Contests, Randonymity

In which I try to catch up on thank yous

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Limedragon is having a contest to celebrate her new WordPress blog. Simply leave a comment by Saturday, October 21, and you could win a lovely skein of All Things Heather sock yarn!

For anyone who tried to comment yesterday and got a weird error – sorry! I was trying a new antispam plugin that was a wee bit too aggressive. Didn’t get any spam, though! But I’d rather hear from y’all and am willing to delete a bit of spam to do so. 🙂

In the midst of all this doing absolutely nothing on my vacation (which has been extremely relaxing), I’ve gotten frightfully behind in thank yous. Whoops…

First, V of Spells with… sent me a wonderful package with a cool postcard, chocolate (with espresso beans in it – yum), and something for the kitties. Here’s what V wrote to Chaos and May on the card:

To the kitties: Meet Catharsis, the Catnip Cat (Agent Triple C, but you can call her Cathy for short). If you’re ever mad at your brother/sister, Cathy is here to help. Mom won’t like it if you chew each other’s tail off, so stick with Cathy in those moments!

True enough – thanks, V! Here’s May checking out the card, while Chaos hops off the coffee table, in pursuit of Cathy. (Guess Chaos had been storing up some anger, there.)

“It’s too bad these aren’t real people, because they’re small enough for me to eat.” – May
“Nip!!!” – Chaos

Isn’t Cathy adorable?? You’ll just have to imagine how cute it was when Chaos was rubbing her all over his face, since my camera battery died.

Moving right along, I got a monster skein of sportweight cotton from Becky of Moonfrog for being one of her contest winners. Thanks, Becky!

“Yeah, yeah, it’s pretty – but where’s the nip?!”

I also won Kate’s Look Back and Cringe contest. Kate sent an increases/decreases KnitKard, a really cute knitting card, some gorgeous Mountain Colors sock yarn, cute little stitchmarkers, some nice pepperminty soap, a black sheep tape measure (I really wanted one of these and almost bought one on the yarn crawl!), and colored pencils (mmm, school supplies in the fall – excellent!). Thanks, Kate!

“I bet these are cat toys.”

Sorry, May, those stitchmarkers are not cat toys. Kate apologized for not including anything for the kitties, but little did she know that she had…

“Ok, I’ve seen how the Meezer plays with her tearstrip, May, so please focus. Concentrate! You can do this, May!”
Contests, Knitting, Reading, Those Cats

Monday, Monday

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Thanks to everyone who’s been asking about the Chaos Kitty. Here’s where things stand: Chaos is happy and active and is off antibiotics (for a skin infection – hence the shaved butt). He went back to the vet on Saturday and the consensus is that he’s having autoimmune issues. (Aw, he’s taking after me!) This last bout was triggered by him sneaking some of May’s food. May seems to be grain sensitive. (Aw, she’s taking after me, too!) She has trouble if she eats any of Chaos’ food. He has trouble if he eats any of her food. Ack. Cat feeding time around here is very intricate, let me tell you!

Brigitte is having a contest to name the sweater she’s working on. The contest deadline is 5 pm Eastern, Friday, October 20.

Rabbitch wants to put hats on as many of Vancouver’s 1300 homeless as she can and is offering prizes to those who knit hats. You can send your hats to this address. Deadline is December 1.

There’s still time to enter V’s contest by sending her some yarn for her blanket. She’ll draw for prizes on November 1.

Reading Update
The Crocodile on the Sandbank by Elizabeth Peters. This was the very first Amelia Peabody mystery and interestingly enough, really the only one that I enjoy re-reading.
For Better, For Worse by Carole Matthews. Your basic chick lit – it was good enough that I finished reading it, but not good enough that I’ll recommend it or pass the book along to anyone. Your mileage may vary.
Guilty Pleasures by Laurell K. Hamilton. After reading the Sookie Stackhouse books and thinking how much more I enjoyed them than I have the recent Anita Blake (Vampire Hunter) books, I decided to re-read the very first Anita Blake novel. It’s good. At what point did the series deteriorate? Guess I’ll have to re-read them in order to see if I can figure that out.

I have quite a few bibs to knit, since there’s a baby infestation bearing down upon us. You have been warned.

“Oh oh, I think the big kitty mentioned something about this…”

“What the…?”

“Hmph.”

*fight fight fight*
“Almost free – whew!”
Randonymity, Those Cats

Happy Friday the 13th!

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Better not let any black cats cross your path today! 🙂

We’ve had a tiny amount of snow blowing around for the last day or two and the temps have been dropping to 26F at nights – big change from Saturday, when I wore a tank top, capris, and birks on the yarn crawl! The colder weather inspired me to pull out my Celestial Sheep flannel sheets last night. (Aside about these sheets – when I bought these last winter, I was pleased as could be. Cute sheep! On sheets! With stars and moons! *squeal* But, um, when I made my bed the first time, I had a realization. A realization that these were the sheets of a woman with no plans to entertain a guy anytime soon. Damn. I’ve become a crazy ol’ cat lady.)

Anyway, it isn’t easy to make the bed when you have two cats.

“I think there’s something under this sheet! Whatever could it be?! Maybe it’s a little sheep. Yum.”

“It’s kind of wiggly, whatever it is.”

“Not a little sheep! Eeeeep!”

I puttered around and did a bit of shopping today. I’ll leave you with two photos foreshadowing some of next week’s blog content. (This first one is so worth clicking to see larger!)

“My tail in this picture does not mean that I condone this content.”

“Hmm, why do I have such a sense of foreboding?!”

Contests, Knitting, Reading

Vacation continues…. ahhh….

35 Comments

Anne is having another contest! She wants to see pictures of a trip to one of your local shops – and it doesn’t have to be just yarn shops. She hasn’t selected an end date, as this involves a little bit of work for people. She’s very curious about local oddities. Hmm. Probably not St Sabrina’s Parlor in Purgatory, the piercing and tattoo parlor a few blocks away…

Ahhh… My vacation continues, albeit much quieter than last week. I’m so relaxed that I didn’t blog yesterday and I don’t want to ever go back to work! 🙂 Strangely, I’m not getting as much knitting or closet organization done as I’d hoped. Oh well.

Reading Update
Witch Way to Murder by Shirley Damsgaard. Have I mentioned that I’m a sucker for books with a black cat on the cover?! So that’s why I picked up this one, about a reluctant witch and her grandmother, living in smalltown Iowa. It was a fun read.
Definitely Dead by Charlaine Harris. The most recent Southern Vampires novel. Move over, Anita Blake. Sookie’s way more fun and the story moves along much less ponderously! I think I’m adding Quinn to my list of sexy fictional males…
Concourse by S.J. Rozan (cd). The second book in the series about NYC PIs Bill Smith and Lydia Chin. This series is along the lines of Marcia Muller, Sara Paretsky, etc., and is one that I will definitely continue reading (or listening to).
Grave Sight by Charlaine Harris. Not one of the Southern Vampire series, this book is about Harper, who was struck by lightning when she was 15 and can hear dead people… It was an ok read, but nowhere near as good as the Stookie books. And the hardcover was so poorly edited that it pained me to read at points – things like someone ordering French toast and bacon, and then on the facing page, conversation stopped while he waited for his eggs and toast to be set in front of him. These sort of consistent inconsistencies make it it hard for me to get into a story.

I have an FO!! I’ll wait while you all recover. 😉

This baby sweater was knit from 4.5 skeins of KnitPicks Shine Worsted, color terra cotta. The basic pattern was Knitting Pure & Simple’s neckdown baby cardigan, although I used attached i-cord for the edgings and buttonbands. The buttons are the only purchase I made during Saturday’s yarn crawl.

“Hmm, I wonder if I can bite one of these buttons off?”

Can you see the silver-tipped fur on May’s front legs? She’s developing some more distinct tabby markings – I don’t think she’s going to be as black as Chaos is.

“Maybe best not to while Mom’s watching, so I’ll just pretend that I’m interested in her silly sweater. Fur just seems so much more attractive and efficient.”

*purr purr purr*
Contests, Knitting, Randonymity

Tidbit Tuesday

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Hockey Mom is having a contest to guess when her second blogiversary is. She hasn’t quite decided on what the prize will be, but she’ll let everyone know soon.

The KnitPicks Shine I won in Cindy’s contest arrived Friday and it was the perfect thing for a baby sweater, so I cast on within minutes of opening the package. Only 20 more rounds on a sleeve, weaving in ends, sewing on the buttons, and I’m done! Hopefully an FO picture tomorrow…

I also started another pair of socks (must always have socks in my purse). I’m knitting these from some yarn I dyed, using the stitch pattern from Kristi’s Flatiron Clog Socks.

Jeanne did a lovely job of summing up our Yarn Crawl adventures of Saturday – check it out! The only pictures I took all day were on our drive back from Excelsior, where we decompressed with Deb at 318, knitting, noshing, and nipping. Ahhhh… Anyway, having the rare opportunity of being a passenger, I played with my camera. Can you find the full moon in each of these pictures?!

May has a question for everyone.

“Mom says some of you think I’m going to be a big kitty! Do you think I’ll be as big as the big kitty??”
Dyeing, Reading, Those Cats

Another vacation Monday!

57 Comments

I’m so behind in bloglines! Yikes – over 300 again… If you have or know of a contest you’d like mentioned, please send an email to chris at this domain, since I probably won’t find out about it until it’s over at this rate. Thanks! (On the positive side, I will have new knitting to show you very soon!)

Reading Update
To Catch a Cat by Marian Babson. Just a generic mystery that I read to pass the time while knitting. I wouldn’t recommend it or read it again, although I’ll probably pass it on to Jeanne because the cat on the cover looks like her Greta.
Dead Until Dark, Living Dead in Dallas, Club Dead, Dead to the World, and Dead as a Doornail by Charlaine Harris. I started to read the Southern Vampire series over the weekend and I’m hooked! I love the characters – telepathic barmaid Sookie Stackhouse, the Vampire Bill, the Vampire Bubba, Sam the were-collie… These are set in a small town in northern Louisiana (near Shreveport). Hopefully the library has the next one…

Ok, I promised pictures of the yarn I dyed at Deb’s last Thursday. Behold the skein that contains no black, purple, or pink!

Of course, it looked much better when it was reskeined – this is 800 yards of the KnitPicks Dye Your Own laceweight, using Country Classics dyes (buttercup, pumpkin, butterscotch, and a mixture of greens that I’ve forgotten).

Here’s a skein of Wool2Dye4’s sock yarn, dyed with key lime, kiwi, and raven:

Deb picked up one of Louet’s mini dyeing kits and let me play with it. The kit came with three colors of Gaywool dye (blueberry, cornflower, and silverbirch), along with some GEMS Pearl. We passed this yarn onto Jeanne, since she couldn’t join us on Thursday.

May practices her yarn inspecting technique:

“I think the big kitty is just making me do all the work now.”

And just so you know that you’re still at the right blog, I did dye a skein with some purple and black – this is Wool2Dye4’s sock yarn, dyed with wild iris, charcoal, and raven.

May was apparently exhausted from her yarn inspection.

“There, there, May, a nice bath will revive you.” – Chaos
“Hmph.” – Mayhem
Dyeing, Randonymity, Reading, Those Cats

Vacation, Day the nth

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Yesterday, it was Deb’s turn to entertain me during my vacation. 😉 We dyed some wonderful yarn, but it’s drying, so you’ll have to wait until Monday to see it all pretty and nice. This will shock you – one of my skeins contained no black, purple, or pink!! I’ll wait while you collect yourselves.

Jeanne and I will be participating in the Yarn Crawl/Treasure Hunt going on at seven Twin Cities’ yarn stores this weekend. Wouldn’t it be great fun to win the $3000 grand prize?!

Reading Update
Sacred and Profane and Milk and Honey by Faye Kellerman. Books two and three in the Peter Decker and Rina Lazarus series. Although I’m enjoying this series, at times, I find I’m gritting my teeth at Peter’s attitude toward women in these books. Does this improve at all in future books?! He’s generally ok regarding his partner, Marge, but towards Rina – argh!
Naked in Death by J.D. Robb (aka Nora Roberts). This is the first Eve Dallas novel and I hugely enjoyed rereading it. If you aren’t familiar with this series, it’s a somewhat graphic mystery series set in the not-too-distant future, featuring NYPD lieutenant Eve Dallas and the ever-so-sexy Roarke, the richest man in the world (and then some). Roarke is way up there on my list of sexiest fictional male persons. *fans self*

Here’s a little photo essay of Chaos, May, and the black shoebox that I’ve been meaning to post for several weeks – from before Chaos’ butt was shaved.

“Nothing to see here, move along, move along.”
*hee hee* “May will never know I’m under here!”
“Hmm…. I wonder where the big kitty is?”
“Ha! I see your butt, big kitty!”
*fight fight fight bite bite bite*
“Run away!”
KALs, Knitting

Vacation, I forget what day

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Carole and Susan are hosting a knitalong to use up those single skeins of yarn you have lying around: Lonesome Skein. (My pattern coming out in the December issue of MagKnits might help you with any leftover skeins of Kureyon…)

On Tuesday, I met up with Renee and went to see The Science of Sleep at the Uptown Theater (love sitting in the balcony there!). Renee, of course, has a much more thorough review of the film than I’ll ever manage. Watching the film was like looking at Dali painting. I enjoyed it, but was thoroughly confused! After the film, we walked over to Tum Rup Thai – I had the green curry over rice and Renee had a red curry over rice noodles. YUM. Then we walked over to Zeno (no link because their website seems to have vanished) and had coffee and chatted and knitted. Ahhhhh… Thanks, Renee!

Last night, Jeanne came over and we knitted and chatted and sipped pinot noir and watched some cat antics. Ok, that’s a lie – we watched cats sleep. Very stimulating, that. But – I did finish weaving in the ends of my Regia Silk (charcoal) waffle socks (two rounds k2p2, two rounds knit)! Yes, an actual FO, for those who’ve forgotten that there’s knitting on this blog now and again. This first picture’s for the Neatnik, who is very fond of cat butt photos.

*yawn*

If you miss the face of Chaos (not just his butt), this one’s for you:

“If that last picture was more revealing than you claim, the socks are toast!”

And just because Mayhem is busy being Mayhem…

“Hee hee! Big kitty, you will never expect my attack from here!”
Contests, Randonymity

WTF Wednesday – the storage solution edition

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Jane of Quiddity is having her second annual show her your socks contest! You have until midnight, October 8, to leave her a comment with a link to your photo(s). She will randomly choose three winners, plus have a prize for the most imaginative display of socks. Hmm…. *rubbing hands together and laughing wickedly*

My KnitFlix pal Anna of Knit-Write received her package!

Lest we start thinking that all photo horror lies in the past… May I present to you Ziploc(tm) Big Bags? I purchased a box of the XXL bags (they’re available in XL and XXL). These monsters are 2 by 2.7 feet (60 by 82 cm). Yarn storage solution?! Everything storage solution?!! (“Honey, could you keep little Georgie still for a moment?”) Anyway, I love the model’s expression/pose – doesn’t she look as if she’s trying to disassociate herself from the bag? (“Get this thing the *blip* away from me!!” through clenched teeth…)

Here’s the back of the box, showing the bags in action:

Remember the shoebox I mentioned? It’s probably our number one cat toy. Here’s May pouncing the shoebox, because there’s Chaos to be found:

“Now I’ve got you, big kitty!”

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