Contests, Randonymity

Thursday is for thank yous

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Don’t forget about the Biteberry Yarn contest, which runs until 6 pm CDT, Friday, July 20!

Eliza’s printing some small sock pattern books on an old-fashioned flatbed press (sounds very cool). She’ll give a copy away to a random commenter – you have until August 1 to leave your comments.

Time for thank yous! The random number generator loved me recently – through its graces, I received some Azul body butter (lemon), which is one of the products available at Kristi’s new store. (How does she have time with those busy twins??) I’ve actually been using the body butter as hand lotion and while it didn’t feel quite like what I’ve been using (duh, it’s body “butter,” not lotion), it’s done great things for my chronically dry hands. Thanks, Kristi! Think I’ll be ordering some more – maybe the “chocolate mousse” scent…

The random number generator also selected me to win some yarn in Jewel’s recent contest – I picked those two lovely skeins of Regia Bamboo. Thank you, Jewel!

I got that great (partially obscured) card of Charlie for supporting Debby’s husband Chris in the Get Your Guts in Gear bike ride to raise money for Crohn’s and colitis research. (Charlie the kitty has inflammatory bowel disease, too.)

“It looks like a kitty, but it doesn’t smell, taste, sound, or feel like a kitty. I give up. What is it?” -Mayhem

I received mix cds from Van and from E, plus a great insulated sheepy water bottle carrier from E! Thanks, Van and E!

“More of these wee unsheep. Hmph.” -Mayhem

“I see what you mean about the unsheep, May. Hey, I bet you could fit in this bag.” *hee hee* -Chaos

“Hmm, big kitty, I am not sure you have my best interests at heart…” -Mayhem

KnitNana sent me these adorable personalized black kitty stitchmarkers from Wee Ones. I love them! You should really go check out Wee Ones – she has more cats, penguins, sheep, dogs… Thank you so much, KnitNana! (She also sent some homegrown… catnip… but that’s a post for another day.) (The photos are most excellent.)

No, you don’t get caption commentary from black cat stitchmarkers!

Remember last week when I mentioned getting a little distracted over at etsy? I picked up two black cat-themed pouches and a black cat key fob from bagladiesinpa, and she threw in a matching black cat hair fastener for being a return customer! Awww…

“Big kitty, you better get over here! There are an awful lot of black kitties… Should we be worried?” -Mayhem

“I think it’ll be ok, May… unless you steal that hair fastener. Bet that’ll get Mom shrieking at us again.” -Chaos

“But it’s so cute! I can’t help myself!” -Mayhem

Tales of the Neighborhood

The more-orange-than-scarlet letter

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I always notice trees. Maybe it’s because I have a forestry degree.

In my neighborhood, the more-orange-than-scarlet letter “A” marks elm trees with Dutch elm disease. I know we’re pretty lucky to have as many elms as we do, but the weather of the past several years has really hit our remaining elms hard. These pictures were all taken within two or three blocks of where I live… and this isn’t all of the marked elms.

Every year, fewer streets are shaded by arching elms, which turn even the most mundane street mysterious and lovely.

By the end of the summer, the trees in these pictures will all be gone…

“Well, sure trees are important, because otherwise the birds outside our windows aren’t up at my eye level!” -Mayhem

Alongs, Contests, Randonymity, Reading

A contest of dubious value (along with some perfectly fine contests, a swap, and more!)

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Running a bit late today, aren’t I? I wrote my post Monday evening as per usual, but when I got to work this morning (where I proof and publish), our building didn’t have any power. After two hours, we were sent home – something about 20 transformers being down. Glad to be home in the air conditioning, because it’s going to be a hot and sticky day in the Twin Cities.

Anyway! At the end of May, I dyed a lot of yarn, most of which was destined to be gifted to various knitbloggers during my vacation. However, one very pretty skein of sock yarn (the blue and black skein in the previous link) was unable to fulfill that destiny due to an extremely unfortunate accident. (Well, I saw it as an accident. For Mayhem, it was an intent.) When that blue and black yarn was hanging in the bathroom drying, I heard a mysterious soft “thwoomp” from the bathroom. By the time I realized I should probably investigate that sound, it was too late – May had pulled down the yarn and her sharp teeth were snickity-snicking through a number of the strands, turning the skein from “Blueberry” to “Biteberry.”

“Enough with the accusations. Would I do something like that?! Look at how sweet and cute I am!” -Mayhem

This yarn needs a very special home. If you think you can provide that home and not mind dealing with the additional 12 or so ends that Mayhem created, please send an email to my contest line before 6 pm CDT Friday, July 20. (Hey, I said it was a somewhat dubious contest!) (Additional yarn vital stats – the base yarn in Kraemer Jeannie, a superwash wool and nylon blend. Prior to biting, there were around 470 yards.)

On to some less dubious contests – the Heathen Housewife is giving away a copy of Victorian Lace Today and a skein of laceweight yarn. Leave her a comment with your email address before 8 pm CDT, July 20.

Ruth is having a contest – in her comments, leave a link to your first and 100th blog posts, or if you don’t have a blog, to the blog post that really got you into reading blogs. Contest closes midnight MDT, July 20, and the prize will be yarn and “baubles.”

If you’re interested in dyeing and swapping sock yarn, there’s a hand-dyed sock yarn swap on swap-bot. Deadline to sign up is August 10 and deadline to send is September 30.

Reading Update
Love Bites by Lynsay Sands. Um, I can’t believe I actually read this. Paranormal romance at its most trashy and poorly written. You have been warned!
Thunderbird Falls and Coyote Dreams by C.E. Murphy. I enjoyed books two and three of the Walker Papers (about neophyte urban shaman and police officer Joanne Walker) as much as I did the first. Hopefully Ms. Murphy is busily writing, because I want to find out what happens next! (For those who are reading this series, there’s sort of a book 1.5 between Urban Shaman and Thunderbird Falls – the novella “Banshee Cries,” which can be found in Winter Moon.)
Key Lime Pie Murder by Joanne Fluke. The latest Hannah Swensen mystery is par for the course – kind of simplistic and contrived… but I keep reading them, maybe because they’re set in a fictitious Minnesota town.

Randonymity
Curious about what I got up to over the weekend? Miss T and Deb have documented the event very well! Thanks, Miss T!

The Guardian has an interesting article about splogs (spam blogs that steal content to generate ad dollars).

Some time ago, KnitNana sent me a postcard that reminded her of Chaos.

What do you think? Can you see a resemblance?

“Pooey on you, Mom. I am so much more handsome than that poser!” -Chaos

Contests, See the Sights

Oh yeah, I’m not finished with that vacation stuff, am I?

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Vacation, I forget what part it is
I abruptly left off my vacation narrative after some pictures of cute alpacas in the tents at the Estes Park Wool Market.

Well, ok, maybe one more picture from the animal tents. Tub o’ goat, anyone?

After we were all tuckered out from the wool market, we headed to a local landmark for a drink.

Everyone survived – woo-hoo! 😉 I didn’t realize that the hotel was founded by the inventor of this car:

After that drink, we all had dinner at Claire’s and then hung out at the cabin, knitting and chatting into the evening. Sunday morning, it was time to pack up and go our separate ways. (I can’t believe I didn’t get a single picture of the whole cabin crew! Ack.) I headed over to Kind Coffee

to caffeinate,

blog, and read. I highly recommend this coffee shop if you’re in Estes Park!

I wandered around Estes Park for a bit, then headed down the mountains to see Kristi.

“I obviously have time for a nap or three before Mom finishes her vacation narrative…. zzzzzzzzz…” -Chaos

Alongs, Contests, Knitting

Sock maniac

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Just a Knit Wit is heading off to college next month (after a few years away) and is a bit nervous about the whole thing. Leave her a comment with a funny college story and you could win a very cool prize package. Comments must be received by July 20.

The Cat’s Mum is celebrating her 200th post and upcoming blogiversary – leave her a comment telling her what you’re obsessive about and you could win something “noice.” Comments must be left by midnight, Australian Eastern Standard Time, August 4.

Sockamania is open for new members! Update 7/13/07: Membership is now closed. Anni’s adding members slowly to make sure she can keep up with the admin. She says she’ll open it up again in the future.

I’ve been a member for three months and I’m extremely impressed by the patterns Anni’s creating for us. Shall we review?

The May sock – I didn’t get very far, but the pattern is lovely and I will finish the socks.

The June sock – I finished and I love the pattern. I’ll definitely knit this pattern again.

The July sock – I’m off to a good start! This is also my Tour de France Knitalong project. I did modify the pattern a bit – its 68 stitches weren’t going to fit me, so I added three stitches to each of the plain knit columns (for a total of 80 stitches). The plain knit columns looked really boring when they were twice as wide, so I added some right and left twists to liven things up. The yarn is Sundara Lenten Rose, a Petals Club selection from earlier this year, which appeared briefly as an RPM sock.

The little gold row markers I’m using are omega row markers from Entrelac’s store. Oh, and Spindlecat has kitty magnets in stock… And… Whoops, spent $31.50. Darn it. Etsy is dangerous!

Yesterday Janna commented that May seemed to have a literary bent, what with the stationery and the diary. You could say that…

“This blue book looks to be especially tasty, but I’ll wait until Mom’s not looking before I check…” -Mayhem

Randonymity, Tunes

Now with even more thank yous!

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I knew I had more thank yous to do! Here’s the previously mentioned cute stationery from Elspeth (thanks again, E!), although I’m not sure I’ll actually ever get to use it – Ms. Mayhem seems a bit proprietary about it, doesn’t she?

“Hey, I have a lot of letters to write if Mom ever gets out from under my feet and works from the office again.” -Mayhem

I won a prize over at Diva Knitting. Thanks, StitchDiva!

“Mmmmm… yarny yarn.” -Mayhem

KitKatKnit sent me some fun goodies. I haven’t tried A Piece of Vermont yarn before. She also sent me some cute stitchmarkers that she made (Chaos is apparently trying to steal the one with his name on it) and a very cute black kitty necklace. Thank you so much, KitKatKnit! How did you know that I was looking at those necklaces on vacation, but never found one that I liked?!

“Mmm… stitchmarkers.” -Chaos

“Mmm… glow sheep!” -Mayhem

Glow sheep? Yes indeed.

“It isn’t as flat as that other sheep, but it isn’t very lively, either. Do you think maybe it’s just too scared to move? I am scary.” -Mayhem

Finally, I participated in the Sound Swap that Jennie organized. I sent music and treats to Clare in the UK, and received music and treats from Raches in Australia. Raches sent me a great mix cd, some tea, a journal, self-patterning sock yarn, and incredibly lovely merino-cashmere sock yarn. YUM! Thank you, Raches!

“Hmm, I wonder if I should start keeping a diary? I wouldn’t want Mom or the big kitty to peek at it…” -Mayhem

Contests, Reading, Tunes

“The kitchen table is not a kitty superhighway!”

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For some mysterious reason, my comments aren’t being mailed to me in a timely fashion today. I will reply to them as they show up, but don’t worry if you don’t hear back from me as quickly as usual!

Amanda of bookwormknits is looking for recommendations for good tv series to get from NetFlix. Leave her a comment by July 14 and you could win some yarn and goodies.

Carole is having a contest – guess how many ounces of fiber she’ll spin during the Tour de Fleece and you could win a fibery prize. Leave a comment with your guess by July 29.

Thank you all so much for your well wishes. Probably I will be having surgery, but I’ll know more after I actually meet with the doctor in a few weeks. At this point, surgery sounds like a very good thing to me. But! We’ll worry more about that later. Onward.

Reading Update
Unscrewed by Lois Greiman. Definitely worth the $0.69+tax from the thrift store, but I don’t know that I’ll bother reading any of the other books in this series about an LA waitress turned therapist. Heck, this book spent so much time covering what was in the previous books that I don’t feel the need to actually read them.
About Face: A Bill Damen Mystery by James Calder. I didn’t enjoy this book nearly as much as Knockout Mouse (which I read last week). Knockout Mouse seemed to balance the mystery and Damen’s personal life much better than did About Face, which focused much more on the case.
Spanish Dagger by Susan Wittig Albert. The latest China Bayles mystery was an enjoyable read. China owns an herb and tea shop in small town Texas and just can’t seem to avoid solving mysteries.
Urban Shaman by C.E. Murphy. What can I say – I’m a sucker for well-written urban fantasy. This book features Joanne Walker, who, besides being a mechanic and an unwilling cop, discovers that she’s also a shaman coming into her power.

Belated Thanks
Yikes, I’ve been meaning to post thank yous for a while, but I didn’t realize how long it had been… Apologies! At the end of May, I won a contest over at Moonfrog and Becky sent me a lovely skein of purple Cherry Tree Hill (this picture does not do justice to its lush purpleness), a cute keychain sock blocker, some coffee, and a really neat card that you can’t see behind May’s noggin. Thanks, Becky!

“I wonder if this is grape?” -Mayhem

Elspeth and I share a powerful love of music and we regularly exchange mix cds. Elspeth sent me a very cute sheep pencil bag and notebook, along with a cat mix and a Project Spectrum black/red/metallic mix. (With a more recent bird mix, she included some great yarn-themed stationery, tragically not pictured here.) Thank you, Elspeth! May was quite taken with the pencil bag.

“It has a me-sized sheep on it!” -Mayhem

“What do sheep taste like?” -Mayhem

“It isn’t a very lively sheep, is it? Do you think I squished it?” -Mayhem

Those Cats

Nothing much to see here, move along

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Jenn’s in the midst of a kitchen makeover – before midnight PDT today, guess what color she painted her kitchen and you could win some kitchen cotton!

I had sort of a bad weekend, woman-healthwise. Waiting to call the doctor as soon as I can this morning. Not life threatening, so don’t worry about that! 🙂 But distracting. So, in the name of distraction… Remember these pictures from way back in September, right after I got Mayhem?

“Ha ha! I got Mom’s spot and that big kitty isn’t anywhere around!” -Mayhem

“But why am I feeling so nervous? It’s as if someone’s watching me… -Mayhem

Here’s how things looked last week – she’s still nowhere near Chaos-sized (and never will be), but it’s a lot closer!

*dozing* -Chaos

“I can’t tell you how tempted I am to jump on that big kitty… but he gets so crabby when I wake him up from a nap…” -Mayhem

Also, check out this amusing picture from I Can Has Cheezburger!

Contests, Knitting, Reading

Gasp! Some actual knitting content…

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Today Diane celebrates her first blogiversary with a contest! Leave her a comment with the best compliment you’ve ever received to participate. Comments must be left by July 13, nood EDT.

Reading Update
Murder of a Botoxed Blonde by Denise Swanson. Yet another Scumble River mystery, featuring school psychologist and police consultant Skye Denison. Loved this quote from the book: “Chocolate is the catnip of the female world.”
Moon Called and Blood Bound by Patricia Briggs. Werewolves and vampires and fae, oh my! Well-written and set in the Tri-Cities area of Washington, this is definitely a series I’ll keep reading. The main character is VW mechanic Mercy Thompson, who is a “walker” (she can turn into a coyote, but isn’t controlled by the moon). You really have to ignore the covers on these books – they feature an extremely tattooed Mercy, wearing revealing clothing. However, as far as I can tell from the books, Mercy has one tattoo (a pawprint on her stomach) and she spent about 2/3 of the first book in a t-shirt with a cocoa stain on the front…
Kitty and the Midnight Hour, Kitty Goes To Washington, and Kitty Takes a Holiday by Carrie Vaughn. I picked these up on vacation in part because they were used and were by a Coloradan (it’s common for my souvenirs to be by local authors). I’m glad I did, because they were good – I’m already looking forward to the next one (out later this year). They feature werewolf talk radio host Kitty Norville, and the first and third books are set in Colorado.

Knitting Update
I finished my June Sockamania socks last night! (We got the pattern late, so we have until Saturday to finish June’s socks.) Since I didn’t finish May’s socks, I was especially pleased to have these done.

The yarn is Kraemer Jeannie that I dyed this spring. I like the color (very Project Spectrum), but I hated the yarn. Not only does it feel too soft and loosely twisted to wear well (even if it does have nylon in it), it was also extremely splitty – especially with my Inoxes. Turbos would’ve been perfect – too bad Addi doesn’t make a 2.25mm Turbo… Anyway!

“Socks, socks, socks, socks. Ho hum.” -Mayhem

“Oh no! My toes are dirty! Please, no one look!” *mwmph* -Mayhem

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