Alongs, Contests, Reading, Those Cats

Vacation, Day #2

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MajorKnitter is having a contest to collect supplies for a school knitting project. She has a list of supplies needed to get a K-5 knitting program going – the kids will be knitting for different charities. Mail your donations by October 21.

Reading Update (probably will be quite a few of these during my vacation!)
Burying Ariel by Gail Bowen. Another $0.70 mystery from the thrift store, set in Canada (Saskatchewan this time). Joanne Kilbourn teaches at a university in Regina and one of her colleagues is found stabbed to death in the library. This was a well-written mystery that touched on some tough subjects and I’ll be looking for more in the series.
The Diamond Cat by Marian Babson. Ok, I love the covers of Babson’s books. The contents, not always so much. This was an ok book – I finished it, which I won’t do if I hate a book. And I’ll probably read the other book of hers that I have. But I don’t think I’ll look for any of the others.

Look! I actually took a Saturday Sky picture on a Saturday! (Please ignore the fact that it’s Tuesday right now…) The exuberant ash at the top of the picture has dropped all of its leaves while the other trees are still trying to decide whether to change color.

Really, I couldn’t have asked for a better start to my vacation (well, other than being in my car heading southwest across state lines!). It’s been unseasonably warm and dry here the past few days, and I’ve spent a lot of time walking around my neighborhood, sitting outside at cafes reading and knitting a bit. Today is supposed to be rainy, but hopefully I’ll hook up with Renee for a movie and some knitting – I might even finish my Regia Silk waffle socks!! (I’ll wait for you all to collect yourselves at the rumor of a finished object here at SoC.)

Since I have to be very careful about the angle I take pictures of Chaos from (so his naked butt isn’t revealed – he needs to retain some dignity, bibs notwithstanding), you might see quite a few pictures of Mayhem in the near future.

“Which is as it should be, seeing as I’m so cute and all.”

Hmm, I think I’ve posted at least one or two very similar pictures of Chaos…

“Where do you think you’re going, my pretty?”

“Ha, you’ll not get away from me now!! Off to my lair under the shoebox.”
Alongs, Contests, Reading, Those Cats

Vacation, Day #1

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Megan is participating in the Tour de Cure. She’ll have a prize drawing for those who support her in this endeavor. You can even support her by buying a sock pattern!

Rebekah is having a contest. She’s curious about how all those lone shoes end up along roads (I’ve always wondered about this, too). Take a picture of one such shoe and send her an email with the picture and your explanation before November 1.

Amelia is having a contest – leave a comment with a family story about your grandparents and you could win a yarny prize if you’re lucky commenter 3501.

Lorinda is having a ‘fess up to your oldest UFO contest. Leave your comment before 10 pm Central, October 8.

Chaos Update
Adding the additional antibiotic Thursday night seems to really have helped the Chaos Kitty. Things aren’t perfect yet, but they are definitely much better. Again, I cannot thank all of you enough for your support and words of wisdom, which have helped me so much. You guys are great!

Reading Update
To Feel Stuff by Andrea Seigel. Trying to expand a bit beyond the mysteries now and again… This novel revolves around Elodie Harrington, a Brown University student who lives in the infirmary due to her ongoing medical maladies. The story is told from the perspective of Elodie, a doctor studying her case, and another student (in love with her) who is confined to the infirmary for a time. A good read, and I’m definitely going to read other works by this author.
Coyote Cowgirl by Kim Antieau. Reading a book that starts on the Day of the Dead may be as close as I get to participating in the Day of the Dead Knitalong… This contemporary magical realism novel made for a compelling read and some aspects reminded me of Like Water for Chocolate.
The Magyar Venus by Lyn Hamilton. Love how the $0.70 mysteries I pick up at the thrift store often introduce me to a good series or author. This archeological mystery, set in Canada and Hungary, was enjoyable and well written; I will read more from this series.

On Friday, my KnitFlix package arrived! My pal was Anna of Knit-Write. Chaos and Mayhem inspected every aspect of the package, starting with the lovely gift bag.

“Smells… gifty.”

Chaos took it upon himself to perform the initial inspection. (Please note that a bar of lovely dark chocolate may or may not also have been included, although it is not pictured…)

“This is green, but I don’t think it’s catnip…”

Finally, he did allow Mayhem to check things out, too.

“Everything’s so interesting!”

“But this, this stuff is really interesting.”

Oh oh… Thanks, Anna, for a fun swap package! I’ve always wanted to have my own copy of Shrek, and am looking forward to trying the exotic popcorns and WildCAT Popcorn Salt.

Contests, KALs, Reading, Those Cats

Da fang

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Stephania, like many of us, fell in love with Lizard Ridge but really can’t justify the expense of all that Kureyon. So she’s asking for Lizard Ridge squares, which she will assemble into a blanket and send to Afghans for Afghans, with everyone’s name attached. If there are enough squares for a second Lizard Ridge, each person sending a sqaure will be entered in a drawing to win that Lizard Ridge.

Kristi of Red Dog Knits is pregnant with boy triplets and is on bed rest. Some of her friends have organized a Virtual Baby Shower (with prizes for participating knitters)! More details can be found in this post.

To quote the Scout, “Dayum!” – I won Cindy’s contest! Really, I want all this luck energy to head to Chaos, please!

Reading Update: After You’d Gone by Maggie O’Farrell. Wow. This book was intense and excellent. It built from a point in time, then went back in the past with various people to build the story to the present. Someone recommended this to me, perhaps on a blog, and I wish I remembered who so I could say thank you.

Chaos really appreciated all the birthday wishes and probably wishes he lived with any one of you as I squirt his 3x/day antibiotics down his throat. Vacation? Um, yeah, now it’s going to be hanging out at home and caring for my kitties, not going to Colorado and New Mexico… Any local knitters doing anything interesting next week??

I was actually going to have a picture of my Regia Silk socks for you, all 1.5 of them. But alas…. So! I shall continue to distract you with cute cat pictures! (Hey, it’s worked so far…..)

“It’s very exhausting being this beautiful.”

“Oh no! Boss, da fang, da fang!!”

“Ok, I’ll let you wash me if you won’t eat me… and if I can have that spiffy red mouse back…”
Those Cats

Happy Birthday, Chaos!

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Ok, it’s not the birthday I would wish on anyone, because who wants to be under the weather on their birthday? But today, my beloved Chaos Kitty is three years old. I was planning on having a big birthday contest for him, but I think I would like to wait until he’s healthier. I hope everyone understands!

“I’m pretty sure I’ve had better birthdays…”
Randonymity

WTF Wednesday wackiness

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I cannot thank all of you enough for the kind words for my Chaos Kitty. He seems to be doing well! I think the next day or so of antibiotics will be critical. Anyone who’s met him will be shocked to know that he watches me get out the medicine and waits to be dosed… And, if he is back on form by Sunday or Monday, I have a revised plan of attack for my Knitblogger’s Tour of the West.

Wow, I was also a winner in Becky’s contests over at Moonfrog! I’m trying to direct some of this luck Chaos’ way. 🙂

Ok, time to lighten things up here with a little WTF Wednesday wackiness!! I have an old Bernat book of raglans that has a few interesting pictures… First, imagine the emotional scars to this poor child as her father sneakily steals her Cracker Jacks – probably the prize! She is so going to make them pay for therapy later.

I find this woman’s hair and proportions vaguely disquieting… perhaps because I think my neck would snap off if held at that angle?!

Nothing vaguely disquieting about this picture. Stepford Wife, anyone? Yikes!

And here’s May, filling in for Chaos while he rests up and heals. May, she’s not as particular as Chaos about mice. She loves all the mice.

“I’m hanging onto this mouse because I think the refrigerator might come and steal it like it did all the other mice.”
Contests, Those Cats

My poor Chaos Kitty…

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Ginger is having a “how many socks would a woodchuck knit if a woodchuck could knit socks” contest – for contest details and to submit your answer, drop by her blog before midnight Pacific Time on September 30. You could win sock yarn!

Two contesty sorts of things that don’t have prizes but are fun anyway:

  1. Tink is having a contest to choose her new blog look.
  2. Crazy Aunt Purl wants to see people’s knitting spots. Since we all took pictures to show Scout the same thing, this should be easy!

I won Kate’s “Look Back and Cringe” contest! All hail the random number generator.

My poor Chaos Kitty. Let’s just say that there were issues (fortunately not having to do with eating something inappropriate), that involved his butt getting shaved and devolving from there… He’s taking antibiotic liquid and we have antiobiotic ointment to apply, so hopefully he heals quickly – especially his wounded dignity!

Send him your healthy thoughts, please. Thank you.

“I don’t feel very good, Mom….”
Alongs, Contests, KALs, Reading, Those Cats

In which I post about contests, books read, Saturday Sky belated, and yarn dyed (yes, some cute cat pictures are included)

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Limedragon is having not one, but two contests! The first is a Sock Hunt – guess which color of Opal in which pattern Limedragon will knit first and win a skein of Opal Petticoat. The second is a Dragon Hunt – from a selection of pictures, guess which picture contains the elusive Limedragon and win a skein of Habu Silk-Stainless Steel laceweight.

Becky is having a contest – guess what Mark Twain is reading in the picture and let her know what you’re reading to win a bookish prize when she gets back from vacation.

Don’t forget about the Think Pink Challenge, which is trying to collect 1000 knitted or crocheted pink scarves by October 15 to be distributed to women newly diagnosed with breast cancer.

I’m starting to fear I may never catch up on Bloglines… I’ve been getting things ready for my vacation, hoping that Chaos is recovered before next Saturday so that I can actually go. He’s very lively and is eating Science Diet ID for cats with intestinal, um, issues. Hopefully that will have him on track in a few days… but he’s also licking away the fur at the base of his tail, which is not good. I think we’ll be back at the vet tonight…

Reading Update: Anybody Out There? by Marian Keyes. Keyes’ books have focused on the five Walsh sisters, and now it’s Anna’s turn. Very well done chick lit!
Snow Blind by PJ Tracy. This is the fourth mystery about two homicide detectives in the Minneapolis Police Department and the eccentric software geniuses of Monkeewrench. The entire series has been excellent – highly recommended, but you should read these in order. (Monkeewrench was the first book.)
Lime Ricky by Jill Winters. Totally trashy romance with a hint of mystery, and I devoured every minute of it! *fans self*

You may or may not have noticed, but I’m terrible at being part of Saturday Sky – I forget or am too lazy. But I actually remembered this week… I just didn’t manage to post it. Improvement? Or not? Anyway, this was taken Saturday at 4:30 pm from inside my car. The rain was heavy enough that the windshield looked clear.

Remember a few weeks ago when Jeanne, Deb, and I dyed some more yarn? Well, I finally wound up one of my self-striping skeins, made by special request for a friend:

“I don’t know why the big cat said I had to come up here to check out the yarn and report back to him. Hmph.”

Speaking of Chaos and Mayhem, they seem to be getting along pretty well. Here Mayhem nurses from Chaos… Um, yeah, there are some challenges to this endeavor!!

“Maybe she isn’t very bright… At least this way, she stays still so I can clean her properly!”
Contests, Knitting, Those Cats

Finally Friday – whew!

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Ok, I added this contest sort of late yesterday, so it will be a repeat for some of you: Cara is having a haiku contest – leave a haiku containing the word “sock” plus three other special words (listed in her post) in her comments before September 23, 11:59 pm EDT. Six winners will receive sock yarn and one of the coveted orange Chibis!

Duchess is having a ballband dishcloth contest. There are lots of ways to participate! Registration to participate closes September 27.

Julia is having a contest about your experiences knitting for men – part of the prize is Alice Starmore’s Sweaters for Men! Leave her a comment by 5 pm PST, September 25.

The final SRP standings are out! Congrats to Tiffany, who read the most by number of books and by number of pages. I came in third in number of books and fourth in number of pages. Big thanks to Kat for a fun summer contest/program!

Wednesday night, Deb and Jeanne came over to knit and meet Mayhem. Deb is so focused because she’s knitting Eunny’s new sock pattern, Bayerische. You should go over and see the amazing work Deb did on setting up the charts for herself – while having a migraine. Wow.

I’m not sure what Jeanne is focused on. Maybe wishing she was wearing her warm and toasty Lara? Anyway, check out the amazing sock yarn she dyed!

Edit: I was knitting my MagKnits pattern – hence no pictures!

Chaos hung out and kept an eye on all of us… although he seems to be taking a break in this picture.

“…zzzzzzzzzzzz…”

For scale, here’s a picture of Mayhem in the same location:

“Rainy days and Fridays always get me down.”

Following tradition (since between the two of us, we’ve accumulated five kittens in the past three years!), Jeanne brought along a Kitten Warming Present:

“I don’t know May, are you sure pink is your color?”

Jeanne also brought along a Kitten Warming Loan (this toy is good until about nine months and then they lose interest):

“It keeps going round and round and round and… I feel woozy.”
Contests, Randonymity, Those Cats

Of Harlots and vets

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The Yarn Harlot documented her visit to Eau Claire – and she got a much better picture of Jeanne, Deb, and I than the one I posted (we’re holding the sock)!

V is having a contest – she’s collecting 12-18 yard lenghts of DK or lighter weight yarn for a blanket. Everyone who sends yarn will be entered to win a $25 gift certifcate from Little Knits.

Vicki Knitorious is having a constant comment contest – if your comment happens to be her 6000th comment, she will send you a prize.

Cara is having a haiku contest – leave a haiku containing the word “sock” plus 3 other special words (january, one, rock(s), jet, fall, sheep, wool, feet (or foot), knit, yarn, pirate, fest, dude, fantastic, worm) in her comments before September 23, 11:59 pm EDT. Six winners will receive sock yarn and one of the coveted orange Chibis!

Forgive me – I am once again behind in bloglines. Let me know if you have a contest or knitalong starting! I usually get caught up over the weekend… Y’all are just too busy being interesting! I’m still knitting my MagKnits project, tweaking the pattern, and I can’t really blog much about it. Secret knitting makes for boring reading – sorry! So, back to cats. 😉

According to the vet, Choas is stressed, plain and simple. Sigh. He got an antibiotic shot and some tuna flavored liquid antibiotics to take daily for five days to help his messed up insides heal. And he was prescribed a bland diet of tuna and mashed up rice for the next several days. The vet might be on Chaos’ payroll, too, along with some of y’all. Hmph.

The vet also confirmed what I suspected – Chaos needs to lose about 2.5 pounds! Poor guy. Yesterday afternoon, I noticed that May was trying to nurse on Chaos’ jungle pouch. Hmm. Maybe that’s making him stressed?! It would me.

Oh, the vet did float the idea that Chaos might not adapt to Mayhem enough and that maybe he would be best as a single kitty…. 🙁 But Chaos is washing her, which I think is promising. I think that I might have made things worse by moving his food to the top of the fridge to keep May out of it – I think that really confused and trauamatized him. I’m not giving up hope yet, but I am starting to worry about taking a vacation with things this unsettled here at home.

I really want to thank all of you – you’ve been so helpful and reassuring while I’ve been angsting about this. Your support has been wonderful and much appreciated. You guys rock!!

So, I ask y’all – does this look like a stressed cat?!

“Cleanliness is very important, Mayhem. It will give you a big strong tongue like me.”

“Why do you resist so when I hold you down to wash you?!”

“She’s kinda cute when she’s sleeping, isn’t she?”
KALs, Randonymity, Those Cats

WTF Wednesday – the Hat Edition

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Ok, I’ve been reading about SocktoberFest everywhere and was thinking to myself, “Heh, last thing I need right now is another along to not complete!” But it turns out that SocktoberFest is another of Lolly’s wonderfully no-pressure alongs – simply knit socks in October. That’s it. No tricks. No gimmicks. Well, I can manage that – I always have a pair of socks in my purse. So I’m in!

It’s 39F here right now – brrrrr!!

Hopefully I’ll be taking Chaos to the vet in a little bit – let’s just say that his digestion has been, um, messy, for the past day and I’m a bit worried. So, to distract all of us, I present the Hat Edition of WTF Wednesday.

Of course, even if he’s not feeling up to snuff, Chaos had to get in on the photo action (butt on left) – so did May (paws on bottom).

But I’d hate for y’all to miss out on a good picture of those hats, so here they are again in all-too-vivid color:

Apologies in advance for any nightmares you might have as a result of that picture… In this next picture, do you think she’s saluting? Or about to cover her eyes to escape the horror? (Or is she a he??)

This picture reminds me of something or someone, but I’m drawing a blank. Twiggy maybe?

Crocheted bobbles in lovely 1970s colors, anyone?!

Alas, I don’t think these pictures cheered Chaos up.

“Is it time to go to the vet yet, Mom?”

Even Mayhem looks concerned…

“He’s going to be ok, right Mom? I know he’s kind of crabby, but he’s fun to tease!”

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