But wait… what’s that on the left?! Oh, my… could it be… a price tag?!
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.
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
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!
Because lederhosen? Seem to bring out the wickedness within… Look out, dog!
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!!
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…)
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.
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
At long last, it can be revealed – go check out my felted bag pattern in the December issue of Magknits: Kureyon-chan! Kureyon-chan, or K-chan, takes a single skein of Noro Kureyon or similar feltable yarn.
Xanthan gum! If you’re a celiac, you probably already know that xanthan gum is used in gluten-free baking to add the structure normally provided by gluten. For the non-celiacs, it’s also used to stabilize salad dressings and sauces.
X is also for Xerxes, but I can offer no pictures, alas… Not only is Xerxes an avenue in Minneapolis, it’s also a cd by the local band Arcwelder. So what? Well, I’m actually in the video for the song “Smile” from that cd! 🙂 Sadly, the video is not online, nor do I have a copy from which I can take a photo. My part in it is small – I merely wave at the camera and smile, wearing my black leather biker jacket, hanging out at First Avenue in the mid-90s. (What, you couldn’t tell from the socks yesterday that I had a punk background?!)
Scout’s having a contest! Caption the picture before Friday and the caption that makes her laugh hardest will win something from her shop.
Bloglines is wonky again – it took 23 hours for my RSS feed from yesterday to update. Grrrr. And I’m sure the only reason I almost (well, within 40 posts) caught up in bloglines yesterday was because it wasn’t updating.
May is doing great!! Her incision is less than 1/2″ long and she doesn’t have any stitches – looks like they used surgical glue maybe?! Chaos is getting over himself and isn’t hissing at her (much) now.
You may not remember, but this is, ostensibly and occasionally, a knitting blog. (I’ll pause to let you recover.) That said, I’ve actually knitted a few things (besides bibs!) recently.
I finished my luridly striping socks over the weekend – 63g of Kona fingering went a bit further than I expected, especially considering my size 11 feet.
The extra yarn is to the left – I knit each sock toe-up from opposite ends of the ball to make sure I used as much yarn as possible. Interestingly, while one sock had a pink toe and the other a black toe, due to quite a bit of variation in my warping board technique (my stripes weren’t consistent), both socks ended at the exact same spot in the colorway. (Please note that this picture was taken before May’s surgery, when she had a furry tummy…)
Several weeks ago, I knitted a narrow arrowhead lace scarf that I hoped to use at work, when I wear my hair up and my neck gets chilly. I knit this with my not-Rhinebeck La Lana Phat Silk. Unfortunately, my picky neck found this merino-silk blend too scratchy. Right now Jeanne is testing it around her own neck. I was so annoyed, I didn’t take a final picture of this after blocking/ironing (the ironing really made the silk shine).
