Knitting, Reading, See the Sights

In which I lunch, accompanied by a furry guitar

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Remember the snow I mentioned Friday? Here’s photographic proof of it. May was enthralled, but she didn’t bird chitter at it the way she did last fall.

“If these are birds, they’re probably stupid, because they’re crashing right into the ground. Who wants to catch stupid birds?” -Mayhem

Reading Update
Unplugged by Lois Greiman. I’m reading these in reverse order, which isn’t brightest thing to do. Looks like I enjoyed Unscrewed (set after Unplugged) ok, but thought it covered so much of the previous books that I wouldn’t really need to read them. That explains why I had such a sense of deja vu as I read this!
Size 14 Is Not Fat Either: A Heather Wells Mystery by Meg Cabot. Former teen idol Heather Wells just keeps stumbling into murders as she tries to create a new post-teen idol life for herself.
Sex, Lies and Vampires and Even Vampires Get the Blues by Katie MacAlister. These are a bit silly, but since I am a sucker for cheesy titles, I keep reading them. 🙂

Life Update
Alas, I’ve healed so well that I return to work full-time on Wednesday. Waaaaah! If any of you know a single, cute, wealthy guy who has a great sense of humor and likes cats, send him my way, hmm? Thanks in advance! 😉

On Friday, after the snow had stopped and melted, I met Valerie (visiting from Massachusetts), her friend blog-free Kelly (visiting from Iowa),

the mysterious Guinifer (local, but I hadn’t met her before),

and Deb (yay, Deb!)

at 318 for lunch and knitting.

I have to admit that I was a bit nervous about knitting with Valerie, who you might know from Yarn4Socks, and Guinifer, who is a master yarn enabler (particularly sock yarn, but her reach is vast). However, I did manage to show up with a yarn that neither had heard of before – lovely sock yarn from Red Rocks Fiber Works (alas, nothing to their website yet), which was a convalescence gift from Michaele. I’m using the stitch pattern from the Los Monos Locos pattern, which I’ve knit before.

Besides the great company, conversation, and coffee, I really like 318’s decor. (Don’t look, Marina!)

“Why don’t Magical Flying Goldfish ever fall from the sky? Life sucks.” -Mayhem

Contests, Reading, Those Cats

This and that Friday (with exceptionally cute Mayhem photo)

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I know a few of you are suddenly unable to read my blog due to a filter marking it as “Hate Speech.” Remember when I mentioned the problems with my site being slow? My hosting provider moved my site to a different server last week, and apparently someone else in my new IP space is getting filtered for “Hate Speech.” My site is getting blocked vicariously, alas. I put in another ticket and my site has been moved again. Hopefully by the time this is posted, those of you who haven’t been able to read over the past week will be able to do so. Sorry for any frustration or inconvenience this has caused you!

Rebekah’s having a contest to help raise money for the medical bills of a dog that was left alone in a house for six weeks. Yikes! 🙁 Deadline to contribute is December 1.

ETA: It’s snowing right now. True, true, it isn’t heavy snow or anything. But still – my brain might explode.

Reading Update
Manhunting by Jennifer Crusie. No, CarrieK, you didn’t miss a new Jennifer Crusie book, really – it’s a rerelease of her first published romance (1993). Either she polished it up a bit, or she’s always been a great writer.
Kiss of Death: A Daytime Mystery by Linda Palmer. The Daytime (Television) Mysteries are exceptionally well-written and enjoyable. Recommended, but read them in order – this is the fourth book. (There’s a black kitty in the series, too!)
UltraViolet: A Jane Kelly Mystery by Nancy Bush. One of the reviewers compares Jane Kelly to Stephanie Plum and Kinsey Milhone. I’m not sure I would go that far, but I do enjoy the series and will definitely continue to read it.

Life Update
Later this morning, I go in for my recheck and work release appointment. I’ll be going back to work on Wednesday, November 14. At today’s appointment, I’ll find out whether I go back full-time right away, or ease back. I’m hoping for easing back! Especially since things are completely weird at work right now. Take a mental note, folks – if you need to take medical leave, make sure you do it while your company is being acquired. This adds exciting stresses to your leave. At least I know I made it through the first cut – whew!

“What?” -Mayhem

Contests, Knitting, Those Cats

The return of the bibs: Mayhem

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Miss T is celebrating her first blogiversary with a contest. Leave her a comment (through November 11) about what blogging’s done for you, and you could win some mysterious yarn.

Susan’s having a “Wayback Machine” contest – post what you were knitting a year ago and you could win some “knitterly goodness.” Contest ends midnight PST, November 11.

Same bibs, different model today. Chaos and Mayhem deal with bibs so very, very differently. Chaos actively works to remove the bib. Mayhem… not so much.

Step 1: Assume guilt-inducing look

“How could you do this to me, Mom?!” -Mayhem

Step 2: Ask the expert

“Um, big kitty? Could you get this off me, please?” -Mayhem

Step 3: Look for divine intervention

“Please… someone? Anyone?” -Mayhem

Step 4: Revert back to guilt

“I trusted you, Mom… *sniff*” -Mayhem

Contests, Knitting, Those Cats

The return of the bibs: Chaos

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Kristi has posted some more sock yarn reviews.

Clare is having a contest to celebrate her 100th post. Leave her a comment with a yarn substitution story, and you could win yarn, a shawl pin, or a book.

I should just knit up a pile of bibs to have on hand for those unexpected babies… Here are the first three bibs – I have a few more that still need buttons.

“Oh no, not bibs again. Well, at least this one will look nice with my eyes…” -Chaos

“Curses! These are easy to get off… unless your foot gets caught in the neck opening.” -Chaos

“Um, a little help here, Mom?!” -Chaos

Randonymity, Those Cats

Thank you post the second

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Hard to believe it’s been nearly five weeks since my surgery! I’m feeling pretty good and continuing to go for walks most days. On Friday, I go in for a recheck and work release appointment. Where did the time go?!

Continuing on with the thank yous – MrsPao sent me two wonderful boxes! The first contained the book Twilight (excellent!), the Mountain Goats’ Nine Black Poppies cd, and a refillable catnip mouse that Mayhem is busily removing from the photo…

“Well, duh, this obviously isn’t for you, Mom.” -Mayhem

MrsPao also sent me some of those wonderful dark chocolate-covered rice cakes I love (um, there may have been three boxes), another book, and some lovely yarn – thank you so much!

“Hmph, where’s the cat toy this time?!” -Mayhem

Mind your manners there, Miss Mayhem!

TB sent wonderful tea, honey (with honeycomb), soap, a gluten-free spice cake mix, and kitty treats. Sorry I didn’t get a picture… thank you, TB!

Michaele sent me some much-needed pajama bottoms (when you’re convalescing and hanging out at home for weeks on end, you need lots of pjs!), black cat thank you cards, stunning sock yarn, and really tasty dried cherries. Thanks, Michaele!

“Dried cherries sound kind of tasty, Mom! Will you share? Do they taste like tuna?” -Mayhem

WendyG sent me more gorgeous sock yarn, a cute sock knitting bag, knitting coasters, knitting gift tags, kitty post-it notes, a little coffee notebook, and assorted kitty toys. In fact, Mayhem’s leaving the photo below with one of those little mice in her mouth… Thank you, Wendy!

“Dum de dum de dum…” -Mayhem

Amy gave me skein of Hollyhock Malabrigo laceweight and Miss T gave me two skeins of purple Panda Cotton. Hmm, do you think they figured out what colors I like?? Thanks to you both!

“Are hollyhocks like catnip?” -Chaos

Elspeth sent me some mix cds, some hand lotion, a cute black cat notepad, and a warm scarf that she made for me! Aw, thank you, E! Now, the big question is – will I be able to get the scarf away from Mayhem?!

“I feel pretty!” -Mayhem

“Oh, so pretty!” -Mayhem

“And so crazy!” -Mayhem

“Whew! I’m tired now.” -Mayhem

Contests, Randonymity, Reading, Viewing

Break out the brain bleach…

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Something I actually saw in a store yesterday: an anatomically correct gummi heart. Ewwwww!

Does this lolcats picture look like anyone you know?! 😉

Guess how many emails Heather will have in her work inbox when she returns to work after more than a month of vacation and you could win one year subscriptions to One Story Magazine and Kaleidotrope. Leave your guesses by the morning of November 6 to participate.

Chappysmom is having her second annual “Show me your November calendar pages” contest! Leave a comment on the contest post by November 15 and include a link to your calendar post to possibly win a Chappysmom Knitting/Fiber calendar. Here’s the calendar that’s hanging in my kitchen:

And the calendar that’s on my desk:

And while we’re talking about calendars – why the heck don’t we just stay in Daylight Savings Time all year?! The kitties love springing ahead (“Woo-hoo! Mom fed us early!”), but they sure hate falling back (“Boo! Hisssss! Mom is starving us!”).

Reading Update
A Cat in the Manger: An Alice Nestleton Mystery by Lydia Adamson. I read this short mystery about an NYC actress and catsitter and liked it ok, but I only got partway through another Alice Nestleton mystery (A Cat on a Beach Blanket) before deciding I didn’t want to bother finishing it.
Nerds Like It Hot by Vicki Lewis Thompson. Another trashy nerds mystery – this one was better than the last one I read, but the library copy was saturated in men’s cologne (that seemed a bit odd to me, personally), so this wasn’t a pleasant read.
Duplicity Dogged the Dachsund by Blaize Clement. This is the second mystery featuring Sarasoata pet sitter Dixie Hemingway. These are very well-written and I’ll definitely continue reading this series. My one complaint about this book was heavy-handed foreshadowing – so much so that I became vaguely obsessed (thus distracted from the rest of the story) waiting for the followup.
Serenity: Those Left Behind by Joss Whedon, Brett Matthews, and Will Conrad. This short graphic novel is set between the tv series Firefly and the movie Serenity and although it’s only so-so, it does answer a question I had during the movie.
Devil May Cry by Sherrilyn Kenyon. This is the most recent Dark-Hunter novel. Mmmm…. Dark Hunters….
Divine Evil by Nora Roberts. This was the first non-J.D. Robb Nora Roberts’ book I’ve read. She can definitely write, but I do like the the J.D. Robb books a lot better (mmmm…. Roarke….). I’ll probably try reading some of her other stuff, however, since the extreme evilness portrayed in the book predisposed me to not like it.

Viewing Update
Once you get over the shock of me turning on the tv to watch anything… 😉
Firefly – I can’t believe I hadn’t seen this before! What an amazing show – really sad that there were only 14 episodes. 🙁
Serenity – But I’m definitely glad they resolved a number of open questions from Firefly in this film… even though I spent the last 10 or 15 minutes of the film crying. “I am a leaf on the wind…“*sniff*
Sweetland – Jeanne brought this over Wednesday night for our “Hiding from Trick-or-Treaters” gathering. The movie was based on Will Weaver’s short story “A Gravestone Made of Wheat,” which I read about 15 years ago and don’t remember at all. Anyway, the movie was set primarily in rural Minnesota in the 1920s, when Olaf, a Norwegian bachelor farmer, receives a German mail-order bride at a time when anti-German sentiment is high.

Chaotic Update
Lindy wanted to see more pictures of Chaos, since apparently last week was somewhat Mayhemish. Sorry, Lindy! Here Chaos enjoys a lovely felted catnip mouse from Paper Tiger, who also sent a mouse for May, tasty dark chocolate for me, and even gooey gluten-free brownies! Thanks, PT!

*bite bite bite bite bite* -Chaos

Knitting, Randonymity

Mayhem presents…

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“Um, what am I doing?” -Mayhem

Never mind, May… It’s been a while since we looked at vintage knitting booklets, hasn’t it? So let’s peruse Hand Knits for Men (revised, 1961)… Feel free to caption amongst yourselves, although let’s try not to make my hit statistics too interesting, eh?! In a rare show of restraint, I’ve confined my captions to the picture titles – hover your mouse pointer over the pictures to see. 😉

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!

Tales of the Neighborhood

A Halloween walk

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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.

Walking
I thought I’d share a few pictures from my walk yesterday. Some of the house pictures are worth clicking to see the Halloween details!

“Boo! I hope I didn’t scare you too much! Hee hee hee…” -Mayhem

Randonymity, Tales of the Neighborhood

Randomly convalescing, with a whole lotta eepin’ goin’ on

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My convalescence continues to go very well. Last week, Jeanne chauffered me around several times – on Tuesday, we went to Uncle Hugo’s/Uncle Edgar’s and Dreamhaven. On Friday, we went out to Deb’s for lunch, a wee bit of dyeing, knitting, and conversation. On Saturday, I drove for the first time in 3.5 weeks! I probably could’ve driven sooner, but I figured that someone who couldn’t wear jeans comfortably maybe shouldn’t be behind the wheel of a car… 🙂 Yesterday, the Procrastinatrix came over and we spent a pleasant afternoon knitting and chatting.

I’ve also been blessed with great weather for walking – sunny days, with temps in the low 50s to mid-60s and blue, blue autumn skies. Yesterday, as I walked around my neighborhood, I saw a black cat who looked a lot like Mayhem, except she had one shocking white whisker and no locket. She didn’t have a collar and she barely made it across a busy street – eep! Hope she’s ok – it’s a very hard time of year to be a black kitty outside. I also wandered down Bryant Avenue and realized that two consecutive blocks will lose a total of eight elm trees today. I’ll be able to hear the saws and chippers running all day…

Check out this bloglines screenshot from a week or so ago. I had maybe 40 unread posts and hit refresh… and this is what I suddenly saw. (You definitely want to click on this one to embiggen it.) Eeeeeeep! I’ll give you all a moment to recover. (It might’ve taken me more than a moment to gather myself and take the screenshot…) I refreshed again, and it was back to the “real” 40. Oh, bloglines, you sure have your issues!

“I don’t care about your bloglines woes, Mom. I just can’t believe that there are kitties who live outside where the big scary trucks are driving by all the time! Eeep!” -Mayhem

Art journaling, reading, knitting, and cat parenting. It's a wild life.