Kittens. Like, duh. 🙂
Me with Diablo and Chaos when they were much, much smaller. Now their combined weight is around 30 lbs. Heh.
Trek that lace, baby
For Trek Along with Me, I’ll be knitting with Trekking 78, a lovely combination of purples and a hint of blue for Project Spectrum June.
“This is a particularly tasty shade of Trekking. I recommend it to all discerning kitties out there.”
I’m sort of hindered in the first Amazing Lace challenge, because unlike some, I’ve never seen the Amazing Race. Hey, I don’t get any tv stations. Cut me a break, will ya?So, last night the team met for the first time. On the left, we have Mim’s Adamas Shawl pattern, handily mounted on a magnetic board and stand (gadget geek alert!). In the front, we have a skein of Christine’s Fingerpaints laceweight yarn in Cabernet (with some blue, for Project Spectrum June!). On the right… we have, well, chaos.
“Cabernet? Are you sure? I’m thinking it’s actually a really good pinot noir.”
Greetings are exchanged among the team members.
*sniff sniff sniff*
Oh, dear, I’m afraid that not all team members have the same goal…
“Bwah-ha-ha!”
In which I discover that purple is hard to photograph – who knew?
You might become confused while reading this post and think that we’ve skipped right over June Blue to July Purple in Project Spectrum. Do not be alarmed. Do not adjust your calendar. June still awaits.
When I posted about our weekend dyeing adventures, everyone was most interested in seeing the shocking purple yarn. Of course, I managed to not take any pictures of the ultraviolet before I started overdyeing it with black, but Jeanne will affirm that it was too purple. Neither of us believed such a thing was possible, either – until we saw the yarn.
Anyway! Here’s the first skein – it was a cream-colored fingering weight 80% wool/20% cashmere blend, courtesy of the thrift store. I think I have enough yardage for a lacy winter scarf. Dyed with Country Classics Spring Violet, overdyed with Raven.
This skein was dyed with Spring Violet and a dash of Raven and came out the exact shade I wanted – no overdyeing was necessary. The yarn was cream-colored laceweight Zephyr, 50% merino/50% silk. Um, yardage is a lot. I have to weigh it later and figure out how much I actually have. It will become a shawl someday, but probably not for the Amazing Lace. I need to start this shawl business slow, with a smaller first project!
This tangle was two skeins of cream-colored Silky Wool (65% wool/35% silk), wound on a warping board to stripe. I’m planning to make a pair of cushy house socks for next winter from this (assuming I get it untangled sometime this year). The purple was Spring Violet, later overdyed with Raven. The grey was Blueberry and Raven, later overdyed with Raven. I’ll probably try overdyeing the grey with Raven one more time, to see if I can get it to be a more true and less blue grey.
“Did you see that?! Shhhh… I’m trying to distract Mom so I can drag this comfy cat bed away to my lair.”
Final Project Spectrum May pictures
Yes, yes, I know everyone wants to see pictures of luridly purple yarn. Hopefully tomorrow. Right now the yarn is eluding my best efforts to capture the color. Grrrrrr…
So, in order to placate Marina, I finished my Chaotic Black Lagoon socks last night.
Yarn: Sundara Black Lagoon
Pattern: Judy Gibson’s generic toe-up pattern modified for two circulars, with this cast-on and Maeve’s Cherry Blossom Lace pattern
Needles: Addi Turbo 0s
Duration: 28 days
And on to the last few PS May images… A treasured green card from my grad school friend Deb:
One of the best wine labels ever (and the wine’s not bad, either!) – does that face remind you of anyone?! 🙂
For Chaos size reference, the wine bottle is 12 inches tall…
“Wait a minute, what the heck is a gooseberry bush?! Can’t I just use my litterbox?!”
Words clouded with dye
Saturday evening Jeanne and I did a bit more dyeing. Here’s our setup in Jeanne’s backyard:
Of course wine is critical to the process! Make sure to keep your wine out of the active dyeing area to minimize accidents (putting dye in wine, dyeing yarn with wine, etc).
Here I’m dyeing some yarn that will turn out to be shockingly purple – so shocking that I overdyed it with black Sunday night to tone it down a little! I have to remember to draft out color ideas before sitting down to dye yarn, because if I don’t – I can only remember that I like purple and black.
Yarn pictures later this week, after drying and detangling.
But the very best thing about the evening? Jeanne surprised me with a Stumbling Over Chaos word cloud t-shirt! I cannot even tell you how excited I was. I might even have bounced a bit (ok, ok, maybe more than a bit). Thank you, Jeanne – that was so sweet and unexpected!
Reading this is like reading really fun fridge magnet poetry. Some favorites include “thought time tongue totally tuna,” “SRM story stumbling text think,” “chaotic chris claws color,” and “favorite flamingos free fun.” I could go on – but I’ll spare you!
“Shh… Don’t distract me – I’m playing ‘dead kitty on the floor’ so Mom will leave the air on.”
Or maybe he’s dreaming of the lovely Halley as she dreams of him… Hmm…
Walking around the neighborhood and a possible scandal
Whew, it’s been hot here in Minneapolis – 97F yesterday! When you consider we had highs of 45F only 10 or 12 days ago, I’m sure you’ll understand why we’re a bit stunned.
Anyway, here are an assortment of images from my neighborhood, taken over the past week. Most are Project Spectrum greens, but there are a few that just intrigued me.
A verdent mansion along East Lake of the Isles Parkway
Thomas Lowry Park, which is very small indeed.
Feet on a light post in the park
Mannequins – it freaked me out a little to get home from taking this picture and discover that Jeanne had just posted a picture of a mannequin from her neighborhood…
A control box for stoplights (pretend it’s April, since I missed taking this picture last month!).
Green, green Gulf
Van parked outside the local hip hop shop
And the possible scandal – pictures of a black cat… but not Chaos. Meet Richard, who was out for a walk when I was:
He was really too busy to stop for pictures or witty commentary.
I’m off to enjoy a lovely (albeit warm) day off from work. Chaos is enjoying the air conditioning, which I finally turned on late yesterday, having had enough of his dead kitty on the tile floor impersonation. Have a wonderful Memorial Day for those in the US (and I think it’s a bank holiday in the UK?)!
Project Spectrum craftiness (with even less knitting than ever!)
The Craft Modster posted a very inspiring entry about t-shirt stenciling a few days ago and got me all excited to try stenciling some onesies for my friends’ baby. (You remember the fate of the onesies, right?) I definitely need to try something else for the lettering, but I’m pretty pleased with my first effort, made with emerald green Jacquard fabric paint. The owl is a stamp that my dad sells (it’s on the Rango Zoo 3 sheet).
I also tie-dyed several onesies, since the parents are tie-dye fanatics. I used dark green Rit dye. The onesie on the left (slightly obscured in this picture) had rubber bands around it in three places. The onesie on the right (also slightly obscured in this picture) was simply tied in a big knot. I like the big knot effect much better!
“If I sit on them, she won’t be tempted to put them on me, right?”
“Oh, well that sort of ‘putting on’ isn’t so bad, I guess.”
“Duuuuuuuude, I could sure use a hit of catnip and some tuna. Must be the tie dyes.”
If you could see what I see
Anmiryam has posted some great insights into successful knitblogging. Definitely worth a read, if you haven’t already.
Kelly of Minneapolis is celebrating her six-month blogiversary with a contest, too! Stop by and wish her well (and offer lunch suggestions, eh?). Discovering a Minneapolis Kelly made me realize how many Kell(y)(ie)(ee) people are in my bloglines. Y’all should start a ring or something… Besides Minneapolis Kelly, there’s Celtic Kelly, Just a Knit Wit Kelly, Peevish Kellie, and Obsessive Kellee. (If I’ve missed other Kellies, you’ll have to let me know!)
Added from comments: Giggling Kelle.
Jen asked for pictures from out of our windows and wouldn’t take “but my windows are so dirty!” as an excuse.* So here you go.
East window with cat butt
East window without cat butt
North window looking up and out
North window looking ou… let’s try that one again.
North window looking out – the people who used to live across the way had an orange tabby who would crawl out the window and sit on their air conditioner, which always worried me – we’re on the third floor here… He and Chaos would sit and stare at each other before that boxelder got so bushy.
What I usually see when looking out the north window:
“Shhhh…. I have my eye on that bird. I’m sure I’ll get him, if he just comes a little closer…”
*The windows are totally filthy. My excuse? They’re being replaced in two weeks, so what’s the point in washing them now?! You’ll notice very little glass appears in these photos.
Simply boggled at the horror
Thanks for all the fun name ideas for my new stuffed black kitty – right now I’m leaning toward Loki the Imp. For the curious, he was purchased at the Bibelot Shop in the Minneapolis neighborhood of Linden Hills, as was the black cat mug. The onesies are for a tie dye and stenciling experiment.
Moving right along, I must ask you all to brace yourselves… I found a knitting magazine at the thrift store that was so horrific I was compelled to buy it and share the horror with all of you. (Aw, Chris, you shouldn’t have – really.)
With no further ado… the bikini issue! (You can click on the pictures to view larger versions if you really want to…) We’ll start with the cover, featuring the lovely Christmas red and green bikini.
Inside, more bikinis on the right – but check out the picture on the left, of a reader’s cat wearing a twee little bonnet. Chaos might occasionally wear a strawberry hat, but he would so not put up with that bonnet action.
More swimming suit action, including one for the boys, if y’all were feeling left out (Hi, Dave!).
“You better not be thinking about knitting me any swimwear is all I’m saying.”
Moving right along, look at the fabulous sweaters you can knit for Barbie and Ken for their trips in the Barbie Camper. (I had one of those Barbie Campers, along with the obligatory Malibu Barbie. I didn’t have a Ken, but I did have Wild West action figures who were the same height as Barbie. So Barbie ran off with Geronimo in the Barbie Camper, with his horse tied to the back bumper.)
Finally, some clothes for the kids. Check out the crazy stenciled cat – I think he would’ve given me nightmares at that age!
Now, I actually thought the little blue jumper in the lower right corner was cute… until I looked at the pattern and realized the gauge was 17 stitches per inch. That’s right, it’s knit with cotton thread. Eeeeeeeeek! It’s not that cute. I’m not sure anything is that cute.
Tales of Chaotic naughtiness
Rebekah is asking for people to knit toys and blankets for cats and dogs in the shelters in her area. It’s the chance to do some community knitting and possibly win prizes – I know that Amy Boogie and Wendy/Lucy have contributed prizes for those who donate items (they say Wendy wrote that book, but Chaos insists Lucy was the mastermind behind it all), among others. For cats, Wendy has a great catnip mouse pattern available. For dogs, I’ve made this tug toy and found it held up very well.
Meet the newest member of our family… I was helpless to do anything other than purchase him after I saw those eyes (which are more green than they appear in the picture).
Any name suggestions?
When I got home last night, this is what I found on my kitchen table. Formerly, it was a sealed five-pack of onesies that I’m planning to use for a craft project.
Hmm, only four… Where could the other one be? Oh, there it is on the floor.
Maybe Chaos was afraid I was going to make him wear the onesies?! After all, Jeanne’s Bugsy did have to wear one for a while (to keep him from scratching an injury). And Margene’s dog Moxie is wearing a t-shirt right now. This might have been a preemptive strike.
In the interest of further naughtiness disclosure, here’s the perp with Exhibit A, my formerly favorite mug that he knocked into the sink and broke last week.
“Must be careful – that looks sharp!”
So I picked up a new mug yesterday…
“What are you up to, Mom?! Should I be worried?!”