Randonymity, Reading, Those Cats

Randumb

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Hope no one’s got a Halloween sugar hangover this morning! I did wear the black cat ears last night (but not the tail – maybe next year). Interesting reactions included a woman in a crosswalk who looked through my car window and got the giggles, a dog that growled at me while his owner apologized profusely, and my brother’s cats poofing and hissing and creeping carefully back away from me. The block party was sort of a bust, since it was about 30F. Brrrr! Alas, I have not a single picture – we were too busy shivering and hopping around to stay warm.

Reading Update
Obsidian Butterfly, Narcissus in Chains, and Cerulean Dreams (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter) by Laurell K. Hamilton. Ok, I now know where the psychotic break was in this series. Obsidian Butterfly, perhaps because it took place in New Mexico, far from St. Louis and “the boys,” was the last book where, as Beadslut so succinctly put it, Anita spent more time on a case than in bed. After that, we have Micah and the ardeur and a glacially slow storyline and lots and lots and lots of sex.
Running in Heels by Anne Maxted. I couldn’t remember if I’d already read this, although I wondered if I had the entire time I read it. Maxted delivers damn good chick lit, whichever.
The Trouble with Witches by Shirley Damsgaard, an Ophelia and Abby mystery. This is the most recent book in the cozy series about a librarian witch and her grandmother living in Iowa.
Blood Price by Tanya Huff. Vampires in Toronto! Finally enough people recommend this series to me that I simply couldn’t resist anymore. The first book was very good, and the next is already on reserve.
Shakespeare’s Landlord by Charlaine Harris. This is the first Lily Bard mystery and since I enjoyed Harris’ Sookie Stackhouse mysteries so much (and since Peeve recommended this series, too), I figured I’d give ’em a try. The first one is a good basic mystery (no paranormal romance!), set in Shakespeare, Arkansas.

Since I basically have nothing else today, how about some cat pictures from a few weeks ago? (Cat pictures?! Wow, that’s a new one!)

“Oh, come on, May, I just want to wipe a little smudge off your face.”

“Let me return the favor, big kitty – with my teeth! Bwah-ha-ha!!!”
Contests, Randonymity

Happy Halloween!

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KitKatKnit is having a contest – ‘fess up to who your TVBF (TV Boyfriend) is by 10 pm Sunday, November 5. The randomly selected winner will receive a fiber-related prize. (I know CarrieK is laughing hysterically ‘cos she knows I can’t enter this contest – I don’t watch TV.)

Aija is having a very interesting contest that involves contributing to the world’s longest poem – check out the details on her blog for how to play. The prize will be sock yarn (in honor of Socktoberfest) and the contest runs through early afternoon on Friday, November 10.

There are still some spaces open in the Knitters Coffee Swap! Sign up now, because it’s limited to 50 participants. Thanks to Knittymama for coming up with such a fun swap idea!

If you had fun with the Knit Sock Kit Swap, Scout and Bev are having a Knit Mitt Kit Swap! You can sign up from now until November 3.

I’m looking forward to seeing the knitted items that you use a lot. Carole commented yesterday that she probably uses her handknitted socks the most. I probably do, too, but I got particularly intrigued by the other knitted items that I used a lot. Your mileage may vary (YMMV)!

You know what I hate about “falling back” to Central Standard Time in the Fall? Well, besides how early it gets dark, that is. It’s the cats, thinking that I’m inflicting cruel and unusal punishment on them by feeding them an hour late. Usually they start whining an hour before feeding time (well, Chaos does – May fusses a little and then goes off on Important Kitten Business). So after we switch from daylight to standard time, I get two hours of dedicated whining…

How are you celebrating Halloween? I’m going to a neighborhood block party with some friends and their baby. Maybe I’ll actually put on my pseudo costume… How could I resist these el-cheapo black cat ears from Target?! (I am so not wearing the tail.) The black cat candy dish might’ve wandered home from Target, too. I don’t know where that other black cat came from! 😉

“Hmmm… there’s mischief afoot and I’d hate to miss it! Where there’s mischief… there’s Mayhem.”

Chaos and Mayhem wish you all a happy and safe Halloween!

“Please go trick or treating for tuna and send it to us. Thank you.”
Knitting

In which I rant about content theft and start a meme of sorts

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I don’t know if all of you have heard about bitacle.org grabbing blog content from feeds (“scraping”) and repackaging the content (“splogging”). To check on your blog, go to bitacle, select aggregates, and type, for example, “stumblingoverchaos” or “mamatulip” or “knitiotsavant” or “yarnharlot.” I don’t expect to make any money off my blog – but I sure as heck don’t expect anyone else to make money off it either! This crap has already lost us a great blogger in Mama Tulip and I know many others are discouraged by bitacle’s use of their content. (Edit: Just to clarify, bitacle recently removed the ads from the aggregate blogs. However, there is no guarantee that they won’t put the ads back in once all the furor dies down.)

There are some things you can do to protect your content (lots of details here and here and here). One of the major things you can do is set your blog to only send a few lines of your content in your feed. Have you noticed that you can only read a line or two of my posts in bloglines? In WordPress, that’s controlled under Options -> Reading -> Syndication Feeds – set to Summary. This actually appears to be effective, since the main feeds of my new blog are not appearing in bitacle. They were getting the Comments feed, which I have disabled.

In a fit of pique about content theft, I deleted my blogspot blog (all of which was in bitacle). This was stupid of me, as anyone who’s still subscribed to the blogspot feed has probably noticed that someone snatched up my blogspot address and is using it for something other than cute cat pictures and occasional knitting… Please unsubscribe from that feed!!

Anyway! I’m done ranting about this for now. 🙂

So, what are your favorite or most used items that you’ve knitted? When I looked around, I discovered that they were humble things indeed, as you can sort of see in the picture below. (No, of course I didn’t knit Chaos! Heh.)

“Damn, I didn’t get out of here fast enough. Oh well, at least I’m not blind this time. Should’ve let that little scamp check this stuff out and report back.”

From the left, my merino-silk fingerless gloves, which see a lot of use at work in the winter as I huddle typing in the cold building at 6:30 am. Next is my ipod shuffle necklace (Regia cotton jacqard), which accompanies me on most of my walks. On the left is a mug cozy (either Fixation or Esprit), which is perfect for keeping my fingers warm and absorbing moisture from the outside of iced soy mochas in the summer. Underneath it all is one of the very first felted bags I ever made (black Lamb’s Pride, with a skein of Kureyon for the stripey bit) – this bag has carried my coffee, lunch, snacks, papers, and so forth to and from work every day for the past four (or is it five?!) years. Humble, yet sturdy, and doubles as a cat bed when I’m at home.

What knitted items do you find yourself using all of the time? I’d love to see and hear about them!

Contests, Randonymity

Let’s do the Time Warp again!

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The Traveling Knitter is having a “Knitbloggers for Blood” contest. Donate blood or blood products (plasma, etc) and let her know. For every 25 donations, she’ll draw a random prize winner.

Edit: Tracey of Fuzzy Britches is having a contest. Leave her a comment by November 1 (the two month anniversary of her new blog), and she’ll randomly draw a name to receive some Socks that Rock!

Lorinda is having a super short story contest (six words). Leave a comment with your entry and you could win a mysterious prize.

A little while ago, I showed you all a vintage pattern booklet with a very strange cover and promised more pictures from it. Well, as I’m sure you’ve all been waiting with bated breath for more details, here goes.Really, all I can say is that the booklet must have been underwritten by Coca-Cola. True, the back cover doesn’t have as many bottles of Coca-Cola on hand as the front did, but…

While the front and back covers are quite summery, the rest of the booklet is fall/winter. And there’s just something about this guy… Smarmy?! Is he trying to look down her sweater or something? That’s really not possible with the necklines in this booklet! And don’t miss the cigarette in his left hand…

I actually kinda like this sweater… but this guy is killing me! “Yeah, baby, I’m hot hot hot.” Blech!

Again with trying to look down her sweater. Sheesh!

And again… that silver ring of his shows up on multiple pictures on different fingers.

I do appreciate that the female models seem to have normal bodies and aren’t as scary thin as some of the models in these vintage books.

But this guy?! He’s always there… even in the background… Is she trying to still her beating heart, or is she just glad he’s not lurking over her shoulder?

“Is it safe to look yet?!”
Knitting, Randonymity

Fiber festival in my closet

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As I mentioned yesterday, Karrie’s asked those of us who didn’t go to Rhinebeck to pull some fun things out of our stash (that we might not even remember purchasing) and pretend we’ve come back from Rhinebeck with them as wonderful new purchases. This is budget fiber festival at its very best! Because you know, I have plenty of yarn in my stash that I don’t even remember that I have. Let’s take a look at a few things, shall we?

Of course, any fiber draws a few felines around here…

*sniff sniff sniff sniff sniff*

I did manage a slightly less obstructed picture below. From the left, a skein of nettle yarn. Yup. Nettle. I picked that up at the At Home Store in Fairfield, Iowa, when I was there for an Anna Zilboorg workshop. I think I was planning to make some sort of bath scrubby from it, but unless this stuff gets a lot softer after washing, it would completely strip off your skin – and not in a good way.

Next is a ball of Brooks Farm Duet (mohair/wool) from the Taos Wool Festival a few years ago. It might become Clapotis at some point. Below the Duet is a small skein of La Lana Phat Silk Phat (wool/silk) picked up in Taos. This might become a very narrow little dressy scarf.

In the center, Regia Bamboo, which I picked up maybe a month ago – I’m fascinated by the idea of bamboo socks, but I’ll probably wait to knit this until spring, since right now I’m just interested in knitting warm woolly socks. Above that, May inspects a ball of Opal Zebra – I forgot I had this, but I’m very curious about what it will look like, so maybe I’ll knit it soon (of course, “soon” is subjective…).

Underneath May is a skein of laceweight silk from Blackberry Hills, purchased at Yarnover a few years ago – someday, someday, it will become a shawl (no, not Adamas :p ). Below that, three small skeins of Rovings Polwarth and silk – also from Yarnover. This would make toasty warm socks. (Hmm, I’m detecting a theme of silk here…)

“Are zebras tasty, Mom?”

Another picture of May from mid-September. She’s definitely sleeker now! She’s also has more silver-tipped fur on her legs and sides – I think she’s going to be a different sort of stealth tabby than is Chaos.

“I feel pretty! Oh, so pretty! And so rumpled! Oh, so rumpled!”
Contests, Those Cats

In which I blatantly try to distract you with the cute

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Karrie of Girl on the Rocks is having an interesting contest for knitters who didn’t go to Rhinebeck. Since those of us who didn’t go are probably going to feel awfully jealous reading about all the wonderful things people got at Rhinebeck, Karrie would like us to go stash diving and find some goodies. Post a picture of this loot (that you already own! and maybe forgot about!) along with a blurb about it and leave a comment for Karrie. Contest ends Friday, October 27. Karrie’s favorite will win some fun yarn (TBD).

Because I spent my blogging time last night trying to save a tipped over plant and vaccuuming up potting soil (not pointing fingers or anything, Mayhem), I got nothin’ this morning. Thus, in the best Miss Lulu Kitty fashion, let me distract you with these pictures of Mayhem, taken September 16 – over a month ago already! And look – she still had whiskers! According to Wikipedia, “When a kitten is cleaned by its mother, she may chew off some or all of the whiskers.” Mommy Chaos?! Well, there is the misguided nursing…

Anyway, I don’t even have any clever captions in me this morning! Yikes. *takes a big slug of soy mocha* So, caption amongst yourselves and have a wonderful day, everyone!


Contests, Knitting, Reading

There was snow on my car this morning

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One of Michaele the Knitty Professor’s pet peeves is men who wear pants that make them appear as if they have no ass. Submit stories, photos, and haikus about these assless men and the best submission will win a prize.

Trek is having a limerick contest. The rules are great! Highlights incude that you must refer to fiber or homebrewing and you cannot include the word “Nantucket.” Heh! Contest ends 11:26 am, Friday, October 27 – I’m assuming EDT.

Sunday morning, I was lying blissfully asleep in my flannel sheets when the roof repair guys began work. Yikes! I’m on the top floor of condos, and they started right over my place. Remember how stressed Chaos was when the window guys were working outside?? Pretty much a rerun of that, except there were two cats hiding behind the toilet this time. Hopefully the roof repair guys finish very quickly…

Reading Update
Burnt Offerings and Blue Moon by Laurell K. Hamilton, books 7 and 8 of Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter. Ok, these two books were ok, but things were starting to fall apart with the addition of the wereleopards, Asher, and in particular, Raina’s munin.
Charmed to Death by Shirley Damsgaard. This cute book is the second in the Ophelia and Abby mystery series, about a librarian witch and her grandmother, living in small town Iowa.
Derik’s Bane: A Wyndham Werewolf Tale by MaryJanice Davidson. Hee hee – you know how books sometimes have a categorization on the spine? This one is “paranormal romance.” 🙂 It was a light and fun quick read. I’m waiting for the first book (Undead and Unwed) in Davidson’s Twin Cities vampire series, which sounds a wee bit lighter than the Anita Blake books. 😉
The Chocolate Cat Caper: A Chocoholic Mystery by JoAnna Carl. Ok, how could I resist this one? Chocolate! Cat! Yum! Not sure if I’ll read any of the other books in the series, but this was fun.
Something’s Cooking: An Angie Amalfi Mystery by Joanne Pence. Another of those irresistible $0.69 mysteries at the thrift store. I spent a fair amount of time shaking my head that I kept reading this book… but I did. And I was surprised at how things turned out. Um, if I found another in the series for the same price at the thrift store, I would probably read it. But I’m not going to bother looking for them at the library.

I’ve been making steady progress on the Flatiron socks from the yarn I dyed. I’m enjoying the spiraling and pooling – it’s fascinating to see what they’ll do next.

“I’ll pose for this picture, Mom, but you know as soon as you’re done, those Addis are toast!”

“Neener, neener, neener, May – look at my lovely whiskers. Ha! Yours are all bitten off.”
Contests, Randonymity, Those Cats

In which we find the sock monkey dress

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Last night, Jeanne and I stopped at Crafty Planet to scope out their bib yarn, um, I mean Sugar’n’Cream, and what did Jeanne spy in the window but one of the infamous Sock Monkey Dresses! (Hey, you can buy one for a mere $1,500US, MamaTulip!) Jeanne got a great picture of me with the dress, too.

The wonderful (but tragically blogless) RachelH sent me a very cool tin sign – thank you, Rachel! It will be perfect in my kitchen. (Plus it was a great thing to find waiting for me at work on my first day back.)

 

“The big kitty told me that flashing thing you keep pointing at me will make me go blind, Mom. I’m outta here!”

We haven’t had a Chaos and May size comparison for a while…

 

*sniff sniff sniff sniff sniff*

 

“I am Mayhem – hear me roar!”
Contests, Randonymity, Reading

End of vacation…

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The Yarn Harlot is having a contest – what’s the best word can you make from the Scrabble letters?

Celtic Kelly is selling some really cute stitchmarkers for socks – check them out!

Yesterday was my last day of vacation. Alas, I spent it with a migraine. Pooey! Much better today, but I didn’t get any of the things done I was planning for yesterday, so I’m feeling more discombobulated about being back at work than I expected. And very very far behind in bloglines again!

Sometime during the past two weeks, I saw a pattern for a soap bag that hangs in the shower. It was posted on someone’s blog, but I didn’t bookmark it. *slaps forehead* I think it was from Sugar’n’Cream, but I wouldn’t bet on it. Please leave a comment if you know where this pattern was posted. My google-fu hasn’t found it yet…

Reading Update
The Laughing Corpse, Circus of the Damned, The Lunatic Cafe, Bloody Bones, and The Killing Dance by Laurell K. Hamilton, books 2-6 of Anita Black, Vampire Hunter. It’s been ages since I read these and I’m definitely enjoying the re-read. The series hadn’t started to deteriorate yet…
Bit of info for anyone reading the Sookie Stackhouse Southern Vampire series – when I started the sixth book, Definitely Dead, I was very confused. The book referred to some critical incidents that had recently happened, but I certainly didn’t remember anything about them and I had just read the previous five books in about four days. It turns out that the information was revealed in a short story in the book Bite. I highly recommend reading that short story before you read Definitely Dead!

This was worth turning around to get a picture of…

And May wants to show off how big she’s getting:

“I’m almost as big as the big kitty, Mom!!”

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