Category Archives: Those Cats

Alongs, Contests, Randonymity, Those Cats

Pajamas and contests and cats, oh my!

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Mark Super International Pajama Day on your calendar – it’s Super Bowl Sunday (February 4). All you need to do is stay in your pajamas all day and relax. Ahhh….

Debra is having a National Delurking Week comment contest. Leave her a comment by midnight, January 16, and you could win some sock yarn, stitch markers, and chocolate.

Anne is celebrating her one-year blogiversary at the beginning of February. Send her an email by midnight, February 2, and you could win one of many lovely fibery prizes.

Lucia is having a contest in which you submit a picture of yourself knitting socks in public. The contest is open until the end of January and you could win some mysterious sock yarn. For every entry received, Lucia will donate $1.00 to MSF.

I got home Friday from an absolutely hellish week at work (I can’t remember the last time I worked five days in a row) to discover a wonderful package from Tink! (Let me just straighten things out for the knitters – even though her tagline is “I Tink, therefore I am,” she’s not a knitter; it’s short for Tinkerbell.)

Tink sent me a lovely black cat travel mug. She also sent an extremely appropriate bowl for Chaos and Mayhem, along with some sparkly mice and a bottle of catnip-flavored bubble blowing stuff.

“Is she mocking my tail with this??!! And who’s she calling pampered, anyway?!” -C
*sniff sniff sniff* -M

“Oh, this reminds me that I haven’t seen my beloved SRM for many, many months…” -C
*sniff sniff sniff* -M

Um, please ignore that tail sticking out of the litterbox on the right side of the following picture. I just noticed that… Whoops!

“This mouse is pretty cool! It jingles and sparkles and is easy to carry by its tail!!” -M
“Hey!!! Give a guy some privacy back here!!!!” -C

I’m particularly fond of the travel mug because it’s quite similar to my favorite coffee mug.

“Dum de dum de dum de dum…” -C

Ok, this may be a better comparison shot:

“I’m still not convinced that my tail isn’t being mocked…” -C
Randonymity, Those Cats

For those who were concerned about the lack of ‘nip in yesterday’s post…

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Way back in mid-December, I received a delightful surprise package from Jane – it contained a gorgeous calendar of her photos (she thought of me because July features a photo of a black cat) and some catnip toys for Chaos and Mayhem. Thanks, Jane!! (Remember that you can click on the pictures to see them larger.)

Chaos and May appeared to enjoy the toys… (That rug is proof that I once knew some basic crochet… in about 1989.)

*kick kick kick bite bite bite*

“Sheesh, May, chill! You have no tolerance.” -C

“You’re not the boss of me, big kitty!” -M

“Why, you little whippersnapper…” -C
Randonymity, Those Cats

Happiness is…

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Sheep pants and black cat slippers. Yeah, baby. That’s what I’m talking about.

*sniff sniff sniff* -C

If you’ve been reading for a while (ok, ok, over a year), you might remember the black cat slippers. The “real” cats are used to the slippers. The newly arrived Counting Sheep Fleece Pants (apparently a return, as they were only $16.99) seemed to cause Chaos some consternation.

“What the hell are these fuzzy little critters, May?!” -C

*sniff sniff sniff* -C

“These fuzzy little critters look like they might be good to eat, but they just don’t smell right…” -C

“Well, nothing to do but try ’em out!” *CHOMP* -C
“OUCH!!!” -me
Knitting, Those Cats

In which no cats were forced to wear baby socks

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Ok, I actually did do a little bit of Christmas knitting – I knit a pair of socks for my friends’ baby from some of the stripey purple and black yarn Jeanne dyed for my birthday. I immediately attempted to get pictures of a cat wearing them, but the cats, they were having none of that. Instead, I present pictures of baby socks lying on or near cats. I know it’s a poor substitute.

“Why did you put these things on me?!” -C

“Maybe if I ignore them, they’ll go away.” -C

“Don’t you move those things any closer. I’m getting wise to your sneaky ways, Mom.” -M
Contests, Reading, Those Cats

Cat-in-a-box: The perfect holiday present!

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Stephania is extending the deadline for her Lizard Ridge blanket for Afghans for Afghans until January 21.

Reading Update
One Good Turn by Kate Atkinson. This mystery is the sequel to Case Histories and is written in the same style, beginning with numerous disparate threads that slowly draw together into a cohesive whole by the end.
Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman. Ok, I read American Gods a while ago and obviously need to read it again, because I’m sure it’s related somehow.. Anyway – this is another enjoyable read by local author Gaiman, featuring the sons of Anansi, a Caribbean/West African spider god.
Night Passage, Trouble in Paradise, Death in Paradise, Stone Cold, and Sea Change by Robert B. Parker. I got interested in reading Parker’s Jesse Stone series after I read Blue Screen, which tied Sunny Randall and Jesse Stone together. Loves me a good Sunny Randall book I does. 🙂
Strange Candy by Laurell K. Hamilton. Strangely, these short stories are mostly sword and sorcery, with only two Anita Blake stories. Definitely a different side of Hamilton.

“Do-de-do-de-doody-do-de-do.” -C
“Move along, nothing to see here.” -C
“Hmm, I’m not feeling very comfortable in the kitchen tonight. I wonder why?” -M
“It’s as if someone is watching me! How creepy.” -M
“This is terrible! What the heck is going on in this kitchen?! I can’t shake the sense of looming evil!” -M
*sounds of scuffling and a faint “meep!”*
“You will do as I say. You will send me $1,000,000 in small unmarked bills, packed in catnip…” -M
Contests, Those Cats

In which I revisit May’s youth

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Kat’s having an Xtravagant Xmas photo contest – take a picture of that house in your neighborhood that’s gone beyond all out with the lights and the inflatable snowpeople and let Kat know about it (you can post your picture on your blog or email it to Kat). Entries accepted until December 26 and a winner will be selected January 1.

Sachi’s having a caption contest – leave a caption for the cute cat picture by December 11 and the caption that makes her laugh the hardest wins some of her stitchmarkers.

Wow! I was one of the winners in the Heifer International drawing at Wendy Knits yesterday, and I won a Peace Fleece Lighthouse Sock Kit from Sybil at The Skein! Thanks, Wendy and to Sybil!

You’ve all probably heard of swap-bot, but I finally decided to check it out yesterday after I saw the chocolatey goodness that Elspeth got. I’m trying out the Best Covers Mix CD Swap.

So everyone commenting on how little May was in yesterday’s pictures (from a month ago) got me all sentimental about what my baby looked like not long after she arrived here (at about three months old)…

She still had whiskers!!

“I’m a sweet little present, aren’t I?” -M

“Keeping the world safe from gift bags!” -M

“Because gift bags? They’re nefarious!” -M

And although I still think she’s tiny in comparison to Chaos, back then, she was just a wee mite! (And Chaos’ butt wasn’t yet shaved…)

“Just making sure this gift bag is safe, miss. You can’t be too careful with these things.” -C
Contests, Those Cats

Look! Over there!

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Jessica of Mikknit is having a blogiversary contest. Leave her a comment about your favorite fiber experience by 5 pm CST Thursday, December 7, and you could win some mysterious yarn.

I wonder how long it will take bloglines to pick up this post?! Yesterday was at least 12 hours for my main feed. Grrrr. Yesterday must’ve been a bad day all around, because I lost internet connectivity at home last night about 5 minutes before I was going to sit down and draft today’s post. So instead of something vaguely coherent (shut up! sometimes they’re a little bit coherent, really!), I bring you cat pictures. (I know, hardly different from any other day…) These are from early November.

“Hello? Anybody in there?” -M

“Oh! It’s you, big kitty! You were hiding so well I couldn’t see you.” -M

“I won’t crowd you in your hiding spot – I’ll just mosey along. *hee hee*” -M

*butt wiggle and tail twitch* -M
*lunge* -C
Knitting, Those Cats

My MagKnits pattern!

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At long last, it can be revealed – go check out my felted bag pattern in the December issue of Magknits: Kureyon-chan! Kureyon-chan, or K-chan, takes a single skein of Noro Kureyon or similar feltable yarn.

“Dah-lings! Don’t you think I look simply smashing with this bag?” -C

“Oh! But this one, it matches my eyes!” -C

“And although Mom didn’t mention it in the pattern, these make great cat toys – just add catnip and you’ll get mayhem!” -M
Knitting, Reading, Those Cats

Bibalicious!

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Heh, it appears that there are others out there who have Vexing cats as well… And check out the comments from the Whiskers post for links to stranger uses of whiskers than putting them into a sake cup…

I have a whole bunch of wonderful mail to blog about – hopefully I will have my pictures organized by tomorrow. Really, I will. Most likely, at least! 😉

Reading Update
The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova. Wow. This epic and intense book is, at one level, about searching for the reality of Vlad the Impaler, also known as Dracula. But it’s so much more – including a multi-generational love story and a glimpse into the history of a complicated region (Bulgaria, Hungary, Turkey). I don’t want to say too much about the book, because I think part of enjoying such a book is having it unfold, without a lot of preconceptions.
Sins and Needles by Monica Ferris. The latest of these knitting/needlecraft mysteries is pretty much on par with the rest of the series. Not great, but not so bad that I didn’t finish the book. And these are set in the Twin Cities metro area…
The Good, the Bad, and the Undead, Every Which Way But Dead, and A Fistful of Charms by Kim Harrison. These are the other books about Cincinnati witch Rachel Morgan. There are pixies! Vampires! Demons! Werewolves! A troll! And more… I definitely enjoyed this series and will be keeping an eye out for more books.

Knitting Update
So, um, I’ve knitted a few bibs for some recent and impending babies… I’m not sure that May has the build to be a bib model.

“You’ll notice that, if I actually needed to wear a bib, this one wouldn’t cover the strategic areas.” -M

“And as a skirt?! I’d be arrested for indecent exposure!” -M

So I hauled out asked my usual bib model to do the honors. (Please ignore May’s tail as she sashays through the shot, gloating about her bibless state.)

“The shame, the shame… Oh, woe is me!” -C

“I wouldn’t suggest trying this again, missy. You’ve had your warning!” -C

So, back to the petite model…

“Are you done yet?! I want to play with my mouse!” -M

“Well, you may not be done, but I am. Remember what I said about this as a skirt!” -M
Contests, Reading, Those Cats

Tuesday, but it’s Wednesday, really…

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…since I only work 3 days this week! So tomorrow is actually Friday…

Valerie is having a contest to celebrate her one year knitting anniversary. If you leave her a comment before midnight, Sunday, November 26, about how you came to be knitting or about the person who taught you to knit, you could win a skein of Fleece Artist sock yarn.

Don’t forget that you have until 7 pm CST, Wednesday, November 22, to leave some words of wisdom for me as I embark on a new decade of my life! (This would be a real-time deadline, not a Chris interpretive time deadline…)

Reading Update
Smoke and Shadows, Smoke and Mirrors, and Smoke and Ashes by Tanya Huff. These three books take up where the Blood series left off, sort of… Wizardry, vampires, and other things that go bump in the night, but in Vancouver instead of Toronto. In one of my favorite bits, the main character muses how peculiarly Canadian it was that he was taking public transportation on his way to save the world…
The Dead Cat Bounce by Sarah Graves. I think this is the first book from the Home Repair is Homicide mystery series… Having read the series utterly out of order, it was interesting to go back to this one and see how things began.
Dead Witch Walking by Kim Harrison. This is the first book in a mystery series featuring Cincinnati witch Rachel Morgan, her roommate (the “living” vampire Ivy), a family of pixies, and more… I already have the rest of the books on hold at the library!

Knitting Update
I’m in the midst of the gusset increases on my second black and hot pink stripey sock. The first sock is done to just above the heel and I’m knitting the second sock from the other end of the ball. Why, you might ask? Well, I apparently had some sort of mathematical meltdown when I was winding off yarn to dye and let’s just say that it’s going to be very exciting to see how tall these end up. I’m hoping for short ankle socks at this point!

Feline Update
Chaos has been, well, chaotic lately. More on that tomorrow. Here he was in an unguarded moment last night:

“If you’d named me Meditative Trance, you’d have a leg to stand on here, Mom.”

Mayhem could not be reached for comment, since she was hiding.

“I am an invisible jungle kitten, hiding in the foliage!”