Randonymity

In which I capitulate and do the six weird things meme

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Ok, although I tend not to do memes, I think I’ve hit critical mass on being tagged for the six weird things meme. First it was Anmiryam of Gromit Knits, then La, then Peeve. Um, I’m not sure I can think of six weird things that I haven’t already included in my 100 Things About Me list… I suppose, since I don’t really remember what’s on that list…

  1. I never thought of myself as being particularly into cars. Sure, I had my beloved purple Escort wagon, but that was mostly the perfect quirkiness of said vehicle. However, I’ve discovered a deep and abiding pleasure in driving the replacement for the traitorous Escort – my silver BMW 318ti (“ti” should stand for “tiny”!). This shakes me selfview a bit.
  2. I have to wear earplugs to sleep, even when it’s not noisy.
  3. I’m not sure exactly when I last turned on my tv, even to watch a movie. Um, April maybe??
  4. Smears and smudges and streaks on the inside of the glass in my car drives me crazy. Do you know how hard it is to keep that glass streak-free?!
  5. My Rainbow vacuum cleaner is the same one I used as a child! It’s wicked on cat hair, kitty litter, etc.
  6. When I go to bed, I have to start by lying on my left side for a while, then turning over to my right to fall asleep.

Whew! That was hard. Cat picture, anyone?

(muffled) “Got your foot, May! Ha! Now what’re you going to do?!” -C

Contests, Randonymity

The Tongue Edition

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Nishanna is having a contest – caption a picture of her cute pup before Monday, December 18, 7 pm EST, and you could win some yarn!

Wendy’s putting together Knit From Your Stash 2007. Wisely, it’s only the first 9 months of the year. And there are additional conditions. Me? I freak out and start buying yarn like a maniac if I’m part of something like that. If I’m not, I don’t. Your mileage may vary!

So I have my blog signed up for Google Analytics, mostly because it’s fun to see what search terms bring people here. I’ve included some of the most interesting ones – feel free to discuss them amongst yourselves:

  • dress butt picture (whose butt?! I wear a dress about 2x/year, so not likely mine)
  • mom armpit lick (EEWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!)
  • sock monkey cookies (not sure they’d be edible!)
  • pics of chaos dying (NOOOOOOOOOOO!)
  • tossing ferrets (Like tossing cookies?!)
  • french coat flasher book (*blink blink*)
  • i love when my kids lickes my armpits (EWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!)
  • ferret licks my hair (I swear, I have no ferrets!!)
  • lederhosens for dogs (please make sure you leave the appropriate holes!)
  • pics “boy’s butt” (I prefer men over boys, but whatever)

How disappointed do you think most of those people are?! 😉

If you live in the Twin Cities metro area and are looking for a kitty, I got May through Underdog Rescue. They have several kittens at my fabulous neighborhood petstore (Urbanimal) right now, including a gorgeous little black kitten girl called Suri (yes, like the alpaca – she’s obviously meant to be a knitter’s cat!), another older black kitten (Esmerelda) not listed on the website, and a dilute tortie called Tink (Tink?? Really, you need to come visit right now). I cannot get any more cats, due to condo regulations. Hopefully some of you can!

Ok, since I’ve obviously run out of vim and vigor and blogging ideas at the end of the week, I present the Tongue Edition (yeah, baby, that’ll pep up my search terms).

“Neener neener neener, May, I’m first cat in the blog today!” -C

“Big kitty, it’s age before beauty.” -M

“But my tongue is bigger than your tongue, May! Ha!” -C
Contests, Randonymity

Singularly unexciting

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Go read a very eloquent post that Christine of Knitting on Trial wrote about the essence of blogging.

Lorinda is having two contests – leave comments about your favorite holiday tradition and your favorite holiday memory by December 18. Knitterly prizes for knitters, non-knitterly prizes for non-knitters.

Ok, although I usually don’t do memes, I thought this was fun – I first ran into it over at Maryse’s: What was the first sentence that you posted each month of 2006? (I learned that my first sentences were almost uniformly boring! Yikes.)

January
I’ve read a lot of knitting resolutions over the past few days, which got me thinking about what my knitting resolutions might be. Pumpkinmama’s list finally inspired me to stop thinking and start listing.

February
Thank you all so much for your well wishes!!
(I had the flu for the previous 3 days!)

March
As you might’ve read on Scout’s blog, she and I are working on an early October meetup in New Mexico. New Mexico is one of my favorite places – I spend an amazing amount of time gawking at the sky.
(*sniff* The meetup that didn’t happen due to a sick Chaos)

April
This starts with five overview shots and then a few detail shots of some of my favorite things.
(This was for Flash Your Stash.)

May
Not blech regarding the weekend, which was very fun, but blech is how I’m feeling today.
(Just back from the Midwest Master’s at Neenah, Wisconsin.)

June
You might become confused while reading this post and think that we’ve skipped right over June Blue to July Purple in Project Spectrum.

July
My Saturday sky is unsettled.

August
You might’ve noticed that things are changing around here.

September
Domesticat is having a contest to celebrate her second year of knitting and that she and Duck are moving.

October
Megan is participating in the Tour de Cure.
(I started to fear that contest announcements would be the rest of my first sentences…)

November
Hope no one’s got a Halloween sugar hangover this morning!

December
Xanthan gum!

Ok, for surviving all of that, I present Sir Wooliam and Wee Wooliam, in the window of a Pendleton store.

Not enough compensation? Well, ok then…

“Isn’t it hard to read blogs when you’re upside down like that?” -C
Randonymity

A knitter’s (obviously not-so) secret shame

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“What’s this on the coffee table?” -C&M

“Oh, very comfy! But I thought Mom hated knitting mittens and gloves – and these are kind of like both in one, aren’t they?!” -M

“Whatever – these are just so cozy!” -M

But wait… what’s that on the left?! Oh, my… could it be… a price tag?!

“Mom! How could you?! I’m so ashamed! What are all the other bloggers’ cats going to think?!!” -M
Contests, Reading, Those Cats

Cat-in-a-box: The perfect holiday present!

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Stephania is extending the deadline for her Lizard Ridge blanket for Afghans for Afghans until January 21.

Reading Update
One Good Turn by Kate Atkinson. This mystery is the sequel to Case Histories and is written in the same style, beginning with numerous disparate threads that slowly draw together into a cohesive whole by the end.
Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman. Ok, I read American Gods a while ago and obviously need to read it again, because I’m sure it’s related somehow.. Anyway – this is another enjoyable read by local author Gaiman, featuring the sons of Anansi, a Caribbean/West African spider god.
Night Passage, Trouble in Paradise, Death in Paradise, Stone Cold, and Sea Change by Robert B. Parker. I got interested in reading Parker’s Jesse Stone series after I read Blue Screen, which tied Sunny Randall and Jesse Stone together. Loves me a good Sunny Randall book I does. 🙂
Strange Candy by Laurell K. Hamilton. Strangely, these short stories are mostly sword and sorcery, with only two Anita Blake stories. Definitely a different side of Hamilton.

“Do-de-do-de-doody-do-de-do.” -C
“Move along, nothing to see here.” -C
“Hmm, I’m not feeling very comfortable in the kitchen tonight. I wonder why?” -M
“It’s as if someone is watching me! How creepy.” -M
“This is terrible! What the heck is going on in this kitchen?! I can’t shake the sense of looming evil!” -M
*sounds of scuffling and a faint “meep!”*
“You will do as I say. You will send me $1,000,000 in small unmarked bills, packed in catnip…” -M
Knitting

In which I am only vaguely coherent, due to having no brain left after 6 hours of finishing on Sunday

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Many thanks to the inimitably funny Tink of Pickled Beef for awarding me a “Playful” Golden Spork Award! I am honored!Oh, yeah, you’re probably curious about what the heck I finished on Sunday, eh, since all you know I’m knitting is a pair of socks? 😉 Well, some of you might remember that I’ve been working on a moderne log cabin baby blanket, which is a shower gift for a baby born in, um, *whispers* early May. Of this year, at least!! Anyway, I don’t think I’ve even mentioned this blanket since September… I probably finished the knitting in September or early October, but I still had the finishing to do. Lots and lots of finishing – innumerable ends, mostly (damn knotty skeins), but also mattress stitch at the four corners on the border. Have I mentioned how anal I am about weaving in ends? It involves splitting plied yarn and weaving in twice as many ends as if I hadn’t split the yarn… Anyway! I knew this was going to be a horrific finishing job, so I’ve been dawdling on it (especially since I can’t read while I finish). Finally, the next book in the series I was reading was only available (through my library system) on cd, so I buckled down and listened to that and finished the blanket. Darn book was only 5.75 hours long, so during the last 15 minutes I was left with nothing to do but weave in ends… Ack.

Without further ado, I present you with the Chaotic (and Mayhemic?!) Moderne Log Cabin Baby Blanket. (It actually is rectangular, although you can’t necessarily tell that from these pictures – it was hard to lay it out with all the “help” I got… Really, all you have to do around here for a photo opportunity is create an attractive nuisance…)

“Why are you standing on the coffee table, Mom?” -C&M

“You’re not the boss of me, big kitty!” -M

“Don’t sass your elders, May.” -C

“Run away!!” -M

“I wonder if this would taste like tuna?” -C
“Hmm, can I gnaw a hole in this before Mom gets off the coffee table?” -M

Alongs, Contests

Y is for…

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YesterYear!

But first, a message from our sponsor… (Ok, no sponsor, but I’ve always wanted to say that.) Christine of the Pointy Sticks podcast is having a contest. So far all I know about it is that the details are in the podcast and the deadline is December 21.

Ok, back to YesterYear… Yikes. Apparently it’s never too early to start your baby knitting?! Don’t worry about those sharp pointy sticks. What could possibly go wrong?

For humanity’s sake, please don’t make your baby wear lederhosen!

“Please don’t make me wear those lederhosen! I’ll be good!”

Because lederhosen? Seem to bring out the wickedness within… Look out, dog!

“I’m so nervous, suddenly…” -dog
“I am so going to have nightmares now.” -M
Contests, Those Cats

In which I revisit May’s youth

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Kat’s having an Xtravagant Xmas photo contest – take a picture of that house in your neighborhood that’s gone beyond all out with the lights and the inflatable snowpeople and let Kat know about it (you can post your picture on your blog or email it to Kat). Entries accepted until December 26 and a winner will be selected January 1.

Sachi’s having a caption contest – leave a caption for the cute cat picture by December 11 and the caption that makes her laugh the hardest wins some of her stitchmarkers.

Wow! I was one of the winners in the Heifer International drawing at Wendy Knits yesterday, and I won a Peace Fleece Lighthouse Sock Kit from Sybil at The Skein! Thanks, Wendy and to Sybil!

You’ve all probably heard of swap-bot, but I finally decided to check it out yesterday after I saw the chocolatey goodness that Elspeth got. I’m trying out the Best Covers Mix CD Swap.

So everyone commenting on how little May was in yesterday’s pictures (from a month ago) got me all sentimental about what my baby looked like not long after she arrived here (at about three months old)…

She still had whiskers!!

“I’m a sweet little present, aren’t I?” -M

“Keeping the world safe from gift bags!” -M

“Because gift bags? They’re nefarious!” -M

And although I still think she’s tiny in comparison to Chaos, back then, she was just a wee mite! (And Chaos’ butt wasn’t yet shaved…)

“Just making sure this gift bag is safe, miss. You can’t be too careful with these things.” -C
Contests, Those Cats

Look! Over there!

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Jessica of Mikknit is having a blogiversary contest. Leave her a comment about your favorite fiber experience by 5 pm CST Thursday, December 7, and you could win some mysterious yarn.

I wonder how long it will take bloglines to pick up this post?! Yesterday was at least 12 hours for my main feed. Grrrr. Yesterday must’ve been a bad day all around, because I lost internet connectivity at home last night about 5 minutes before I was going to sit down and draft today’s post. So instead of something vaguely coherent (shut up! sometimes they’re a little bit coherent, really!), I bring you cat pictures. (I know, hardly different from any other day…) These are from early November.

“Hello? Anybody in there?” -M

“Oh! It’s you, big kitty! You were hiding so well I couldn’t see you.” -M

“I won’t crowd you in your hiding spot – I’ll just mosey along. *hee hee*” -M

*butt wiggle and tail twitch* -M
*lunge* -C
Knitting, Reading

Monday again?!

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Thank you all so much for the kind words about Kureyon-Chan!! And many thanks to Frarochvia for convincing me to submit the pattern and for being my test knitter – check out her lovely buttonless version! I’m really looking forward to seeing what everyone does with this pattern. Chaos and Mayhem definitely liked modeling these bags better than modeling bibs! 🙂

Reading Update
Edge of Evil by J.A. Jance. This is the first book in a new mystery series by Jance (who’s better known for her J.P. Beaumont and Sheriff JoAnna Brady mystery series). This book introduces former broadcast journalist Ali Reynolds, who starts a blog…
Danse Macabre by Laurell K. Hamilton. I know, I know, I just read this most recent Anita Blake book a few months ago. But after re-reading the rest of the series, I thought I should read it again, too. I’m conflicted – the series seems, to me, to spend way more time in the bedroom than really necessary for the storyline and the plot is creeping along (this book covered maybe 48 hours), but I keep reading the damn books, don’t I?!
Motor Mouth by Janet Evanovich. The second in a series of NASCAR murder mysteries. I think I just need to admit to myself that I love the Stephanie Plum series and give up on Evanovich’s other stuff…

Knitting Update
I’ve been working on yet another pair of socks for myself. These are from the yarn Jeanne dyed for my birthday – I love how stripey they are! The yarn is far more purple and black than it appears in this photo…

“Stripes, schmipes – let me at those Addis!” -M

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