Randonymity, Reading

Mmmm… Ranger…

38 Comments

Congrats to Jeanne and Louise, whose socks won prizes at the Minnesota State Fair!! Jeanne even won a first place – yay, Jeanne!

Hee hee – this lolcats could almost be from my place, eh? Here’s another recent favorite… and this is definitely me when at work. Beware…

Reading Update
Bled Dry: A Tale of Vegas Vampires by Erin McCarthy. This light and steamy romance about the Vegas vampires is as fun as the first two books.
Lean Mean Thirteen by Janet Evanovich. What can I say – I love this series. People definitely fall into either the Morelli or the Ranger camp. How about you? Me? I’m a Ranger girl all the way. Mmmm…. Ranger… *fans self*

“Chicks dig us strong, dark, handsome, silent types. Why, yes, I do work for RangeMan in my spare time. How could you tell?” -Chaos

Contests, Randonymity

Dragonfly Zzzzzz…

52 Comments

Cheryl is celebrating her blogiversary – leave a comment by midnight, August 23 (aka today!), telling her something about a knitter you know or admire. A randomly selected winner will receive a cool Cabled Sheep mug.

Jess is having a contest – tell her a vacation story, and you could win some gorgeous sock yarn. Leave your comments by midnight CDT, August 31.

I’m still giggling about all the drooling over Colin Firth on Monday! Good thing this is a virtual space, or I’d have a mop out right now.

I was glad to hear that from others who are feeling the blogging doldrums right now. It’s cloudy. It’s humid (but at least it’s cool!). The fog this morning is the thickest I’ve seen in years. It’s been raining enough for southeastern Minnesota to catch up all of its missing rain almost overnight – yikes! My company is in the process of being acquired. *sigh*

So, stupified by the cloudiness, imagine my delight at finding a dragonfly on my car Tuesday. Hello! That dragonfly, that’s an entire blog post! Woo-hoo! 😉

“Hmm, I wonder if dragonflies are tasty. How com you didn’t bring it home for me, Mom?!” -Mayhem

Contests, Those Cats

Hand over Chaos

29 Comments

Pam’s been on the road – help her catch up with the knitblogging world by telling her about “the most awesomest craft creation” you’ve seen online since July 1. You could win a knitterly trinket for your trouble.

Brenda’s having a multi-stage contest to celebrate her blogiversary. For this stage, leave her a comment about what she should do for the second stage of her contest. Leave your comment by noon PDT, August 25 – and stay tuned after that for info on the next stage. There will be prizes at each stage.

Kat’s having a contest – guess how many different states’/provinces’ license plates she’s seen since last Friday and you could win sock or lace yarn. Leave your guess by midnight EDT, August 24.

Today’s just one of those days when really – I got nothin’ else. But, look! Over there! Chaos! Although, other than the ginormous paws, it could almost by Mayhem in this picture, couldn’t it?

“I am sniffing your hand with great sniffings, but I am not discovering any sign of tuna. Hmph.” -Chaos

“Hey, wait a minute! You aren’t putting this on the blog, are you?! This is so undignified. How could you do this to me, Mom?! Or, wait, is it a good look for me?” -Chaos

Contests, Knitting, Reading

Working 9 to 5… ha!

40 Comments

Lynne is celebrating her third blogiversary with a contest! Leave her a comment (by midnight, August 24) about why you started blogging and you could win some lovely sock yarn.

Reading Update
Careful What You Wish For by Lucy Finn. A light romance about a single mom who finds a genie in the Diaper Genie… Of course the genie is sexy. Duh. 😉
The Ghost Orchid by Carol Goodman. If you haven’t read one of Goodman’s novels, lucky you! You have them to anticipate. This one’s about a medium and some mysterious events related to a seance in 1893, which come to light more than a century later when resident artists stay at the same house. Goodman blurs past and present, reality and dream, until you’re not exactly sure which is which.
The Scent of Shadows: The First Sign of the Zodiac and The Taste of Night: The Second Sign of the Zodiac by Vicki Pettersson. This series, set in Las Vegas, is about superheroes named after signs of the Zodiac, Shadow battling Light as is the way of superheroes. 🙂 It’s very involving and well-written overall, although I think there’s a major logic flaw…

Knitting Update
Friday afternoon I started another pair of socks – the 9-to-5 Socks. The name particularly amused me, since I was home early from work, resting for a bit more switch work that night – only midnight to 3 am this time! Woo-hoo! (Although rumor has it we have one more night of this stuff, sometime this week…)

I’m knitting these from Wool2Dye4 Supersock, as dyed by me in May.

Initially, May was more interested in the cord on my sock bag…

“Mmmm… rattail cord… Funny, I would’ve thought that rat tails had more flavor.” -Mayhem

“But oh, Addi cords are ever so much chewier!!” -Mayhem

*off-camera snatching away of Addis*

Randonymity, Viewing

In which I bow to peer pressure and turn on my tv

53 Comments

Recently, several friends noted that they would not be able to continue speaking to me if I did not watch Pride and Prejudice very, very soon. Since Jeanne loaned me the DVDs back in, um, March maybe, I could see why she’d want me to get this out of the way.

So Saturday night, I sat down with my latest sock project and a gluten-free beer and watched the miniseries.

“Hey May, Mom’s got the DVD player open – maybe we’ll get to watch our kitty DVD again!” -Chaos

“That is not our kitty DVD. Hmph.” -Mayhem

“I give this DVD one tongue out because it didn’t have enough cats or pigeons.” -Chaos

“Hmph.” -Mayhem

The kitties were unimpressed, but I enjoyed it (but oh, those sideburns – I hated them something fierce!) and am looking forward to watching Bridget Jones’s Diary again to catch all the allusions to Pride and Prejudice. (Scroll down to the “Trivia” section at the IMDB entry for Bridget Jones’s Diary to read about all of the references.)

Knitting

Cats conversing over cables

41 Comments

Thanks everyone – yesterday was a much better day than Wednesday! And the heat broke a few days ago – yesterday was a picture perfect day here: upper 70s, negligible humidity, cool breezes, blue skies, and sunshine. Ahhhh… In fact, the members of my family who are goin’ up nord to da cabin this weekend will be taking their woolly socks and sweaters, as temperatures are supposed to drop down to the 30s overnight!Oh dear – the Neatnik continues to demand more Chaos pictures!!

Remember this sock, knit from Regia Bamboo?

I was knitting the Sockamania May sock way back when and discovered that the ankle was too tight. Last Sunday I decided to rip out that sock and do something else with the yarn. Surprisingly, the baby cables from Sensational Knitted Socks didn’t look too bad – I think this pair of socks will be a holiday present.

*sniff sniff sniff* “No fresh nip in this bag. Darn it.” -Chaos

“Haven’t I seen this yarn before?” -Mayhem

“Y’know, I think you’re right, Mayhem. I think we saw it as a different sock a few months ago.” -Chaos

“Well, it’s no stripey sock, that’s for sure.” -Mayhem

“Neener neener neener, Mom – I see you trying to take our picture!” -Chaos

Randonymity

The end of the stripey socks tail?

37 Comments

It was a very long night, working the switch upgrade. Of course, things fell apart right at the last minute, too. I slept for about six hours, but still woke up feeling hungover. Then it turned out I couldn’t get into the laundry room to do laundry because some git had tried to drill out the lock (apparently hoping to score a few quarters). Off to the laundromat for the first time in, um, eight years? Or more? All in all, a very exhausting day. But today is another day, right?!

The latest edition of Yarnival is up at January One!

I’m told that poor Neatnik has been upset at the lack of Chaos pictures. Sorry, Neatnik!

Thanks to Janna for pointing out that May’s obsession reminded her of Mooch’s obsession with the Little Pink Sock.

“Hmph. I can’t believe you thought I would steal those stripey socks, Mayhem. Have you noticed that kitties don’t wear socks?!” -Chaos

“I know, big kitty, I know. I can’t understand what came over me! It seems absolutely crazy now.” -Mayhem

“Besides, it looks like Mom tossed the socks into the laundry bag, so they’re out of your reach for now.” -Chaos

*sniff* -Mayhem

“There, there, May-May – it’s ok. You’re just young and excitable.” -Chaos

Contests, Randonymity, Reading

Stripey redux

38 Comments

This post is coming to you via the miracle of pre-publishing. As you read this, I hope to be snugly asleep in my bed, after having worked on a switch upgrade from midnight until 4 or 5 am. Do I have a wild life or what?! 😉

Have you seen the IKEA cat beds on Cute Overload?! They would so match my slippers, wouldn’t they?

Cara’s holding Spin Out 2007! By donating to Heifer International, you can be eligible for some absolutely amazing prizes – besides helping reduce hunger worldwide.

Julie’s participating in the Light the Night Walk to benefit the Leukemia and Lymphona Society in honor of her friend Betty. If you donate to support Julie’s effort, you will be entered in a prize drawing.

Reading Update
Dark Thirst by Sara Reinke. A little trashy, but a nice distracting read. Probably the only book (obviously intended to be a series, since it stopped in the middle of the action) about a deaf-mute vampire…
White Night: A Novel of the Dresden Files by Jim Butcher. Mmmm… Harry Dresden. Latest book. Tall, smart alecky, sexy wizard in Chicago. What else do you need to know?
Dead Sexy by Tate Hallaway. Witches and vampires and zombies in Madison, Wisconsin, oh my! This second Garnet Lacey book is an engaging read, too.
Death by Chick Lit by Lynn Harris. If this was supposed to be a spoof of chick lit, I’m not sure it succeeded very well. I found it to be a boring read…

Stripey Update

“You don’t think that big kitty’s going to try to steal my stripey socks, do you?!” -Mayhem

“He better not! These are my stripey socks! Mine!! All mine!” -Mayhem

“Now I’m really worried.” -Mayhem

“Really, really worried! I better hold on tight to my stripey socks so the big kitty can’t sneak up and take them.” -Mayhem

Alongs, Knitting

Did someone mention stripey socks?

50 Comments

Wanda’s having a birthday card exchange – check out the details if you like to get cards on your birthday but don’t seem to do so in our electronic age.

Back in June, when I was in Denver at Michaele’s place, I started a pair of stripey socks, from Meilenweit Colortweed. I’m kind of glad I’ve been distracted by Sockamania socks since then so that I didn’t finish these socks until this past weekend because this is a perfect Project Spectrum colorway (orange-purple-brown)!

“These are, of course, for me.” -Mayhem

“Don’t you be telling me they aren’t for me!” -Mayhem

“Because I really, really like these socks. I will love them and hug them and call them stripey socks!” -Mayhem

“See? I hug them! And hug them again!” -Mayhem

Knitting, Reading

Back to reality

49 Comments

Many, many thanks to the Procrastinatrix, who turns out to live three blocks from me and to have had the audiobook of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows just lying around!! I spent the weekend enthralled, listening to 21 hours of Harry Potter and knitting. No spoilers in the comments, please! I really appreciate that I was able to listen to the book without having encountered a single spoiler, and I hope that others are able to do so as well.

But now I must blearily return to reality… I’m further behind in bloglines than ever, so please let me know if you have a contest you’d like me to mention!

I finished the Sockamania Spiralling Socks, which took me exactly one week to complete.

“Hold that thought, Mom. I’ll be back!” -Mayhem

While we wait… The Trekking Pro Natura (wool/bamboo) was ok to knit, but I’m really curious about how these socks feel after they’re washed. Will the bamboo get softer?

“Ok, I’m back! Did you miss me?” -Mayhem

But of course…

“I think these are ok, but I still like those stripey socks more because they’re stripey! When are you going to show them the stripey socks, Mom?” -Mayhem

Shhhhhhhh, Mayhem…..

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