Contests, Festing, Reading

I think I bruised my checkbook…

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Ginger’s having a contest – guess what she named the three chicks she just brought home and you could win some sock yarn. A knowledge of country music will help your guessing! Someone already guessed correctly! Now anyone who comments on the contest post by midnight April 27 will be entered in a random drawing for another prize.

Reading Update
A Share in Death by Deborah Crombie. This is the first mystery about Scotland Yard Superintendent Duncan Kincaid and his assistant, Sergeant Gemma Jones. I’ll definitely be reading more in this series.
High Heels and Holidays by Kasey Michaels. The most recent book about mystery writer Maggie Kelly, whose formerly fictional characters the Viscount Saint Just and Sterling Balder materialized in her living room a few months ago… Silly but fun and occasionally steamy.
High Stakes: A Tale of Vegas Vampires by Erin McCarthy. The first book in the Vegas Vampires series isn’t great literature by any means, but it was an amusing and somewhat steamy read. My big complaint is that the book ended abruptly, almost as if it had been split into two parts…

Yarnover Update
Well. I, um, might’ve picked up a bit more at the Yarnover market than I had anticipated… No one’s going to be particularly surprised by my purchases. 🙂

I bought some skeins of purple laceweight Euroflax.

Whoops, it looks like I forgot to take a picture of the knitting mystery I purchased – Cast On, Bets Off by Jack Olesker. I hadn’t heard of it before, so we’ll see… I also bought a black sheep magnet and a WPI tool (I’ve wanted one for ages!).

“Hmm, this doesn’t smell particularly sheepy to me. Plus it looks hard to pick up and steal.” -M

Jeanne and I each bought enough Blue Sky Cotton to make the Eyelet Cardigan (sorry, you can’t see the pattern at all in the picture). Um, yes, I bought black…

“Big kitty, I tell you, the only possible conclusion you can draw is that she’s going to make more black kitties. We have to put a stop to this!” -M

“Where do you come up with this stuff, May?!” -C

And I bought some amazingly soft true black (not dyed!) alpaca, which came from an alpaca named Orphelia.

“Now this smells like something very interesting! Not a sheep… What could it be?” -M

“Mmmm… Alpaca, you say? Soft. Mmmm… Mom, can we have an alpaca? I promise I won’t eat it.” -M

Randonymity

For true randomness, how about Random Friday?

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Peeve has a few pictures up of a baleful Chaos from her visit here. Hee hee – the secret is revealed. Chaos is a crabby kitty. If you aren’t me, really, he’s not sure you have any purpose to your existence. Before that sends anyone into the pits of despair, let’s move right along, shall we?

A few weeks ago, I reconsidered my wallet situation and decided I needed a separate checkbook – I rarely use my checkbook anymore, so why carry a larger wallet just to accomodate it? I picked up this checkbook cover on etsy from bagladiesinpa (kitten sold separately):

“Those black kitties look very saucy. I like them!” -M

Last Friday, Master Enabler Guinifer mentioned finding all sorts of goodies at Woolgirl, so I wandered over there to take a peek… My order arrived on Monday – talk about speedy! I decided to try some Woolarina sock yarn (color Yucatan). Check out the complimentary sheep stitch marker Woolgirl included – it matches her logo.

Mayhem was fascinated by that sheep stitchmarker. In fact, in the picture below it is in her mouth and I am about to drop the camera and leap to its rescue!

“Mwpfh… sheep… mwpfh.” -M

I also got some tape measures (not pictured, because they’re for swaps and contests) and a cat-shaped shawl pin. Um, yes, perhaps I should knit a shawl to wear it on. Moving right along…

“I could crush your puny shawl pin with my fluffy paw of cuteness!” -M

Knit Wit Kelly surprised me with some lovely black cat and mouse stitchmarkers and a book thong! Check out the cute sheep box in which they arrived, too. Thank you, Kelly!

“I am being sneakier than I was with the sheep… hee hee!” -M

Sorry, May, not quite sneaky enough, because I’m onto your little game now…

“I have my eye out for her, Mom! She won’t get past me. Not unless she has tuna, that is.” -C

Have a great weekend, everyone! Jeanne and I will be at the Yarnover market tomorrow morning – say hi if you see us!

Knitting

In which I admit to some non-bib baby knitting

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I can wait a minute while you collect yourselves after reading that title. Better now?

I picked up a nifty little booklet called Knitting for Babies a few weeks ago at Amazing Threads. I’ll apologize in advance because my google-fu failed me and I can’t tell you where to get this $3.99 booklet other than where I found a copy. The cover says “Display until November 14” and apparently that’s November of 2006… If anyone has more information, let me know in the comments and I’ll update the post. Anyway Many thanks to Sarah, who knew that the booklet is available from Beth Walker-O’Brien (who designed the cute dress you’ll see momentarily). It has a slightly different cover on that site. That link is dead. You can find the lacy tank pattern at HowStuffWorks.

The booklet is filled with more than a dozen worthwhile patterns, such as this penguin hat…

…several cute sweaters…

…more bibs (bibs!)…

…and this adorable lace dress:

“…dum de dum de dum de dum… Oh, were you trying to take a picture, Mom?” -M

I’m knitting that dress for my friends’ toddler, out of SWTC A-MAIZing. Yup, yarn made entirely from corn and machine washable to boot. Who woulda thunk it?

“Corn? Really? Well, I do like popcorn, although this sure doesn’t look like popcorn…” -M

“Don’t get any ideas about snacking on that dress, May!” -me

Here’s the page with information on the designers from the booklet – maybe you can track down some of the patterns from them?? (Click to see the details.)

Randonymity

Fridge frame

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The new issue of Yarnival is up! Check it out – as usual, it’s filled with wonderful writing and linkage. My non-knitting readers might want to bookmark this guide to knitblog lingo. 😉

Recently, Brigitte posted about her black not-quite-a-kitten-anymore Gandalf stealing magnets off the fridge. It was fun to see her magnet and fridge art collection, so I thought I’d share mine.

I think my fridge art tells you a lot about me. You might notice that I’m fond of black cats, if you hadn’t guessed by now. I’m also fond of bicycles, knitting, coffee, and Minnesota Public Radio’s The Current.

Chaos likes to lurk on top of the fridge. (Remember when he was stalked by the zucchini?!) In his youth, he would also knock magnets off the freezer door from on top the fridge, but he doesn’t do that anymore.

(Remember, you can click on these pictures to make them larger and examine things more closely.)

There aren’t any magnets within two feet of the floor, because both Chaos and Mayhem like to steal them (particularly glass bead photo magnets) off the fridge…

Not much stuff on the sides of the fridge (some business cards, phone number and address of the emergency vet, etc), but this postcard and some of the magnets are worth a peek.

“Hmph. I was not ever afraid of a vegetable. I don’t know what you’re going on about.” -C

Contests, Knitting, Reading

Another bib bites the dust

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KmKat wonders what office buzz words bug you the most. Leave a comment by midnight CDT, April 17 (the same time taxes are due in MN!) and you could win a mysterious prize – not necessarily yarn.

Reading Update
Bloody Mary and Rusty Nail. I think these are the last two Lt. Jacqueline “Jack” Daniels mysteries I’ll read. I like the writing, I like the main characters, but I really hate the ongoing theme of serial killers.
Blind Spot by Terri Persons. Of course, after just whining about serial killer books, I read this one, although I skipped over a few gruesome bits… This well-written and suspenseful novel is about an FBI agent who has “the Sight.” She’s just been reassigned to the St. Paul office, which made this particularly intriguing to read. I hope this becomes a series!
Web of Evil by J.A. Jance. The second book about Arizona blogger Ali Reynolds finds her back in Los Angeles for her divorce hearing when things get a little complicated…
Blindfold Game by Dana Stabenow. I love both Stabenow’s Kate Shugak and Liam Campbell series, so I gave this non-series thriller a try and enjoyed the read. It features a CIA agent and his wife (an XO in the Coast Guard, stationed in the Bering Strait).
Plum Lovin’ by Janet Evanovich. This is billed as a “Between the Numbers Novel” and features Diesel, a vaguely supernatural character introduced in Visions of Sugar Plums. Definitely not as enjoyable as the “regular” Stephanie Plum series, since Ranger and Morelli only had bit parts. Mmmmm…. Ranger….. Ooops, sorry, didn’t mean to drool on anyone. Moving right along…
Stephanie Pearl-McPhee Casts Off: The Yarn Harlot’s Guide to the Land of Knitting by Stephanie Pearl McPhee. Do I really need to say more?! 🙂 It’s a funny, quick read – and anyone who knits will find a point or two that hits too close to home to be entirely funny….
The Opinionated Knitter: Newsletters 1958-1968 by Elizabeth Zimmermann. This compilation of EZ’s pre-book newsletters was an enjoyable read for this EZ fan. I loved the little snippets at the end of each newsletter, announcing new products that she was selling (such as Barbara Walker’s first treasury!). This was one of my TBR Challenge books.

Knitting Update
Friday night I knit the second of the two bibs I needed. How amusing is it that I knit both of these with a US4 instead of a US6 (just grabbed the loose needle in my knitting bag because I knew it was a US6) and my only thought was that they seemed a bit smaller than usual?! The smaller needle is probably why the colors didn’t form their customary argyle patterning.

Chaos was very alarmed at the sight of May in this bib – note his poofy tail.

“Who are you and why are you wearing that abomination?!” -C

“Maybe if I bite it, it will leave me alone.” -M

“So much for that idea…” -M

I took pity on May, removed the bib, and caught Chaos enticed Chaos to model for old time’s sake.

“I have the strangest sense of deja vu…” -C

“Easily remedied, however. THIS is how it’s done, May.” -C

“Hmph. Did the big kitty have to make it look so easy?!” -M

Alongs, Contests, Knitting

Let us bib

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Signups are open for Sockapalooza 4 – sign up fast, because they won’t be open for long! I think I’m going to skip this one – the pressure of knitting socks for someone other than myself or my family – oh my. I did sign up for Sockamania, which is limited to 25 people, so act fast if you’re interested in that, too! 4/13/07: Sockamania is now closed.

Signups open April 16 for Knitters’ Coffee Swap Round 2! Mark your calendars – Round 1 was a blast.

Not only is it the month of prizes for participating in the Walker Treasury Project, but Karrie is offering an additional special prize to a randomly chosen mosaic swatch knitter. Since the only mosaic swatches so far have been knitted by Karrie and one other person, you have great odds on this contest!

You could win a free Jordana Paige knitting bag – winners will be announced on April 23.

Knitting Update
Coworkers whose wives are having babies… what to do but knit bibs? 🙂

“I do not approve.” -M

“I do not approve. At. All.” -M

“A little help here, big kitty? No?” -M

“Heh. The secret is to look so pathetic and betrayed that Mom removes the bib herself!” -M

Doesn’t taking a picture without the flash (even as terribly blurry as it was, since May moved her head) convey a totally different feeling? How would you caption this last picture of Mayhem?

Contests, Randonymity

In which I allude to the cruelty of April snow

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Susan’s having a contest in honor of her blogiversary and a comment milestone – guess which yarn her daughter chose for socks and you could win the other yarn plus matching stitchmarkers. Leave your guess by midnight, April 15, CDT.

Jimmy Bean’s Wool has a pattern contest every month. Their prize pack is amazing and probably beats what many online knitting magazines would pay you. I know many of you have designing skills, so I hope you give it a shot!

Snow. Blech. Need I say more? Here’s a picture from back in the snowy days of March… I liked the “Minnesota Nice” sticker and how it tied in with the “Snow Emergency Route” sign. Plus the balloons were a festive touch to an ugly, dirty snowbank. We better not have enough snow to make snowbanks. I might lose my mind…

Moving right along to happier things, remember when I swapped Knit a Fantasy Story with chittavrtti? Here are the goodies she sent me – two gorgeous 225 yard skeins of Socks that Rock in a lovely deep green (Beryl, probably the only green I’ll see around here for a while) and some espresso roast Peet’s coffee beans. Mmmmm… Thanks, CV!

“Smells… green. Mmmm… Greenies.” -M

“I can tell from here it isn’t tuna yarn! Hmph.” -C

(from a distance) “Look out for that coffee, May! Did I ever tell you about the time I ate a coffee bean when I was a kitten? Man, that was a rush.” -C

“Yeah, whatever, big kitty, and I bet you had to walk a mile uphill in the snow to get to your food bowl.” -M

Contests, Randonymity

Ding, dong, the espresso maker…

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…turns on! Woot-woot! All is well. Apparently, my espresso maker wasn’t dead, merely on strike until it was thorougly cleaned and decalcified. *hangs head in shame* Amusingly, I was so freaked out that it didn’t work yesterday morning, I completely forgot that I have a stovetop espresso maker for just such a crisis… Moving right along!

Through the Loops and Olga are having a birthday contest to celebrate that they turn 45 within days of each other. You can leave a comment at one or both blogs, identifying each of them from the baby pictures. Leave your comments by 11:59 pm (PDT? PST? EDT? EST?) on April 14 for your chance to win yarn and chocolate.

In the midst of my groggy day yesterday (even though I did stop for a moosed soy mocha, no toppings, on the way to work), I got fun mail – my Nana Sadie Rose Posy Sock Sack arrived! This is a really cool bag – it’s padded and very sturdy (even somewhat freestanding), with a shoulder strap and pockets inside to anchor a scissors, pencil, needles, etc. It’s about 10″ tall (everything looks small with Chaos in the picture). Looks like there’s plenty of space for a pair of socks-in-progress, along with keys, cellphone, and wallet. Thank you very much, Knitnana – I love it and can’t wait to use it! (You can email Knitnana to get your own Posy Sock sack.)

“Hmm, it isn’t a sock, so I guess I can relax my tuna and catnip rule. After all, there are cats on it.” -C

“*mumble*…pockets…*mumble*” -C

“Ok, ok, I’ll pose nice with the bag…” -C

“Can I go play now?” -C

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