Category Archives: Alongs

Alongs, Knitting

What a long weird TrekAlong it’s been

40 Comments

I’m happy to hear that people are enjoying the “contest clearinghouse!” Remember, if you have a contest and would like me to mention it (because sometimes I get so behind in bloglines I don’t discover contests until they’re done), please send me an email (chris at this domain). Thanks!

Over the weekend, I finally finished my Trekking 78 socks, although my camera insists on making them more blue and less purple than they really are.

Can you spot the cat in this picture?!

“Hee hee – at last, they cannot see me! I am totally invisible, perfectly hidden!”

Last week I mentioned that TB was having a contest to show her pictures of the weird things we have displayed in our homes. This is what I sent:

“Um, Mom? I think he needs to be neutered…”

Currently, I store this in my closet, since Chaos would chew up the chopsticks… You can tell that he isn’t exactly sure what to think of it!! This is from a drink I had at a Japanese restaurant in Orlando when I was 17. I’ve lugged it around everywhere I’ve lived in the intervening 23 years. It’s the only memento I have of that time in my life. I suspect this little critter is modeled on a fertility diety or something, because of his, um, rather visible genitalia… Strangely, boyfriends that I’ve lived with have found him rather disturbing. Hee hee.

“The colorful chopsticks taste the best. Don’t knock it until you try it!”
Alongs, Contests, Reading

My KSKS kit arrived!

34 Comments

Lisa is having a contest about the number of active projects you have going right now. Cut off is Tuesday, August 15th.

Chris is asking us to guess how much she spent at Stitches and what time she got home.

SRP update: Whew! I read up a storm this weekend. 🙂
The Math Instinct: Why You’re a Mathematical Genius (Along with Lobsters, Birds, Cats, and Dogs) by Keith Devlin (NPR’s “Math Guy”), 267 pages. Woo-hoo! I finished my second non-fiction book. This was a great book – it covered both the natural mathematics that our brains have evolved to do unconsciously (such as those involved in vision and perception) and the formal (“school math”) that humans have developed, along with the natural mathematics performed by cats, dogs, bats, owls, and more. If Trek’s Number Guy hasn’t read this book yet, he definitely should.
Murder Most Frothy: A Coffeehouse Mystery by Cleo Coyle, 257 pages. Featuring NYC coffeehouse manager Clare Cosi, this is the fourth book in the series and it takes Clare to the Hamptons for the summer.
Love Her to Death by Linda Palmer, 326 pages. Um, yeah, I only picked this up because it had a black cat on the cover… and then was surprised at how much I enjoyed it – enough to put the other books in the series on reserve at the library.
Spurred Ambition: A Pinnacle Peak Mystery by Twist Phelan, 265 pages. Featuring Arizona lawyer and former roadie turned rock climber Hannah Dain, I’m enjoying this series and look forward to tracking down the first book at Uncle Edgar’s sometime.
Fit to Die by Karen Hanson Stuyck, 292 pages. So far this is a standalone mystery (although obviously designed to be part of a series). It was perfectly adequate – I kept reading to the end, which I don’t always, should a mystery be particularly bad.

Last week, I received my KSKS kit from Elspeth. Mmmmm… purpley goodness!

Elspeth made a very cool felted bag that will be perfect for my grab and go projects. Plus she dyed this gorgeous purple yarn and made some purple stitchmarkers (they’re on the ribbon on the yarn). She included the pattern for Elfine’s socks – definitely on my list to knit!!

But that’s not all – Elspeth also included some lavendar lotion and bath stuff, purpley teas, yummy chocolate, a very cute sheep tape measure, and some of the new KnitPicks circulars in size 0 (which I was curious about and already trying out on a new pair of socks!). Thank you so much, Elspeth!!

Chaos contemplated the new things now available for him to try to destroy…

“Hmm, what should I try to get first? So many choices!”
Alongs, See the Sights

P is for…

24 Comments

Powderhorn Art Fair. (Let’s just move right along and ignore the fact that I’ve skipped “O,” shall we?)

I posted Saturday about the crowds of the Uptown Art Fair. If crowds aren’t your thing, you have two additional art fair options on the same weekend. The first is the Loring Park Art Festival, which is located around the shores of the lake in Loring Park. I haven’t been to that festival for a few years, mostly because I can only handle one art fair in a weekend.The second alternative is the Powderhorn Art Fair, which is located around the shores of a lake in Powderhorn Park. I love this art fair! I think it’s much more pleasant wandering around a lake looking at art than it is shoving your way along a crowded street looking at art. Your mileage may vary (YMMV).

So on Saturday, Jeanne and I headed over to Powderhorn Park. (Look! More Saturday skies!) This picture was taken facing away from downtown (click on any picture to see a larger version):

And this picture was taken from the other side of the lake, facing downtown with the Midtown Market (a renovated old Sears building) looming between downtown and the park:

A band played jazzy oompa music, which provided the perfect soundtrack for art shopping.

We saw some wildlife…

Although we couldn’t figure out what that turtle (on the far left) and the ducks were sitting on – a submarine seemed unlikely!

This puzzled me no end – if you can’t read the lettering, it says “ICE WATER DEVICE.” Huh.

Sorry – no pictures of my purchases, since most of them were birthday and Christmas presents for my family!

Chaos kept busy while I was gone:

“…zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz…”
Alongs, Tales of the Neighborhood

Saturday sky: Uptown Art Fair

22 Comments

Here’s the thing – if you live in Uptown Minneapolis, you dread the annual Uptown Art Fair because streets are blocked off, traffic crazy, parking nonexistent, and crowds formidable. Today was no exception as I ventured two blocks into the madness to return some library books at Walker Library (exciting library moment – I actually had a brief conversation with Cute Library Guy!).

Anyway, I present to you – Saturday skies of the Uptown Art Fair. First – the warning sign:

Next, the Uptown icons – the Uptown Theater and Calhoun Square (middle back), with bonus airplane! (Remember, you can click on any picture to make it bigger.)

Want to get a better idea of the crowds?

The sky over the Uptown Transit Station as I headed home again.

And an amusing billboard (plus sky, of course) at the corner of Hennepin and 28th:

Alongs, Project Spectrum, Randonymity, Reading

KisS KisS

37 Comments

Although I’ve been rather quiet about it, I’m participating in the Knit Sock Kit Swap (KSKS). I had to be sort of sneaky about the whole thing because my swap target was Mrs Pao and I didn’t want her to figure that out. But now that she’s received her swap package, I can talk about it – especially since it was such a Project Spectrum kit! 🙂

I asked Scout to dye a special skein of yarn for Mrs Pao, incorporating her favorite colors of black and purple (yes, yes, I know, those are my favorite colors, too, but I was ever so good and didn’t keep the lovely skein of yarn). The absolutely perfect Stormy Chaos colorway reminds me of Lorna’s Laces Black Purl and Koigu #305.

The bag was knitted from black Tahki Capri, a sadly discontinued Egyptian cotton tape yarn, using the Two Old Bags’ Pamela bag pattern. I can’t sew worth anything, but I dug out some swirly purple silk jersey and sewed a bag lining by hand. I have my very own Pamela bag from the same yarn (although not lined… yet) and think it’s perfect for carrying around a sock, since the bag handle loops so handily around the wrist. As soon as Mrs Pao’s router is playing nice again, I’m sure she’ll share details of what else was in the kit!

Last night I met another local knitter, blogless Kathryn K, at Bar Abilene for chips, salsa, margaritas, conversation, and, of course, knitting. We had a lot of fun and I bound off the first purple Trekking sock! One down, one to go…

And yet another SRP update…
The Art of Detection by Laurie R. King, 358 pages. The first Kate Martinelli mystery in a long time! This book sort of bridges King’s two mystery series, the Mary Russell/Sherlock Holmes series and the Kate Martinelli series, as much as can be done when they take place many decades apart.
Wicked Fix by Sarah Graves, 290 pages. This is the first “Home Repair Is Homicide” mystery that I’ve read, but I enjoyed it and will be reading more. The series is set in Eastport, Maine, and features former Wall Streeter Jacobia Tiptree.

If you’re ever curious about the order of books in a mystery series, curious about mysteries set in a certain location, can remember the character but not the author, or want to find new books to read based on authors you like, check out Stop, You’re Killing Me! It’s easily the best resource an avid mystery reader can have (besides a public library…).

Chaos is enjoying the sun and the air conditioning…

“Why are all of you upside down?”
Alongs, See the Sights

N is for…

34 Comments

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!

Alongs, Randonymity

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

32 Comments

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!”