Project Spectrum, Randonymity, Those Cats

Frivolous Friday

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Everybody wants to be a cat
Because the cat’s the only cat who knows where it’s at
Everybody’s picking up on that feline beat
Because everything else is obsolete
– Psapp, “Everybody Wants To Be a Cat”

When I got home from work yesterday, Chaos was completely back to his usual Chaotic self. Yay!!

“I have no idea what you’re talking about. I’m a badass kitty – what would I possible be afraid of?! Wait, did you hear something???”

Some contests to tell you about. First, Aija of Sock Pr0n is having a very interesting contest that’s open until July 23rd. Second, Wendy (yes, that Wendy) is having a needle identification contest that’s open until noon ET July 23rd. Third, Susan’s clever and amusing contest is “dress Ken” and is open until July 29th. Fourth, Frarochvia says “Leave a deafie-type question you’ve been wondering about, and hmmm, there will be a random drawing for a prize!”

It suddenly occurred to me this morning during breakfast that I haven’t taken very many Project Spectrum pictures this month. Considering that purple is my second favorite color (black being the first), this was quite a shock (especially since it was 5:45 am). So I immediately pulled out the camera and took a few pictures. Let’s just say that my photographic skills are not the greatest at that time of morning! Oh well, I got most of the cat in the pictures. What’s an ear here or there?!

Some purple fabric from Crafty Planet that I was powerless to resist. This is very amusing, since I don’t sew.


“I’m sure I heard something. You don’t hear it?!”

Two purple mice – one old, one new. Can you tell which is which?!


“Oh, SPM, if you would but share the secret of where SRM is!”


“I’m sure I can convince you to give up your secrets!”
Randonymity, Reading, Those Cats

The jangling nerves of the Cat Chaotic

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A few miscellaneous things…

To humor me, Kat took a picture of her dog Java wearing a bib. Talk about a hangdog expression! Thanks, Kat! Sorry, Java – does it help to know that you look awfully cute in that bib?

MeanGirl Jen is having a contest – you have until Friday to leave her a comment with the posted and forecasted high temps where you live. The winner will be selected by random number and receive a skein of Mama-E’s sock yarn! Susan’s going to have a contest starting on Friday (she’s being very mysterious), so drop by tomorrow and see what she has in store for us.

Send me an email if you’re having a contest (chris at my domain) and I’ll let people know – I love contests! (And I’m so far behind in bloglines that your contest will probably be over before I find out about it otherwise.) In fact, I’m thinking about what to do for my next contest…

Another SRP book completed – Micah by Laurell K. Hamilton, 245 pages. The latest but one in the Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter series. I enjoy this series, but it is not for everyone. It is sexually graphic and often violent. If that isn’t a problem, Laurell K. Hamilton always writes an intense, page-turning read that you won’t soon forget. The series should definitely be read in order (Guilty Pleasures is the first book in the series). This book reveals a bit of wereleopard Micah’s past as he travels with Anita to Philadelphia for a zombie raising.

Chaos has been a nervous wreck since Tuesday. While I was at work, the guys who are doing the window installation in my building used a hydraulic lift to reach my third floor windows, ripped out the rotting wooden trim around the windows, put in new trim, and wrapped it with aluminum. In addition to the noisy hydraulic life and strangers looking in the windows (not so common in our third floor condo), they were using a nail gun to secure the wood and trim. All new experiences for Chaos, who tends to be jumpy anyway, and all very loud.

“It was terrible. Terrible, I tell you! I’m sure that I will have nightmares for years,
and probably will require lots of tuna to soothe my jangling nerves.”

I work at home most Wednesdays, so Chaos did get some tuna yesterday, along with lots of petting, brushing, and soothing talk… Until the big thunderstorm, although he’s never been afraid of thunder before. And then the guys came back on their lift to use the nail gun to finish one of my window ledges! And then a jet flew very, very low above us!! Argh. Back to seeing my noisy, saucy, bossy kitty with his tail down and puffed out, quivering and cowering behind the toilet. I’m back in the office today, so when they start that lift and begin driving it around, I’m not going to be there to calm my poor kitty. Hopefully the guys will finish the windows soon and things will be quiet and calm and sunny again for the dusty Cat Chaotic…

Alongs, See the Sights

N is for…

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Nashwauk, Minnesota. Can you see me in the first picture?! (Clicking on a picture will open a new window with a larger version of the pictures.)

Nashwauk is located about four hours north of the Twin Cities between Hibbing (boyhood home of Bob Dylan) and Grand Rapids (birthplace of Judy Garland). It’s deep in the heart of “Da Range” (aka Minnesota’s Iron Range), which you can tell by the “From Timber to Taconite” bit on the sign below:

The Hawkins mine, which abuts the eastern edge of the town, was the first mine in Itasca County.

The old mine is surprisingly beautiful. They didn’t fill in the huge open pit when they closed the mine; instead, they turned off the pumps that were keeping it dry.

Some of the hills of taconite tailings are not quite so lovely, alas.

Just outside of town, this structure always mystifies me – some sort of radar installation?

Isn’t it amazing how different the sky looks in those two pictures? Yet they were taken within a few hundred feet of each other.

Edit: I was just informed that I somehow missed the wonderful sign “Nashwauk, Gateway to North of Nashwauk.” (The Boundary Waters? Canada? The North Pole? The mind boggles.) Drat!

Knitting, Project Spectrum, Randonymity, Reading

Tidbibs

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You may have had some difficulty connecting to my blog over the past several days. My blog hosting provider has had a very rough few days. Please keep your fingers crossed that everything is back to normal and thanks for hanging in there.

We went up to the cabin Saturday morning and my brother immediately finished hooking up the toilet, giving us complete indoor plumbling facilities!! (Pause for a moment to consider what using the biff on a humid 96F day would be like – see why we were excited?) We then got the air conditioner installed – ahhhh… My brother and I worked on stuff outside, taking many frequent indoor water breaks. My sister-in-law was supposed to be taking it easy inside, but she managed to get most of the cabin decorated and vacuumed. Not surprisingly, she was a bit tired and sore on Sunday when we headed back to the Twin Cities around noon. But she’s doing great! 🙂

I am spectacularly behind on bloglines again – I usually catch up on the weekend, but going to the cabin prevented that. Sooner or later I’ll get caught up!

Knittymama is having a contest – tell her your biggest “I can’t believe I did that” knitting story in her comments and you could win two skeins of plum Misti Alpaca laceweight! The contest deadline has been extended to Friday, July 21.

SRP Update

Please Do Feed the Cat by Marian Babson, 192 pages. A cozy little English village mystery set in “Brimful Coffers,” where many mystery writers live and discover mysteries in their midst.

A Handful of Coppers by Charles de Lint, 332 pages. This is a collection of de Lint’s very earliest work and is a bit heavier on the sword and sorcery than I generally enjoy. I would not recommend this unless you are a diehard de Lint fan or unless you are interested in a few of the stories that combine Arthurian legend with some bits of the Mabinogen.

No Good Deeds by Laura Lippman, 343 pages. Chicago has V.I., Santa Teresa\Barbara has Kinsey, and Baltimore has Tess Monaghan. The latest Tess Monaghan novel is another enjoyable, suspenseful read.

That brings me up to 22 fiction books completed, for a total of 6809 pages since the beginning of July. Still eight fiction and two non-fiction to read by the beginning of September.

Knitting

I finished knitting my bag for the Knit Sock Kit Swap. Whew! I still have a few ends to weave in and then I should probably line it. But no pictures of it until it’s received by my swappee.

I also finished another bib… Really, I don’t have a problem. What makes you think that?! Tell me if you could resist not only the baby’s parents going on about how great these bibs are, but also the baby’s grandfather?! Yeah, you’d be cranking out bibs, too. Hopefully my friends now have enough bibs to get them through! Although I do have another color I want to knit… Anyway, the most recent bib was knit top down from Sugar’n’Cream, color Jewel – very Project Spectrum!

Apologies to Chaos. I tried one last time to have him model, but it didn’t go so well… At least his fangs didn’t break the skin, right?! Which probably means that I got off easily.

“Run away! Run away!”
Alongs, Randonymity

Two, two, two posts for the price of one!

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We’re going to try going to the cabin again this weekend (no stops at Dairy Queen this time), so I’ll be offline from Saturday until sometime Monday. My SIL is doing really well – thanks again, everyone, for all the healing energy you sent her way! 🙂 Hopefully it will be a bit cooler up at the cabin than in the Twin Cities, where the temperature will be hovering around 100F with plenty o’ humidity to give us that special sauna feel.

Post the First

Amazing Lace Challenge #4: “If you bound off your lace RIGHT NOW – what could it be used for?”

Let’s see… the binding off part is pretty easy, since I haven’t cast on yet! In its current state, my shawl could be used for a paperweight.

Or it could be used for a nice soft ball, perfect for indoor play – no fear of denting my closet doors!

It could also be used for a cat toy.

“Oh, Cabernet, how I have missed you!” *chomp*

Post the Second

My name was drawn in Kristi’s contest to name her new sock pattern and I got a copy of the DK Balance pattern for my very own. Thanks, Kristi!

I also recently won a contest at Enchanting Juno and the prize arrived yesterday. Look at those gorgeous skeins of alpaca silk – yum! Thanks, Juno! (Oh yeah, and I think Chaos liked the toys she included for him – particularly that peach mouse.)

“You put your right paw in…”
“You put your right paw out…”
“And you shake your mouse about!”
See the Sights

Walk(er)ing

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Several weeks ago, when I went to the Sculpture Garden, I took a few more pictures but never got around to posting them. Whoops. Anyway, the Sculpture Garden is located on the north side of the Walker Art Center. Here’s a picture of both the old and the new parts of the Walker – can you tell which is which?!

I love reading this every day on my way to and from work:

Remember the stone bench in the Sculpture Garden with the very odd saying on it? It’s only one of the 28 benches that make up Selections From the Living Series by Jenny Holzer. Here’s another bench:

And another… (Please note that I have finally turned the heel on my purple Trekking sock but that’s about it – those bibs have been taking up all my sock knitting time!)

Speaking of bibs, Chaos still seems wary of me…

“I’m keeping an eye on you until that bib is out of the condo. Just in case.”
Knitting, Randonymity, Reading

Just another Random Wednesday

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SRP update: Dating Can Be Murder by Jennifer Apodaca, 275 pages. Obviously inspired by the success of Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum, but not as well-written or clever. I got the book for $0.69+tax at the thrift store and it was worth every penny. 🙂

Jeanne’s been knitting bibs, bibs, bibs, too! Her four cats were just as unimpressed by bib modeling as Chaos was, but Jeanne might have the only “color true” picture of a Countryside Ombre bib in existence. Sydney (July 5 entry) had the same problem I did getting a decent picture of that color.

Mouse sent me some wonderful stitchmarkers! Her fimo stitchmarkers are extremely cute and clever – you can see them at her new store, Mousie Masala. Check out the the little red mouse, mini-mini Chaos, and tiny red tuna!

The markers received the Furry Black Paw of Approval.

I finished another bib. (Um, is anyone at all surprised?! Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?) This one’s from Sugar’n’Cream color “Playtime,” although I think the color looks more like a tropical sunset.

Chaos quickly took action to prevent any bib modeling.

“Hee hee. I am so tricky!”
Those Cats

Chaotic exercise?!

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Thank you all so much for your support! I conveyed your well wishes to my SIL last night and she thanks you all. Her doctor thinks that her leg is “just” deeply bruised and might take up to six weeks to get back to normal. Still, better than the alternatives! My SIL is already hoping we can go up to the cabin this coming weekend, although they won’t be stopping at that Dairy Queen again…

Last week, I moved my exercise bike away from the windows so the windows could be replaced. Chaos became very interested in the bike in its new location…

“Let me just check out the controls.”
“Very intuitive. But those pedals look awfully far away…”
“Hmm, I’m really not seeing how this pedal thing is going to work.”
“Maybe if I take a quick bath, I’ll figure something out.”
“Oh, to heck with it. I don’t want to overdevelop my thighs anyway.”
Knitting, Randonymity, Reading

We didn’t make it to the cabin…

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This was not the weekend my brother, SIL, and I had planned. On Friday night, my brother and SIL were driving up to the cabin. They stopped at a Dairy Queen for supper and were sitting on the tailgate of their pickup, eating their burgers and enjoying a lovely summer evening when a minivan backed up without looking and trapped my SIL’s leg against the truck tailgate. Initially, it seemed likely that she had a broken leg, but so far it’s “just” severely bruised. She’ll have more tests this week to see if there’s nerve, ligament, or tendon damage.

So I spent my weekend at my brother and SIL’s house, helping them out. I got a little knitting done – this bib was knit from the Fiesta Ombre Peaches’n’Cream that Frarochivia gifted me with. Isn’t it wild?! I love it. (And I decided to spare Chaos, so didn’t entrap him to model it.)

I also read Cherry Cheesecake Murder by Joanna Fluke, 342 pages. The latest in this somewhat silly series set in the fictional town of Lake Eden, Minnesota, again features cookie baker Hannah Swensen, her giant orange tomcat Moishe, more romantic entanglement for Hannah, and lots of recipes. I’m a sucker for those Minnesota mysteries. 🙂

Anyway, this is going to be a week or so of craziness, with unpredictable blogging, erratic bloglines reading (I’ll probably never catch up!), and lots of family time. Send healing thoughts my SIL’s way, if you have a few to spare! Thanks.

“I hope you get better soon, Jess! Even though I sometimes hiss and spit at you when you come to visit, I know you took good care of me when I was a tiny kitten.”

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