Those Cats

In which we welcome a new red mouse to our household

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Friday I got a fabulous package from the wonderfully generous ElizaGrrl. She made the lovely black kitty bag below and included a bar of dark and delicious chocolate for me. Plus she knit a red mouse for Chaos and stuffed it full of very high-quality catnip from Wild Oats.

“What have we here?”
“This is very interesting. Very interesting indeed.”
*sniff sniff sniff*
“Oh baby baby baby oh.”

I think he likes it… What do you think?!

Thank you so much, Eliza!

(Why, yes, I did trim his claws after seeing these pictures…)

Knitting, Project Spectrum

Worth nine thousand words?

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Whew! Yesterday was a very fun and knitterly day for me. First, I met another knitblogger for coffee and (no surprise) knitting at the Riverview Cafe. Meet Renee of A Good Yarn, holding up the Nantasket Basket she just finished knitting as one of her Project Spectrum projects.

On my way out of the Riverview Cafe, I discovered that its restroom was rather Project Spectrumesque:

Then I headed west to Minnetonka to Charlene’s house (Charlene should drop me an email with her blog address) for an afternoon of knitting (me) and spinning (not me). Here’s Charlene, a lovely local spinner/knitter who shall not be named, and part of Kerry. (Very tricky, Kerry!)

Somehow Leah managed to not be in that picture, so she gets her very own picture (Leah, I didn’t get your LiveJournal address, either):

Hey, I was having way too much fun to worry about those blog address details.

I also finished my Rose Garden Dublin Bay socks yesterday. I think they got the Chaos Seal of Approvaltm.

“Hmm, I guess they’re ok. They’re not catnip socks, but they’ll do.”

And I got a good start on my April Project Spectrum socks – my Rainbow Jays. If anyone can tell me exactly what country Regia Nation color 5399 is supposed to be, I’d appreciate it!

The interesting shape of a toe-up Jaywalker reminded me of something and I finally figured out what it was:

Randonymity, Those Cats

Chaotic ostrich butt

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Both Jeanne and I had rough days at work yesterday, so we met to knit at a wine bar instead of our usual coffee shop. Really, who were we kidding? We were there to talk and drink some wine and laugh at old knitting books and the current issue of Knitter’s. Everyone knows that it’s too dark to knit in a wine bar – although I did pick up 13 stitches, then knit across those 13 plus 8 more stitches. At that point, I decided to rest on my laurels and not try to pick up the other 13 stitches for the heel.

Anyway, we each tried a tasting flight: Jeanne tried the shiraz/syrah flight and I tried the pinot noir flight. It was quite fun to sip our little glasses of wine, make notes on our flight sheets, and toss off pseudo-oenophilic jargon, describing one wine as “delightfully undistinguished” and another as having “deep fruity overtones.” (Well, we thought we were funny at the time…)

Yum.

Chaos? Hey, Chaos, can you come out of your “hiding” place and wish Peeve a happy birthday? And maybe send get well wishes to Mrs Pao’s husband, Pao, who had surgery today?

“How did you know where I was?!”

Knitting, Randonymity

Random gardening (Wednesday again?!)

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Both Mouse and Jane had this fun game on their sites. I thought this was particularly apt:

Cybernetic Handcrafted Android Optimized for Sabotage
Yesterday I actually found a few fun things at my local thrift store:

That first book (Knit Knacks for the Whole Family) is a particular gem. It has patterns for leotards. It has pattern for bonnets that will put “Oswald Owl,” “Klotilde Kat,” or “Lionel Lion” on the back of your head (can fit all sizes!). Cabled argyle socks. A sequined hood. Both a French shrug and an English shrug (the French shrug is frilly, while the English shrug is no nonsense). Interestingly shaped tanks tops/vests called “popovers.” A fringed pixie hat. And more…

Jeanne’s blog entry yesterday has some completely hysterical pictures in it and a Chaos connection – check it out! Plus a lovely picture of more Debbie Bliss Alpaca Silk than I’ve seen anywhere outside a store…

Several people asked whether I purchased anything at Coldwater Collaborative on Sunday. Why, yes, as a matter of fact, I did… (Oh, come on – no one’s surprised about that.)

A skein of Meilenweit ColorTweed (it looks a lot like Trekking to me) and a skein of Mountain Colors Bearfoot.

If you’re wondering whether I ever actually knit, I’m working on a pair of socks for myself right now. They definitely have the Project Spectrum colors in them. The pattern is Dublin Bay (links to a pdf) and the yarn is from ebay seller lotusblossom in color RoseGarden2.


“I beg your pardon…”

“I’m going to chew up your RoseGardens!”
Festing, Knitting, Those Cats

In which I verify the physical existence of three knitbloggers

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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.”
Randonymity, Those Cats

Coffeehouse “tapestry”

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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.”
Alongs, Those Cats

F is for…

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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.

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