off all in a single piece, no sticky goo or corners left behind.
  2. Chaos knowing where SRM is, because he’ll do the sweetest, most kittenish things. Yesterday evening, he carefully pushed SRM under the bathroom door so I wouldn’t be lonely in the bathroom by myself. And maybe so I would open the door and play fetch, too.
  3. Making and drinking a perfect cup of soy hot chocolate. (My recipe? Silk Enhanced soymilk, cut with a few splashes of water, three teaspoons of Ghiradelli sweet ground chocolate, and a dash of Ghiradelli unsweetened cocoa.)

“Arrrrr, mateys! I’ve been practicing and I’m all ready for International Talk Like a Pirate Day!” -M*

*Why, yes, I might be messing with you, Deb! 😉

Contests, Knitting, Randonymity, Reading

Deconstructing

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Jennifer is celebrating her second blogiversary with an Oscars contest. Send her an email with your guesses by midnight PST on February 24 and the person with the most correct guesses will receive a fibery prize!

JennyRaye bought some gorgeous yarn for a shawl and is looking for pattern ideas. Submit you suggestion by midnight EST on February 24 and you could win some yarn.

Reading Update
Take the Cannoli: Stories from the New World by Sarah Vowell. I’ve read and enjoyed all of Vowell’s books. My favorite essays from this collection were “Thanks for the Memorex” (about mix tapes) and “Drive Through Please” (about Ira Glass trying to teach her to drive). This was my second TBR Challenge book, so I’m staying on track.
No One Cares What You Had for Lunch: 100 Ideas for Your Blog by Margaret Mason. I’d recommend this book if it wasn’t $19.99 for a very slim volume… Even the Amazon.com $13.59 seems a bit steep for what you get (bless the library). Instead, I’ll direct you to Tink’s list of post ideas. (And note that if you photograph your lunch real pretty and write it up in an interesting way, people will care what you had for lunch – it’s all about the presentation…)

Frogging Update
After contemplating all the wonderful responses to my question about whether the mobius cat bed should stay or go, I pulled it out and looked at it Saturday morning. May joined me.

“It looks a little lumpy to me, Mom.” -M

I pulled it off the needle… Check out how big it is – my foot is a womens’ size 11 (European 42)!

Still plenty off knitting to do to fill in that big hole… Not to mention the joy of felting such a monster. Ripping it out and knitting two felted square cat beds instead definitely held more appeal, so…

Flushed with my success, I pulled out another unfortunate UFO. This tank was too bulky. It ended up too short, so I added the frilly bit on the bottom and then put it aside when I finally recognized it wasn’t something I would wear.

“Haven’t I seen this before?” -C

“Y’know, I think that yarn would make a really cute baby sweater for May to model…” -C

Oh, wouldn’t it just! So…

It’s amazing how much lighter I felt after ripping out those two stagnant projects! In the past three weeks, I’ve ripped out three of the six projects pictured in my first UFO post way back when. Of the remaining projects, I probably will eventually weave in the ends of the otherwise finished washcloth. That single sock for my dad? For now, it will stay a single sock – I’m not sure it’s worth ripping out, since I wove in the ends and washed it (once upon a time). And the black tank top with the tourniquet armhole edging? Hopefully I’ll pull that out and fix the edging before the weather gets warm again, because it is a really great tank top otherwise.

Now the real question is – would I have done all of this if I’d joined one of the UFO resurrection challenges??

Contests, Randonymity, See the Sights

A day in my life

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Heather’s giving away several copies of a Project Spectrum blue/white/grey mix cd she made. Leave her a comment about what you’re working on for Project Spectrum and you will be entered in a drawing! Comments must be left by February 19, noon MST.

Thanks for all the input on the mobius cat bed yesterday! Although the “keep it” contingent was quite eloquent, I think I’m going to rip it out – if nothing else, I don’t have a lot of free space in my condo and it’s supposed to be a pretty large item even after felting.

Last week I mentioned that Elisa was having a contest – she wanted to see what our typical days were like. Yesterday I finally remembered to take out my camera throughout the day!

I get up at an unspecified time – I’m not quite sure, since I engage in alarm clock trickery (set it quite a bit fast, hit snooze quite a few times). I shower, dress, feed the cats, feed myself, make a mocha in a go-cup, and am in the car driving to work by 6:15 am. It’s dark. And everyone drives very fast. I didn’t take any pictures.

I get to work by 6:30. I’m one of the first people there, so it’s nice and quiet as I ease into my day, sipping my mocha and publishing my blog entry (prepared the night before). Here are some highlights from my cube, starting with my cabinet covered with Frigits:

My bulletin board – you can read it if you click on it!

A few toys… Hey, I work in IT. I have to have toys in my cube.

My work computer, with another Kenshin background.

I pretty much sit at that computer all day long. Sometimes people come over and talk to me. Sometimes I get up and use the facilities. Often I go run errands over lunch. Yesterday was an errand day. I started at my beloved thrift store – picked up some fun buttons and a black hoodie (to wear when walking around the lakes in the spring).

Then I returned a big stack of library books, but didn’t find anything to check out.

Next I went to the post office to mail a few mysterious packages. There wasn’t a line. I’m still in shock about that – good thing I documented it.

Finally, I stopped and picked up a salad…

and another soy mocha (there is a barista – she’s just tiny!).

Back to my cube – ate my salad, drank my mocha, worked. I usually leave at 3:30 pm, but yesterday I left around 4 pm, since I did take sort of a long lunch. I drive home on side streets – the freeway is already pokey.

One more errand – I needed cat food. Fortunately, my neighborhood pet food store did not have a cage of rescue kittens this time (see, for example, Mayhem).

This is what greets me when I get home and open the door:

“I’m dying! I’m dying! I’m dying! I’m dying!” -C

So I feed the cats and do other exciting things like clean the litterbox (not documented – aren’t you glad?!). I turn on my laptop and answer email, edit photos, and work on the next day’s blog entry.

Last night I straightened out the poor sweater I’m trying to dry…

“A new place to nap and play, play and nap! So very cushy… is there some silk in this, Mom? Maybe a spot of cashmere?” -M

Finally, I had some supper (popcorn and a soy hot chocolate) and settled in with my knitting to watch the premiere of Season 6.

Bedtime varies from 9:30 pm (best) to 11:30 pm (not so good), depending on how sucked into 24 I get. Since I’m out of DVDs after the Season 6 premiere until the rest of the season comes out on DVD, I’ll hopefully get more regular sleep again soon!

Contests, Randonymity

Handknits for Youngsters

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Cara’s having another contest – leave her a comment with a Valentine’s story (best, worst, etc.) and you could win some great yarn! Comments must be left by 11:59 pm EST today (February 14).

It’s been a while since I featured pictures from any of my old pattern books, hasn’t it? Let me introduce you to Handknits for Youngsters, circa 1952, which has the ominous message “There’s a Spinnerin handknit for every youngster!” on the back.

I’m sure the poor tyke below never recovered from the experience of wearing this little suit… especially since I’m interpreting this as being a catsuit!

“No, no, I think you’re right, Spanky, this thing isn’t connected. Of all the nerve!”

I can come up with captions for this next one… but maybe it’s best to leave that up to all of you… (Don’t forget to take the title at the bottom into consideration!) Yikes.

Here’s another one that wouldn’t be half as amusing/scary without the title…

Is this amount of smug superiority even legal?

Swimming trunks and a sunsuit and some very fancy hair! I wonder if knitted swimming suits stay on toddlers any better than they stay on adults?! So, Mama Tulip – which style would best suit Oliver, eh? 😉

“I’m going to have nightmares for years! The horror!”

I think Mayhem might, too.

“Is it over? Can I look yet?” -M

Contests, Randonymity

Socktopus!

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I’m sure many of you still haven’t recovered from seeing the rainbow Jaywalker socks the other day, but for those who have and fell in love with the yarn, it might be available again – I just saw it in the Patternworks catalogue (Regia 5399, aka “Fun Nation”). For those curious about my maryjanes, they are Keen Seattles in black.

A while ago, Jeanne got me the coolest present – a Socktopus!

This clever gizmo (formerly known to IKEA as a “JABBA Hanging Dryer with 16 Clips” and now as a “PRESSA Hanging Dryer with 16 Clothes Clips” – boring) is perfect for hanging handknit socks to dry out of harm’s way.

I know you’re all familiar with Harm:

“How dare you say something like that! Look at how adorable I am!” -Mayhem
*snort* -Chaos

Randonymity

Second Annual Blogger’s (Silent) Poetry Reading for the Feast of St. Brigid

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More details at Roots Down and many other locations. My poem from last year is still available. This year, I present a poem that I’ve loved since junior high – particularly the bit about the crow.

Two Legends
Ted Hughes

I
Black was the without eye
Black the within tongue
Black was the heart
Black the liver, black the lungs
Unable to suck in light
Black the blood in its loud tunnel
Black the bowels packed in furnace
Black too the muscles
Striving to pull out into the light
Black the nerves, black the brain
With its tombed visions
Black also the soul, the huge stammer
Of the cry that, swelling, could not
Pronounce its sun.

II
Black is the wet otter’s head, lifted.
Black is the rock, plunging in foam.
Black is the gall lying on the bed of the blood.

Black is the earth-globe, one inch under,
An egg of blackness
Where sun and moon alternate their weathers

To hatch a crow, a black rainbow
Bent in emptiness

over emptiness

But flying

“I like that, Mom! It’s about black kitties, obviously.” -M

Contests, Randonymity

Jelly bean bonanza and a completely crazy number of contests

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Thanks for all the kind words about my felted bookweight pattern and the cat photography tips! I’ll definitely do another post or two with more tips, as soon as I get enough examples collected. Several commenters pointed out that the tips would also work well for dogs and small children (and probably ferrets, bunnies, etc).

Bloglines seems to hate my blog again. Alas and alack… And it’s shockingly cold here in Minneapolis this morning: -8°F, not counting the windchill. BRRRRRR.

Imbrium is having a contest – guess what the vanity license plate might stand before and you could win some yarny goodness! Leave your comment by 11:59 pm MST, February 2 (today!).

Kristi is having a contest – leave a comment (bonus points if it’s a haiku) before February 14 about what aspect of her blog you most enjoy and you could win a prize appropriate to your fiberly orientation (spinner, knitter, or neither/not).

Deb is having a contest – guess what projects she’s knitting in the first three photos and you could win something fun. You have until around February 11 to guess, because that’s when Deb returns from Mexico! *jealous*

April is having a contest – if you donate $5 to Doctors Without Borders and cc her on your email to the Yarn Harlot, you are entered! First name drawn at the end of the month gets 15 skeins of sock yarn, second name gets 10 skeins, and the final name drawn gets 5 skeins. Each day this month, April will be featuring a skein of the prize yarn – today’s featured skein is a lovely and extremely limited edition Cabin Cover colorway.

Just a reminder, Megan and her husband are participating in the Tour de Cure. Megan will have a prize drawing for those who support them in this endeavor. You can even support them by buying a sock pattern.

Interested in writing a book review and maybe winning a prize? Then check out Debut a Debut – Eclectic Closet posted some info about it, and there are more details at West of Mars.

Eklectika sent me some handy dandy cat toys and a very funny jelly bean dispenser.

You press the kitty’s back and he, um, “dispenses” a jelly bean.

Hee hee – this is quite the conversation piece at my desk at work! Thanks, Eklectika! My coworkers decided that it wouldn’t be as obnoxious when I ran out of tan and brown jelly beans and refilled it with jelly beans in more varied colors. Should I tell them that I will still find it amusing, since the Chaos Kitty loves to eat brightly colored tissue paper?! 😉

“Mom! That’s appalling! I can’t believe you think that’s funny!” -M

Randonymity, Those Cats

Secrets of Cat Photography Revealed (Part the First)

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Two things have inspired me to write this post. First, I promised the info to Michaele at least six months ago (whoops – sorry, Michaele!). Second, I regularly get emails and comments asking me how I manage to always get good cat photos.

Ha. I get plenty of pictures like this:

and this:

Can’t spot the cat in the above photo? That’s because the cat left the shot while I was taking it…

I have an Olympus Stylus 810, which is an 8 megapixel point and shoot camera. It has 3x optical zoom, macro and super macro modes, and lots of other spiffy features that I rarely use. For the extremely basic photo resizing and editing I do, I use FxFoto. FxFoto is free, although I do have the paid version, which offers more features and doesn’t have an annoying nag screen.

Probably the number one secret of cat photography is to take lots of pictures. Lots and lots and lots of pictures. The more pictures you take, the better the chances you’ll get a keeper.

Number two is to use a camera with sports mode. Cats are busy creatures who care nothing about you trying to take their picture – sports mode increases your chance of getting a non-blurry shot.

A lot of people probably get decent pictures like this, in which the cat part of the picture is perfectly fine, but there’s a lot of distracting non-cat stuff in the picture:

Simply cropping and resizing that picture produces this:

Much better. Here’s a similar shot, only taken much closer to the subject so cropping isn’t required:

Here’s virtually the same shot taken without a flash, which produces a slightly different effect (such as fully open kitty eyes!):

For natural light pictures, I recommend a small tripod (the one I have is about 4″ tall) and a sleepy cat who isn’t moving around too much! The picture above was taken with the camera balanced on a pillow on the ottoman.

Here’s another example of an ok shot with too much non-cat stuff in it (I cannot believe I’m showing you my messy unmade bed!).

And the same shot cropped and resized (plus the messy bed isn’t quite as noticeable):

Can you even stand the cuteness of Mayhem watching snowflakes fall?!!

Sometime in the indeterminate future I’ll show you a few more simple tricks for improving your cat photography in Secrets of Cat Photography Revealed (Part the Second).

Contests, Randonymity, Reading

Of reading and wallpaper

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Update: I’m  upgrading WordPress today – please ignore any format oddities! Thanks. -Chris, 1/29/07 13:55

Christine of Pointy Sticks is having a podcast anniversary (podiversary?!) contest. She’s interested in comments or blog posts about socks (before midnight, February 6) – additional details are available in her most recent podcast. Prizes include a Lyra mp3 player!

Lisa is having a contest – you can submit guesses on an assortment of things, such as how many miles of yarn in her stash, and win an assortment of prizes! Contest ends midnight, February 9.

Reading Update
The Chemistry of Joy: A three-step program for overcoming depression through Western science and Eastern wisdom by Henry Emmons, MD, and Rachel Kranz. This was my final book for the From the Stacks Winter Reading Challenge. Whew! I initally picked up this book because I know Henry and appreciate his belief that, while medication is important for treating depression, it should often only be one aspect of treatment. Changes to diet, exercise, and meditative practices can help as much or even more than traditional medicine. If you struggle with depression, I highly recommend this insightful and thoughtful book.
Cheaper than Therapy: Joy, healing, and life lessons in fiber edited by Annie Modesitt. This was my first book for the 2007 To Be Read Challenge. I think that the short essays and poems in this book went perfectly with The Chemistry of Joy!

Here’s my list of books for the 2007 To Be Read Challenge – all of them have been in my “to be read” piles for at least six months; some for much longer. (While I was sorting through my books to make these lists, I realized that there were numerous books in my “to be read” piles that I wasn’t interested in anymore, so they will be heading to the thrift store.)

2007 To Be Read Challenge Booklist

  • Cheaper than Therapy: Joy, healing, and life lessons in fiber edited by Annie Modesitt; completed 1/28/07
  • Vanishing Acts by Jodi Picoult
  • Thinks… by David Lodge
  • If the Buddha Got Stuck: A handbook for change on a spiritual path by Charlotte Kasl, PhD
  • The House of Sleep by Jonathan Cole
  • Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami
  • A Conspiracy of Tall Men by Noah Hawley
  • Take the Cannoli: Stories from the New World by Sarah Vowell
  • Digital Photography for Dummies by Julie Adair King
  • The Opinionated Knitter: Elizabeth Zimmermann newsletters 1958-1968
  • Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Haruki Murakami
  • Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides

Alternates/Additional

  • Blue Shoe by Anne Lamott
  • Three Junes by Julia Glass
  • The True and Outstanding Adventures of the Hunt Sisters by Elisabeth Robinson
  • Stately Pursuits by Katie Fforde
  • Heartlight by Marion Zimmer Bradley
  • My Dream of You by Nuala O’Faolain
  • Blackwood Farm by Anne Rice
  • Bone Dance by Emma Bull
  • Freedom and Necessity by Steven Brust and Emma Bull

Kmkat is curious about what we have as our desktop wallpaper. I have an image of Rurouni Kenshin, the anime character that I named my laptop after.

“I don’t know why she doesn’t have a picture of me for her wallpaper!” -C

“Hmph.” -C

Contests, Randonymity, Those Cats

Flashback Friday

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Holly’s holding a Creature Comforts Drive in memory of her beloved cat, Cyrano. She’ll be collecting handmade blankets for pets until April 13 and there will be prizes (besides making life more comfortable for animals in shelters).

Susan knit her brother Steve a binary hat. The first person to decode the hat’s message wins a skein of yarn!

I got nothin’ today. I’m so tired! No, no, not from staying up late to watch 24 – I’m done with season three and waiting for the next two seasons to arrive. No, it’s the tail end of my cold – I feel pretty good during the day, but when I lie down to sleep, I can’t stop coughing. Nothing’s really helped. No, I can’t sleep sitting up – I’ve already tried. 🙂

Anyway, I rummaged around in my “not used yet” photo directory and pulled out some oldies that I never got around to posting. (Are you happy now, Cyn?!)

Here’s Chaos’ paw, May, and a furry red mouse (not SRM) hanging out at the end of September.

“You do realize that I can crush you with just one paw, don’t you?” -C
“Must. Eat. Mouse. Tail.” -M

May fighting with Chaos in mid-October.

“Ok, winding up the Paw Of Death… Don’t say I didn’t warn you!” -C

And May in my Birkie in mid-October – those are size 43, if that helps you with kitten scale.

“There was a clever kitten girl who lived in a shoe. She had so many toys, she knew just what to do!” -M