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

Contests, Festing

In which I finally reach the Estes Park Wool Market

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Guess how many days it will rain at Nikki’s home in the UK during the Tour de France and you could win yarn, chocolate, or a copy of EZ’s Knitter’s Almanac. Submit your guesses by 11 pm GMT, July 7.

Sallee’s having a contest to celebrate three years of her Nana Sadie Rose handcrafted bag business and making her 500th bag! Send her an email before midnight EDT on Friday, July 6, guessing which of the pictured bags was #500 and you could win some fun prizes.

Really, you’re all so very patient with my meandering vacation tales! When last we visited this narrative, I was waiting for the rest of the cabin folk to arrive. Although the cabin we stayed in had some definite shortcomings (such as the touchiest toilet ever), it did have a fabulous view of Estes Park.

When the Ewetah Grrls (Margene, Blog Free Val the Hummingbird Whisperer, Karen, Cheryl) and Laura from Kansas arrived, we headed into Estes Park and got some dinner. Back at the cabin later, we knitted and chatted and laughed, but made an early night of it so we would be ready to face the festival in the morning. I shared a room and bed with Cheryl, who I must say is much more considerate than Chaos or Mayhem – she didn’t walk across me once during the night, nor did she drop furry mice on me and want to play fetch. Thanks, Cheryl! 😉 (Plus Cheryl got some great pictures of the cabin crew, which I apparently didn’t manage.)

On Saturday, we all headed to the festival, arriving when it opened. Some booths, such as Brooks Fiber Farm, were quickly packed.

Really, there is yarn in that booth. See?

Knitbloggers were everywhere! Imbrium, Mim, and Laura were kind enough to stop shopping and pose for me, although Imbrium and Laura might just have been scoping out their next purchases…

While I was in the Interlacements booth, I found myself behind this backpack and introduced myself to Jane.

Jane and I headed out to the blogger meetup at 11 am. Here are many knitbloggers listening to Margene as she invites us to join her for lunch.

Margene and Jane from the front – see those cute little sheep buttons they’re both wearing?

Kristi the Fiber Fool brought them for all of us! Thank you, Kristi! Here’s Kristi with her famous Queen of Diamond Socks:

The Knitty Professor herself, with the back of Black Sheep Lisa to the right.

Alas, I wish I had taken many more pictures of this event! I didn’t get a picture of Knittymama – how funny was it to meet up with someone who only lives a few miles away from me here in Minneapolis?

Anyway, after lunch Jane and I wandered around some of the animal barns. You’ve already seen some of those pictures, but here are a few more. I learned that alpacas are very stretchy.

This poor guy’s bandana read “I’m for sale!”

Whew! That sure seems like plenty for today. More on the rest of vacation later. 🙂

“I still haven’t forgiven you for that vacation business. You’d better not do that again.” -Chaos

Those Cats

May catches a pigeon!

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It’s all the Knitty Professor’s fault. Have you seen the cute pictures (and videos) of her kitties watching tv? Michaele bought Chaos and Mayhem their very own copy of the same kitty dvd so beloved by Perry and Emily. (Many thanks to Michaele – it simply never would’ve occured to me to pick up a dvd for my kitties – d’oh! Also, many thanks to Deb for allowing me to use her pictures today. I might’ve been laughing too hard to go get my camera…)

“Can’t… quite… reach…” -Mayhem

Problem solved.

“Ok, May, you take the one on the right and I’ll take the one on the left.” -Chaos

“Got it, big kitty!” -Mayhem

“Strangely, catching a bird isn’t quite as satisfying as I thought it would be…” -Mayhem

Festing, Randonymity

Mimsical: An Estes tangent

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Ok, because I threatened to do it and because I got such fun pictures and quotes – allow me to present the unfettered Mim! (She requested in advance that no one tell her mom.)

“I bought a whole fucking fleece!”

“I love gin.”

Can you identify the other bloggers in the pictures below? (Edit: Curious what Mim’s doing? She’s spinning! And you can even see me in that video…)

“My ass wears pretty well, thank you very much!”

“My goodness. I wouldn’t have believed it if it wasn’t for the pictorial proof!” -Chaos

Contests, Randonymity, Reading

Feline groovy

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Rachael’s cat Digit returned after being long given up for dead! However, he requires surgery and a lot of other medical care, and Rachael and Lala don’t have that kind of money right now. So Rachael decided to have a raffle – donors to be entered in a drawing for one of three sweaters that Rachael knitted – one of which is from a Philosopher’s Wool kit. However, since enough money to cover Digit’s care was donated in the first 24 hours (knitbloggers really do rock), Rachael’s going to donate extra monies to the Milo Foundation and the Best Friends Animal Society. So if you’d still like to participate in the raffle, you can – the drawing will be July 7.

Reading Update
Three Junes by Julia Glass. My 6th TBR Challenge book, finished on the last possible day of June. Whew! I highly recommend this National Book Award winner.
Knockout Mouse: A Bill Damen Silicone Valley Mystery by James Calder. Bill Damen is a documentary filmmaker in Silicone Valley working on a publicity film for a biotechnology firm after the dot.com bust. This is the first book out of three (so far?) and I have the other two on reserve at the library.
All Together Dead by Charlaine Harris. The latest Sookie Stackhouse book continues is a speedy and enjoyable read. I definitely like Sookie better than Anita Blake these days…

A Few More Things…
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. Instead, a few more things I purchased on vacation…

“Mom, you’re really sure that Vanna’s retiring and I’m in the running?” -Mayhem

“Because I’m not sure how I’d look in an evening dress…” -Mayhem

“One black kitty, two black kitties, three black kitties… Why are there so many more white kitties than black kitties on your new PJs, Mom?!” -Mayhem

“Hmm, you have a point there, Mayhem. Mom?!” -Chaos

“Mom? I’m waiting.” -Chaos

Contests, Randonymity

And I thought I bruised my credit card before…

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Check out the Summer Stash Swap (but hurry – you have to leave a sign-up comment by June 30!) – besides the swap and the blog, there will be prizes.

Julie’s having a blogiversary contest – leave her a comment with a name suggestion for her new bag pattern before midnight 6/30 and you could win some sock-related goodies!

Deb has some bonus pictures of Chaos and May!

Ok, due to overwhelming pressure (*cough*Marina*cough*), I shall not continue with my tale of reaching Estes (stay tuned for that next week). Instead, I present… the purchases.

From Estes, clockwise from May’s nose, a big ol’ hank of Interlacements rayon-linen in some very unChrislike colors (should be enough for a tank top – they print you a customized pattern right in the booth), a skein of variegated wool from Plain & Fancy Wool, a ball of amazingly soft black 5% cashmere/95% merino laceweight, two skeins of cormo/alpaca that I’m going to dye sometime when I am feeling very brave, two skeins of Brooks Farm Four Play (50% silk/50% wool) (they may become a contest prize someday!), two skeins of the Brooks Farm Acero sock yarn, and a pair of cute sheep socks. Whew!

“Is it safe?! That hank of yarn is bigger than me!” -Mayhem

Chaos was quite taken with the cormo/alpaca.

“Mmmm… smells sheepy and alpaca-y!” -Chaos

Some yarns from my yarn crawling with Kristi (who has great pictures of some of our adventures) – black Berroco Suede (half off!), Panda cotton, and Panda wool. (The Panda yarns make really yummy socks – stretchy, but nowhere near as thick as Fixation.)

“Hmm, where to start, where to start…” -Mayhem

A bit more yarn – top row (Opal) from My Sister Knits in Ft. Collins (Opal without a label is half off) and the bottom two skeins are Jojoland Melody Superwash from Colorful Yarns in Centennial.

“I think the pink suits me best, don’t you? Plus it looks especially tasty.” -Mayhem

I also stopped at the Brown Sheep outlet near Scottsbluff, Nebraska, during my travels. I bought a few pounds of Cotton Fleece and Serendipity Tweed, a few skeins of Wildfoote, and a bit of Lamb’s Pride.

“Yowza! The other stuff must’ve been the appetizers – this sure looks like a main course.” -Mayhem

I also have a small weakness for bags and picked up a few of those along the way… Hmm, just realized that the laptop sleeve I purchased at the Sierra Trading Post outlet in Wyoming isn’t in that picture – well, it’s brown with black trim and light purple corduroy lining. (Edit: The bag on the far left is a Kavu Reversible Bag in black/lilac, now on clearance!)

No cats were interested in the bags.

You might have noticed that I’m a bit of a reader – here are the books that I purchased over vacation at various locations, including the Boulder Bookstore, High Crimes Mystery Bookshop, and Anthology Book Company.

“Good grief! Aren’t there already enough books stacked up around this place?!” -Chaos

“No kidding, big kitty. Pretty soon, between the books and the yarn, there won’t be room for us.” -Mayhem

“Hmph.” -Chaos and Mayhem

Randonymity

Redrum random!

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I left blog writing until too late last night, alas, and so didn’t get photos organized for my continuing vacation adventures (and purchases). This work thing – I am not quite used to it yet after vacation! So, let’s see what I found lurking in my photo folder, shall we? A-ha, here’s an Estes picture – anyone recognize it? 😉

 

Oh, and a few pictures of Chaos – shhhhhh… he looks sort of sleepy.

 

 

 

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