Randonymity

Ahoy, Mayhem!

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On Mondays, Maryse has started listing three things she feels positively about. I think that’s a great idea and will probably try that randomly – plus it reminds me of the beginning of Amélie. Let’s see if I can come up with some now…

  1. Pulling tags off of a purchase and having them come off all in a single piece, no sticky goo or corners left behind.
  2. Chaos knowing where SRM is, because he’ll do the sweetest, most kittenish things. Yesterday evening, he carefully pushed SRM under the bathroom door so I wouldn’t be lonely in the bathroom by myself. And maybe so I would open the door and play fetch, too.
  3. Making and drinking a perfect cup of soy hot chocolate. (My recipe? Silk Enhanced soymilk, cut with a few splashes of water, three teaspoons of Ghiradelli sweet ground chocolate, and a dash of Ghiradelli unsweetened cocoa.)

“Arrrrr, mateys! I’ve been practicing and I’m all ready for International Talk Like a Pirate Day!” -M*

*Why, yes, I might be messing with you, Deb! 😉

Contests, Knitting, Randonymity, Reading

Deconstructing

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Jennifer is celebrating her second blogiversary with an Oscars contest. Send her an email with your guesses by midnight PST on February 24 and the person with the most correct guesses will receive a fibery prize!

JennyRaye bought some gorgeous yarn for a shawl and is looking for pattern ideas. Submit you suggestion by midnight EST on February 24 and you could win some yarn.

Reading Update
Take the Cannoli: Stories from the New World by Sarah Vowell. I’ve read and enjoyed all of Vowell’s books. My favorite essays from this collection were “Thanks for the Memorex” (about mix tapes) and “Drive Through Please” (about Ira Glass trying to teach her to drive). This was my second TBR Challenge book, so I’m staying on track.
No One Cares What You Had for Lunch: 100 Ideas for Your Blog by Margaret Mason. I’d recommend this book if it wasn’t $19.99 for a very slim volume… Even the Amazon.com $13.59 seems a bit steep for what you get (bless the library). Instead, I’ll direct you to Tink’s list of post ideas. (And note that if you photograph your lunch real pretty and write it up in an interesting way, people will care what you had for lunch – it’s all about the presentation…)

Frogging Update
After contemplating all the wonderful responses to my question about whether the mobius cat bed should stay or go, I pulled it out and looked at it Saturday morning. May joined me.

“It looks a little lumpy to me, Mom.” -M

I pulled it off the needle… Check out how big it is – my foot is a womens’ size 11 (European 42)!

Still plenty off knitting to do to fill in that big hole… Not to mention the joy of felting such a monster. Ripping it out and knitting two felted square cat beds instead definitely held more appeal, so…

Flushed with my success, I pulled out another unfortunate UFO. This tank was too bulky. It ended up too short, so I added the frilly bit on the bottom and then put it aside when I finally recognized it wasn’t something I would wear.

“Haven’t I seen this before?” -C

“Y’know, I think that yarn would make a really cute baby sweater for May to model…” -C

Oh, wouldn’t it just! So…

It’s amazing how much lighter I felt after ripping out those two stagnant projects! In the past three weeks, I’ve ripped out three of the six projects pictured in my first UFO post way back when. Of the remaining projects, I probably will eventually weave in the ends of the otherwise finished washcloth. That single sock for my dad? For now, it will stay a single sock – I’m not sure it’s worth ripping out, since I wove in the ends and washed it (once upon a time). And the black tank top with the tourniquet armhole edging? Hopefully I’ll pull that out and fix the edging before the weather gets warm again, because it is a really great tank top otherwise.

Now the real question is – would I have done all of this if I’d joined one of the UFO resurrection challenges??

Contests, Randonymity, See the Sights

A day in my life

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Heather’s giving away several copies of a Project Spectrum blue/white/grey mix cd she made. Leave her a comment about what you’re working on for Project Spectrum and you will be entered in a drawing! Comments must be left by February 19, noon MST.

Thanks for all the input on the mobius cat bed yesterday! Although the “keep it” contingent was quite eloquent, I think I’m going to rip it out – if nothing else, I don’t have a lot of free space in my condo and it’s supposed to be a pretty large item even after felting.

Last week I mentioned that Elisa was having a contest – she wanted to see what our typical days were like. Yesterday I finally remembered to take out my camera throughout the day!

I get up at an unspecified time – I’m not quite sure, since I engage in alarm clock trickery (set it quite a bit fast, hit snooze quite a few times). I shower, dress, feed the cats, feed myself, make a mocha in a go-cup, and am in the car driving to work by 6:15 am. It’s dark. And everyone drives very fast. I didn’t take any pictures.

I get to work by 6:30. I’m one of the first people there, so it’s nice and quiet as I ease into my day, sipping my mocha and publishing my blog entry (prepared the night before). Here are some highlights from my cube, starting with my cabinet covered with Frigits:

My bulletin board – you can read it if you click on it!

A few toys… Hey, I work in IT. I have to have toys in my cube.

My work computer, with another Kenshin background.

I pretty much sit at that computer all day long. Sometimes people come over and talk to me. Sometimes I get up and use the facilities. Often I go run errands over lunch. Yesterday was an errand day. I started at my beloved thrift store – picked up some fun buttons and a black hoodie (to wear when walking around the lakes in the spring).

Then I returned a big stack of library books, but didn’t find anything to check out.

Next I went to the post office to mail a few mysterious packages. There wasn’t a line. I’m still in shock about that – good thing I documented it.

Finally, I stopped and picked up a salad…

and another soy mocha (there is a barista – she’s just tiny!).

Back to my cube – ate my salad, drank my mocha, worked. I usually leave at 3:30 pm, but yesterday I left around 4 pm, since I did take sort of a long lunch. I drive home on side streets – the freeway is already pokey.

One more errand – I needed cat food. Fortunately, my neighborhood pet food store did not have a cage of rescue kittens this time (see, for example, Mayhem).

This is what greets me when I get home and open the door:

“I’m dying! I’m dying! I’m dying! I’m dying!” -C

So I feed the cats and do other exciting things like clean the litterbox (not documented – aren’t you glad?!). I turn on my laptop and answer email, edit photos, and work on the next day’s blog entry.

Last night I straightened out the poor sweater I’m trying to dry…

“A new place to nap and play, play and nap! So very cushy… is there some silk in this, Mom? Maybe a spot of cashmere?” -M

Finally, I had some supper (popcorn and a soy hot chocolate) and settled in with my knitting to watch the premiere of Season 6.

Bedtime varies from 9:30 pm (best) to 11:30 pm (not so good), depending on how sucked into 24 I get. Since I’m out of DVDs after the Season 6 premiere until the rest of the season comes out on DVD, I’ll hopefully get more regular sleep again soon!

Knitting, Those Cats

Should it stay or should it go?

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A long, long time ago (May 7, 2005, to be precise), I started to knit a mobius cat bed for Chaos. Here’s a picture of Chaos with it from December, 2005 (no knitting progress has been made since then):

“I wonder if I can gnaw off this little plastic doohickey? Mom probably won’t notice. I love plastic doohickeys!” -C

What do you think? Do you think these cats really need another cat bed? Here’s May on her cat bed (what some of you might incorrectly call a loveseat)*:

“Like, duh. This is a cat bed!” -M

And Chaos on his cat bed (what some of you might incorrectly call a chair):

“….zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz….” -C

Let’s take a closer look – do either of these cats look deprived of a cat bed to you?!

“Mmmm… maybe Mom will screw up and not hide her yarn from me when she goes to bed.” -M

“…zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz….” -C

So, what do you think? Finish the giant mobius cat bed (directions involve blocking it on a bike inner tube! 😮 ) or rip it out and make some other felted thing from the yarn (Woolpak in forest green, plum, and black)? You can probably tell I’m not feeling the love for this project anymore!

*The camo blanket is a poncho liner left over from my National Guard days…

Contests, Randonymity

Handknits for Youngsters

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Cara’s having another contest – leave her a comment with a Valentine’s story (best, worst, etc.) and you could win some great yarn! Comments must be left by 11:59 pm EST today (February 14).

It’s been a while since I featured pictures from any of my old pattern books, hasn’t it? Let me introduce you to Handknits for Youngsters, circa 1952, which has the ominous message “There’s a Spinnerin handknit for every youngster!” on the back.

I’m sure the poor tyke below never recovered from the experience of wearing this little suit… especially since I’m interpreting this as being a catsuit!

“No, no, I think you’re right, Spanky, this thing isn’t connected. Of all the nerve!”

I can come up with captions for this next one… but maybe it’s best to leave that up to all of you… (Don’t forget to take the title at the bottom into consideration!) Yikes.

Here’s another one that wouldn’t be half as amusing/scary without the title…

Is this amount of smug superiority even legal?

Swimming trunks and a sunsuit and some very fancy hair! I wonder if knitted swimming suits stay on toddlers any better than they stay on adults?! So, Mama Tulip – which style would best suit Oliver, eh? 😉

“I’m going to have nightmares for years! The horror!”

I think Mayhem might, too.

“Is it over? Can I look yet?” -M

Contests, Those Cats

A dastardly secret is revealed…

22 Comments

Leave a comment for Nicole about the worst Valentine’s gift you’ve ever received, and you could win some “yarny goodness.” Leave your comment by midnight EST on February 14.

Charlie is a kitty who has inflamatory bowel disease (IBD) – and so does one of his humans, also named Chris. (But that’s a he-Chris, not a she-Chris like me.) Anyway! Since I am an IBD sufferer, too, this one’s near and dear to my gut. Charlie’s human is doing a three-day, 210-mile charity bike race (Get Your Guts in Gear) to support the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation and other similar organizations. If you make a donation, you will be entered in a prize drawing for yarn or bike shop gift certificates! One of the humans will draw for prizes the last weekends of March, April, and May.

“Dooby dooby do… Don’t mind me, I’m just hanging out on top of this cabinet, appreciating my feline agility.” -C

“I wish I was a big kitty so I could get up there, too!” -M

“Ha! But you aren’t and you can’t!” -C

“Shhhhh… Let it be our little secret that she could get up here if I didn’t keep biting off her whiskers and messing with her balance! Bwah-ha-ha!!” -C

Knitting, Project Spectrum, Reading

In which SRM is found, I read some books, start a Project Spectrum project, and Mayhem tries to resist temptation

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SRM was found last night at 9:27 pm CST when the stove was pulled out. Chaos snatched SRM up and carried it away, growling at May when she tried to examine it. No further information is available at this time.

Adam has opened a new store called Yarn Nerd.

Reading Update
Born in Death by J.D. Robb (aka Nora Roberts). The latest Lieutenant Eve Dallas and Roarke (mmmm, Roarke) novel proved to be a good read – Dallas and Roarke continued their coach training for Mavis and Leonardo’s upcoming baby… and there might have been a murder or two…
Mistral’s Kiss by Laurell K. Hamilton. The latest Meredith Gentry (Faerie-American Princess) novel covered only about four hours! At that pace, it could take ten years to get through a week…
Copper River by William Kent Krueger picks up right about where the previous Cork O’Connor mystery, Mercy Falls, left off. Copper River finds O’Connor in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and eventually ties up the loose ends from Mercy Falls.
Stripped by Brian Freeman. Hard to believe that this is only Freeman’s second novel! Stripped is as solid a thriller as Immoral was, but I liked it better because it didn’t have the strange court procedural section. In Stripped (set in Las Vegas, not Duluth) Detectives Jonathan Stride and Serena Dial try to solve a string of murders that seem based in events of 4o years before.

Knitting Update
I made excellent progress on the refined raglan over the weekend, but I’ll spare you another in-progress black blob photo. Yesterday evening, I needed something very simple to knit, as I was starting to make silly mistakes on the raglan. So I pulled out one of my sock yarn bins and found the perfect yarn for February-March Project Spectrum (the colors white, grey, and blue) – Meilenweit Fun & Stripes, color 614:

“See how good I’m being, Mom? I can to resist temptation!” -M

“Mostly…” -M

“Although maybe not when the temptation is so very tempting!” -M

Knitting, Those Cats

TGIFO

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Behold – the 70s Kitchen Socks are complete! Although it doesn’t look like it in this picture, they are the same size. I knit one from each end of the ball of yarn, and the sock on the left turned out quite a bit more orange than the one on the right.

So, let’s sit back and see what happens when you leave a freshly knitted pair of socks on the floor around here, shall we?

Oh, look, it’s May!

“I’m pretty sure they aren’t bibs, big kitty!” -M

“Hmm, better let me check, May.” -C

“You’re right, May, these are definitely not bibs. But I’m not sticking around, just in case Mom tries to put them on me anyway.” -C

“Don’t worry, big kitty! I’ll keep an eye out.” *slurp slurp slurp* -M

“You know what – I bet they’re a fancy new cat bed! Hmm, very cushy…” -M

Contests, Randonymity

Socktopus!

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I’m sure many of you still haven’t recovered from seeing the rainbow Jaywalker socks the other day, but for those who have and fell in love with the yarn, it might be available again – I just saw it in the Patternworks catalogue (Regia 5399, aka “Fun Nation”). For those curious about my maryjanes, they are Keen Seattles in black.

A while ago, Jeanne got me the coolest present – a Socktopus!

This clever gizmo (formerly known to IKEA as a “JABBA Hanging Dryer with 16 Clips” and now as a “PRESSA Hanging Dryer with 16 Clothes Clips” – boring) is perfect for hanging handknit socks to dry out of harm’s way.

I know you’re all familiar with Harm:

“How dare you say something like that! Look at how adorable I am!” -Mayhem
*snort* -Chaos

Contests, Knitting

A knitting update

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Elisa is having a contest – read about her typical day, then take some pictures and post about your typical day. Leave Elisa a comment or send her an email with the link to your post by February 25. There will be mysterious prizes! And fun! 😉

I’m about 2/3 of the way through season 5 of 24. Things got very intense, so I’ve been taking a break for a few days. Plus, I needed to catch up on my library books – especially the new books that I can’t renew!

I have made good progress on the refined raglan, both while watching 24 and while reading.

“What have we here?” -M
“Duh. Obviously it’s a cat bed.” -C

“Oh, how clever – it even has cat toys built in!” -C
“Wait, is that yarn I see?!” -M

“Yarn!” *chew chew chew* -M

Ack! I must go rescue my sweater!

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