“Oh, what have we here?”
“It’s just so cute!”
“Really, I can’t help myself…”
“It’s so totally not my fault.”
“Must steal the cuteness!”
“Banzai!”
Category Archives: Those Cats
In which I verify the physical existence of three knitbloggers
Yesterday, Jeanne and I journeyed west from Minneapolis to the 318 Cafe in Excelsior, Minnesota. There we met up with knitbloggers Amy, Deb, and Lisa D for coffee, lunch, knitting, and lots of laughter. Deb’s putting together a local knitblogger networking event in April – stay tuned for more details.
If Excelsior sounds somehow familiar to you, it might be from the Betsy Devonshire mysteries by Monica Ferris. While Betsy’s store Crewel World is entirely fictional, Excelsior does have a really cool yarn store – Coldwater Collaborative. (I posted some pictures from Coldwater Collaborative about two months ago.) The cozy 318 Cafe is handily located across the street from Coldwater Collaborative. And Deb works at Coldwater, so Jeanne and I got to see the mystical and fabulous storage area “next door.” Let’s just say if you stop by the store and don’t see a color you want, you should definitely ask about it.
From left to right: Jeanne, me, Amy, Deb, and LisaD
And LisaD brought me these super cute little stitchmarkers. Thanks, LisaD – that was so sweet!
“You’re not getting off that easy – I know you had tuna for lunch while you were out. And did you think to bring home a kitty bag?! Hmph.”
Coffeehouse “tapestry”
A few weeks ago, I tried out a small knitting group that met at Caffetto Cafe and Gallery in my neighborhood. They were nice enough, but, as Bookish Wendy noted so eloquently, the group was “not one I clicked with on a deeper level.”
However, I did snap some Project Spectrumesque photos of this very cool crocheted tapestry hanging on the wall of the coffeehouse:
“How come you never take me to see cool things like that? I’m going to sulk now.”
F is for…
Furry Friend who loves to play Fetch.
“I’m a bad-ass house panther, carrying my prey. You’d do well not to mess with me.”
F is also for Feeding station, which is a Favorite location for house panthers to hang.
“I must say, that’s a bit disappointing. I thought you came over to Feed me.”
And F is for Fur, so soft and so dark…
…which becomes Fluff drifting by on the Floor.
Something fishy going on…
Something very fun arrived in the mail yesterday from Cucumber Patch in the UK:
*sniff sniff*
“I could swear I smell something fishy!”
“I don’t think this is tuna…”
“Now I’m really sure this isn’t tuna. Dang it.”
Hello, Mermaid.
In which I join along in Random Wednesday
Random Wednesday is the brainchild of mamacate and has propagated far and wide. A simple yet brilliant idea for the oh-so-rough middle of the week when I, at least, am beginning to feel more than slightly scattered… “She jumped onto her horse and rode madly off in all directions.”
Plus, I’m simply quite fond of randomness. A long time ago, I had a Siamese kitten I named Random (after Random of Amber – when I was little, I so wanted to be a Prince of Amber… the Princesses were a sorry lot overall, but the Princes had it made. I suppose that’s true of a lot of stories, now that I think of it.). Anyway. He was sweet, but not very bright, so he became Ran-Dumb-Dumb.
Do you have any weird abilities? I do – I’m a Finder. Wondering where you left something? If I’ve been in your house longer than 15 minutes, I probably know. I used to live with a guy who really came to rely on this Finding ability (and in fact gave me the nickname). He said it took him many months after I had moved out to get over the urge to call me when he couldn’t find it. Tragically, this gift is only useful for other people. I can’t find my own stuff or SRM for Chaos… yes, he’s lost again… Hmph.
Maeve alerted me to this nifty pattern for black cat socks. Thanks, Maeve! Cricket, Chaos says “Mraow, baby.”
Speaking of socks, check out these biking sheep socks – ok, ok, they’re already knitted, but they are cool.
Sounds like another snowstorm is heading toward the Twin Cities – perhaps another 4 to 7 inches of snow on top of the 8+ inches we got Monday. Well, the upside is I’ve been mightily inspired to go get new tires after work. I’ve been meaning to do that for months… All this snow could be completely melted by the middle of next week as we return to our unseasonably mild winter. (Heh, we Minnesotans can and do talk about the weather at the slightest provocation.)
Yay! I’ve had fun reading other bloggers’ lists of 100 things about themselves. I’m way behind in bloglines today (darn work, being busy and all that), but so far I’ve really enjoyed lists from the Knit Wit, Peeve, and Jennifer. Looking forward to reading more!
“I’m too busy being cute and thinking of the winsome Cricket to come up with a pithy comment today.”
In search of red and pink
Margene sent us out to find the red and pink in our homes as part of Project Spectrum. I have to confess that I didn’t find very much red and pink… and there’s a definite theme to what I did find. I wonder if you’ll figure it out?
Here’s SRM from back in January when he was still red and pink (i.e., before Chaos pulled off his little pink ears):
Here’s a red sparkly ball that TB sent for Chaos when we exchanged mix cds recently:
Here’s a little Red Tango bowling bag that’s great for a sock project:
And a much larger Laurel Burch bag that’s holding a bunch of WIPs:
There’s the Christmas stocking that my sister-in-law got for Chaos a year or two ago:
Some postcards and magnets from my fridge:
A cute little vintage card that’s also on my fridge:
And a lovely Noro Tubu rug that Jeanne knitted – Chaos spends lot of time on this rug, since it’s in front of the cabinet in which the cat food is stored.
“Hello? Can you put that dang camera down and get on with something important, like feeding me? Can’t you tell I’m looking all scrawny and wan here?!”
So… did you detect the theme in my red and pink?!
E is for…
Expansion, stash. Boy, did I ever fall off the Stashalong wagon.
“Mmmm… yarn on the floor.”
Edit: Due to multiple requests for information on the yarn, here’s what we have, clockwise and starting with the skein Chaos is sniffing. That’s Sleeping Dragon sock yarn, color Purple Night, from A Swell Yarn Shop. Next are two skeins of Fleece Artist (colors H and MR) from Simply Socks. Then a skein of superwash sock yarn (color Carnival) from Brooklyn Handspun. Next are two skeins of Treadsoft sock yarn (colors Black Pearl and RoseGarden2) from ebay seller lotusblossom. Finally, two skeins of Schaefer Anne (colors Purple Waters and Watercolors), also from A Swell Yarn Shop. Whee!
“Wow, I really can’t believe how much yarn is here.”
Earplugs, a must-have so that the cat-owning urban condo dweller can get some decent sleep.
Espresso. Really, what needs to be said? Ahh….
Exercise. Alas, I have shamefully neglected my exercise routine this winter.
“I don’t think this looks too complicated. If only you’d adjust the pedals for me…”
Hey, baby, what’s your bloginality?
“If we’re bloginalitily compatible, we could make beautiful music toghether, baby. Hubba hubba.”
I stole this idea from m.r.’s sidebar at bag’n’trash (check out her great monthly Project Spectrum buttons!). I was intrigued when this extremely short quiz gave me the same result as the much longer (and more expensive) Myers-Briggs and Keirsey tests.
My Bloginality is INTJ. Here’s the description:
This makes your primary focus on Introverted Thinking with an Extraverted Intution.
This is defined as an NT personality, which is part of Carl Jung’s Rational (Knowledge Seeking) type, and more specifically the Mastermind or Scientist.
You aren’t as openly affectionate as some of you NT counterparts, and this may cause other bloggers to assume you aren’t as friendly. Your ideas and actual applications for these ideas are brilliant, however, and you might be more likely to create something masterful on your journal.
I won Lynne’s contest at Yarnivorous! Woot woot! This is particularly exciting, because she’s another GF knitter and has mentioned including GF treats from Australia. Oh boy!
A Knitblogger’s Field Trip
Today is the Knitblogger’s Field Trip, organized by Becky of Knitting Interrupted. The premise is simple – show the blogging world your backyard. So, with no further ado, I present my backyard, er, alley. Ta-da!
It’s not going to be a very bright day today.
In fact, that white stuff? Not there yesterday. Not snow. Sleet. Blech.
Hey Sandy, check out that sky! 😉
Inside, SRM was rousted out from under a cabinet this morning, using the trusty yardstick. Check out this rare midair footage:
“SRM, oh sweet SRM, how I love thee. Let me count the ways…”
“Hey, give us some privacy! You paparazzi, you are all the same.”