Contests, Knitting, Reading

Vacation continues…. ahhh….

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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!

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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!”
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…”

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