These cats put up with so much from me, I really couldn’t bear to dress them up in baby clothes or the like. I figured a bib was bad enough – Chaos certainly thought so!
“Woe is me.” -Chaos
“Maybe if I make myself really small, no one will notice me. Or the bib will go away.” -Chaos
“Stop looking at me! Oh, the shame, the shame.” -Chaos
“Maybe I can get free and regain some of my dignity…” -Chaos
“Hmph. This isn’t working out as I’d hoped. Woe.” -Chaos
Don’t forget that Monday, January 14, is National Dress Up Your Pet Day! Trivially, today is National Step in a Puddle and Splash Your Friends Day; Saturday is the Feast of Fabulous Wild Men Day – how are you celebrating that one, FuriousBall?! 😉
CursingMama’s giving away Body Drama, an extremely frank “facts of life” book – stop by her blog for details on how to enter the contest, which ends midnight CST, January 16.
Heidi’s friend Christy recently had breast removal surgery and is about to go through chemo and radiation therapy. Heidi’s having a “Bits for Tits” contest – she’s collecting knitted/crocheted/sewn breasts for Christy’s amusement and use. If you send Heidi a crafted breast (or a chemo hat if you can’t picture yourself knitting/crocheting/sewing a breast) by February 14, you will be entered in a drawing for assorted fibery prizes!
KitKatKnit’s kitty Ruby has issued a “Bunny Thumper Challenge,” looking for the the kitty with the longest back feet (bunny thumpers), the daintiest back feet, and some randomly selected back feet. Contest closes midnight PST, January 17.
My, but it is very challenging to measure and photograph “bunny thumpers.” I got some very nice mouth measurements.
“Mwmph.” -Mayhem
“Mwmph. Mwmph!” -Mayhem
And some shots that required a fair amount of imagination as to where the end of the bunny thumper might be.
“What do you mean, ‘overhang’?! I don’t have ‘overhang’! Hmph.” -Chaos
This overexposed and poorly corrected shot was the best I managed of Chaos. (More accurate measurement while he was napping and I wasn’t hindered by a camera revealed that bit of his back leg to be 5.5″ long.)
“Sulking here! Leave me alone!” -Chaos
But finally I did get a good shot of May’s little bunny thumper, which was revealed to be somewhere between 4.5″ and 4.75″ – so hard to tell with all the squirming.
“I get a treat for this, right?” -Mayhem
Whew!
I know, I know, I’m a little bit behind in looking back on 2007. Good thing it isn’t going anywhere. 🙂 There’s an extremely cute cat picture in it for you if you make it to the end! (You can also look back at 2006 if you’re so inclined.)
But first – Deb has some more detail on what had her laughing so hard at the birthday gathering. (Note that Jeanne and I did not buy Deb those undies!)
Did you hear about the gasoline tanker that overturned in Minneapolis yesterday? That was less than a mile from where I live! I’m very glad I was working from home so I didn’t have to deal with the messed up traffic.
Major Events of the Year
Having surgery on October 3. I can’t believe how much healthier and happier I feel now – better than I have for two to three years.
My Knitblogger’s Tour of the West, including staying with Michaele and meeting Denver-area bloggers, going to Estes and meeting Margene and Cheryl and Mim and Jane, staying with Kristi…
Finished Objects: 39
Works in Progress
Scrunchable velvet scarf, plain stripey socks, shaped cardigan (hush, Marina), Trekking 126 socks (shameful – I just need to sew down the picot edges!), neck cozy (hmm, I haven’t mentioned this on the blog – probably because I’m ambivalent about finishing it)
Skeletons in My Knitting Basket
Laptop bag (never finishing it, since I bought such nice cases for my laptop), Crazy slipstitch Meilenweit socks (mailed off to Brigitte to do with the yarn what she will!), probably a couple things from way back in the way back that I don’t feel like digging out!
Favorite Projects of 2007
Probably the Refined Raglan I knit for myself. I was also very fond of the shawlette I knit for Fraro and of the lacy toddler dress I knit.
Major Knitting Accomplishment
Finishing my Christmas knitting in November!
Favorite Yarns
Wool2Dye4 supersock that I’ve dyed (it’s a base yarn that has a comparable hand to yarns such as CTH), stripey Meilenweit, Trekking…
New Techniques
Ack! I’m not coming up with anything! Probably because I didn’t take any knitting classes in 2007. I must’ve learned something… Anyone? Anyone?
The Year in First Lines
January
Reports of my demise were only slightly exaggerated… I spent six hours of New Year’s Day in the emergency room, getting fluids and antinausea meds for the most evil migraine I’ve had in 12 years (i.e., the last time a migraine sent me to the ER).
February
Secrets of Cat Photography Revealed (Part the First) 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.
March
Killing you with the cute Aw, thank you all so much for the kind words about my refined raglan and yesterday’s self portraits! *blush*
April
What I did with my weekend, or Meet the Peeves As I mentioned Friday, the Peeves came to Minneapolis for approximately 24 hours, en route to see more sights and meet more bloggers (Hi CarrieK! Hi La! Hi Laurie! You’ll have fun!!).
May
A message from Mayhem “Hi everyone! Mom said I could post today because she doesn’t feel very lively… something about anemia and having to take iron to feel better. I don’t really have anything to say, I just knew you would all really miss me if you didn’t get to see this cute picture of me! Bye!! I have to go look out the window now.”
June
And finally, some knitting Aw, Mayhem really appreciated all the sweet birthday wishes yesterday! For those who are wondering where the heck the year went, I didn’t get her until September last year. Whew! No lost summer of 2006 for y’all.
July
Feline groovy I’m a bit shocked at the blogging backlog I’ve developed – I need to post lots of thank yous for some wonderful gifts I’ve received, plus I haven’t even made it to the Estes Wool Market in my vacation narrative! So of course, I shall do neither of these things today.
August
Handy Mayhem butt I’ve mentioned swap-bot a few times recently. Kristi has a great post on how to establish a rating on swap-bot. Check out the Biteberry yarn in its new habit!
and on that same day (August 1)…
I am ok The Interstate 35W bridge over the Mississippi River collapsed during tonight’s evening rush hour.
September
Trying to catch up 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!
October
Monday meanderings I finished my Los Monos Locos on Saturday!
November
A Halloween walk Sock knitters – Kristi has written some very useful knitting and wear reviews for quite a few different sock yarns. If you’re a knitblogger somehow connected to Minnesota, you should join the Minnesota Knitters Ring.
December
We were all stricken with camnesia Thursday evening I picked up Kristi the Fiber Fool from the airport. We chatted and knitted while Chaos glared balefully and May tried to entice Kristi to open up the MGWT closet.
“FuriousBall, dude, where’re those munchies you said you were going to get?” -Mayhem
Kim’s having a blogiversary contest. Stop by to wish her happy blogiversary before midnight PST, January 13, and let her know what your favorite FO of 2007 was. There will be at least one randomly selected winner.
Ali’s having a UFO contest, which should tie in nicely with many of the knitting resolutions I’ve been reading around blogland. To participate, post about an unfinished object by January 21, then finish the UFO by February 7.
Monday was Deb’s 50th birthday and today is Jeanne’s 40th birthday! Happy birthday to both of you!! Last night we got together at Deb’s house and had a little birthday party. Deb made our traditional flourless chocolate cake, and there were, of course, cards and presents and lots of laughter.
Deb recently got a new black kitty, Sammy, so of course we spent some time admiring her.
“Hmph. But I ask you, does she have these fine wet wool socks to lie on? I bet not!” -Mayhem
Deb (aka Chappysmom) has a new blog home – stop by and check out her spiffy new digs!
Looking for your very own black feline knitwear model? Look no further – handsome LHBM seeks home.
ETA: My comments aren’t getting emailed to me this morning. Hmph. Usually they show up eventually… My apologies for not responding until whenever eventually is!!
“Let’s see if people really dig that lolcats lingo… I has some boxes!” -Chaos
“Why she infringing on my boxes?” -Chaos
“Why are you talking so funny, big kitty? Did you fall on your head?” -Mayhem
Don’t forget about Super International Pajama Day, coming up on February 3!
Many thanks to Jeanne and pao for assisting me with some blog woes over the weekend! The blog seems to be working fine again – whew! (I do admit to pestering Jeanne with the Yarn Harlot’s famous words: “Blog broken. Make blog go?”)
Also, in an effort to reduce comment spam, I’ve turned off commenting for posts more than 60 days old. Hopefully this doesn’t inconvenience anyone. 🙂
Reading Update
Heart of Stone: The Negotiator Trilogy, Book 1 by C. E. Murphy. This is the start of a new series by Murphy, and it was a very good read. Legal Aid lawyer Margrit Knight discovers that there’s more going on in NYC than she would ever have realized. This book has a dragon, a djinn, two selkies, a whack of gargoyles, and one vampire. (It’s ok, CarrieK – it’s definitely not a vampire novel. You’ll be ok. I promise.)
Web Mage by Kelly McCullough. This is an interesting premise – imagine that there’s also an mweb (magic web) in addition to the regular stuff on the internet… Sorceror and relative of the Fates Ravirn is just trying to get through the University of Minnesota’s CompSci program, so how did his life get so complicated?
Holidays Are Murder: A Maggie Skerritt Mystery by Charlotte Douglas. I continue to enjoy this low-key series about Pelican Bay, Florida, police detective Maggie and her former (police) partner, Bill. Since this series is published by a division of Harlequin, you may find them in the romance section instead of mysteries…
Key of Light by Nora Robert. This first book in the Key Trilogy was pretty good. Three modern women must solve an ancient puzzle while an evil sorceror attempts to thwart their efforts.
Hex Marks the Spot: Bewitching Mystery, Book 3 by Madelyn Alt. Maggie learns about Amish hexes when a local Amish craftsmen is found murdered.
Knitting Update
My black Velvet Touch “Scrunchable Scarf” continues to grow – and continues to be too unexciting to photograph. It is extremely soft and I’m quite happy with it.
*zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz…* -Chaos
“Wha……..?” -May
In November, I posted about the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) program. I fully recognize that children in developing countries need many things more basic than laptops (such as clean water and food), but I also believe that education is incredibly important to those children; this program is one way of bringing technology and education to them. I’m sure that my perception of the OLPC was influeced by my fondness for cyberpunk novels, as well as by recently reading Geoff Ryman’s novel Air (about the effects of technology on traditional cultures).
Anyway! On Wednesday, my wee OLPC XO laptop arrived. For scale, the XO is sitting on The Knitter’s Book of Yarn; the XO is about 8.5″ wide, while Rurouni (the laptop in the background) is 11.5″ wide.
My big accomplishment of the evening was getting the XO connected to my wireless network (ChatNoir) and writing the first line of this post on it. 🙂 The keyboard is definitely kid-sized!
Not everyone around here was convinced that the XO was a welcome addition.
“Hmph. Don’t you already spend enough time on the computer?!” -Chaos
Those that could be reached for comment, that is…
“Wha…? Whatever. Hey, man, did you happen to see where that froofy nip toy went?” -Mayhem
Jeanne and Chelle have kicked off their 4th Annual k3tog Preemie Hat Knitting Extravaganza! Their goal is to collect 150 preemie hats in the month of January. They’ll be offering prizes for the hat(s) from furthest away, most hats knit, and several random drawings.
Christina’s been nominated for January Knit Girl – if you vote for her and let her know that you did, you’ll be entered in a drawing for a fibery prize.
I have a question for anyone using a Feliway diffuser – I put one out about three weeks ago and can’t tell if it’s actually diffusing effectively. The little jar is still about 2/3 full and the outside bottom of the jar seems to be collecting liquid – that doesn’t seem quite right to me.
I’m knitting myself a new scarf, but it’s simply too boring to bother sharing a picture. It’s, um, black, from Wendy Velvet Touch (100% nylon) – one of the few yarns that doesn’t make my neck itch. Silly neck.
CarrieK sent me a lovely thank you package! Check out the gorgeous and warm purple hat! She also sent season one of Jericho. If you’re keeping track, you’ll know that my queue now includes season one of Lost (conceivably Deb would like me to return that someday), season six of 24, and now season one of Jericho. To balance out the tv stuff, Carrie included a lovely black kitty girl bookmark and a “If only I could get paid to read all day” bookmark. She didn’t forget Chaos and Mayhem, either – they got some fun’n’froofy catnip toys. Thanks, Carrie!
“Do I detect… nip??!” -Mayhem
Chaos wasn’t too sure about the toys.
*poke poke poke* -Chaos
*sniff sniff sniff* -Chaos
“Oh, come on, big kitty – this is the good stuff! Here’s what you should be doing.” -Mayhem
“Hmm. They aren’t very… dignified toys.” -Chaos
“Dignity, schmignity!” -Mayhem
“Hey, who you callin’ a niphead?!??” -Mayhem
I hope everyone had a good start to the new year!
After several years of second place, Minneapolis has been rated America’s Most Literate City! St. Paul jumped from fifth to third.
MissT is editing the February issue of Yarnival and is looking for your submissions.
Ann and Kay are holding The Grandma Mabel Memorial Recipe Box Show and Tell Contest. You have until noon EST, January 4, to flash your recipe boxes and maybe win a prize!
Scout’s encouraging people to donate some money to help a dog in Maine who was seriously injured by someone snowmobiling illegally on the owner’s property. If you donate by January 4, you’ll be entered in a drawing for some goodies from Scout.
Reading Update
The Day Will Come: A Stella Crown Mystery by Judy Clemens. Meh. I read the whole thing, but never got very invested in dairy farmer and Harley rider Stella’s story. No interest in reading more of these.
Pelican Bay: A Maggie Skerritt Mystery by Charlotte Douglas. Former debutante Maggie Skerritt is a police detective in a small town on Florida’s Gulf Coast. This was a good read and I’ll definitely read more in this series.
Dance of the Gods and Valley of Silence (Books 2 and 3 of the Circle Trilogy) by Nora Roberts. More sword’n’sorcery’n’vampires – this was a darn good trilogy.
Drunk, Divorced & Covered in Cat Hair: The True-Life Misadventures of a 30-Something Who Learned to Knit After He Split by Laurie Perry, aka Crazy Aunt Purl. Just like reading her blog, only more serious and with no funny cat pictures. I might have to knit that cat tube…
The Yarn Lover’s Guide to Hand Dyeing: Beautiful Color and Simple Knits by Linda LaBelle. Overall, this is probably the best dyeing book I have; however, it definitely has its limitations. I think more interviews, and giving those interviews more substance, would have significantly strengthened the book. So would spending much more time and space on the techniques and much less time and space on the simple patterns.
Thank You Updates
I won two contests! On the left below are goodies from Ali – two yummy skeins of alpaca, a box of chocolate-covered popcorn “coal,” and some gluten-free snack bars (well, ok, the snack bars are at work – I won’t even pretend that they’re under Chaos). On the left is a lovely skein of yarn from Jen. Thanks to both of you!
*sniff sniff sniff* -Chaos and Mayhem
MamaTulip sent me a very fun box of goodies – a lovely purple mug with black cats on it, candles, metal cat and glass ball ornaments, an excellent cd, and a nice wooden cat sculpture. Thank you, MamaT!
*sniff sniff sniff* -Mayhem and Chaos
“Hey, big kitty – I think we got a new kitty in the house! Now I’m not the smallest kitty anymore!” -Mayhem
“I hate to break it to you, May, but that kitty isn’t exactly alive…” -Chaos
“Hmph. I knew that, big kitty. I was just kidding. Moving right along… Mom, why am I lying by an empty mug? This is boring.” -Mayhem
Just a few random things to finish off the year… Here’s my final FO of the year – toddler socks from some yarn I dyed a few months ago.
“Do you have any idea how happy I am that I’m not modeling those?!” -Mayhem
Mayhem received a fish-shaped Christmas stocking this year – only fair, since Chaos already had a Christmas stocking (“Spoiled”).
“Mine is better, big kitty – it has fur on it! And it’s shaped like a fish!” -Mayhem
“Don’t rub it in, May – mine doesn’t even have a picture of me on it. I don’t know what that little fuzzy thing is that Mom keeps insisting is me!” -Chaos
I got some fun presents to keep me busy in the new year…
“Can we watch an hour of our kitty dvd for every hour of 24 you watch?” -Mayhem
And… I got Ruby Sheep pajamas! 🙂
“Hmph. Why aren’t there more black cat pajamas?!? Always with the sheep pajamas.” -Chaos
I hope you all have a happy and safe New Year’s! (I’m just hoping for a much less painful start to 2008 than to 2007, personally.)