and about 100 beers later.....

.....the power was back on. Mother nature really let loose yesterday with the weirdest weather I'd ever seen: Clear blue sunny skies, Blustery winds, and 75 mph gusts-thanks to the reminants of "Ike". Also, Thanks to Carolyn for baiting me to post this week.....and I should point out my Rudeness publically for not responding to her nice e-mail..."I'm sorry". so who wants pics? I got em' this week! Fo's, yarn fresh out the dyepot, tree carnage, puppy pics, all of it! Here goes.....

Matilda is growing up nicely, and she's sitting on command, knows "down" and "come", waits patiently for her supper, and is never on a leash outside of the yard....and man, she loves her outside time! (note all of the sticks in the yard, but my maple survived the tree holicost) It's been a few weeks since theres been an acicdent too, so I am slowly considering refinishing the wood floors sooner than later. every now and again, I get a complete passive protest from her about coming back inside, which today looked like this:

Normally, I have to walk across the yard and invite her back in, but today I just rubbed her little belly, and walked away. by the time I hit the screen porch door, she was right at my side. That's my girl. So, on to the carnage.....The tree below I think twisted all the way around on the way down. there are dozens down around westgate park, and I was really impressed at all the city clean up trucks in the park sawing brush off the paved paths and fencing off all the dangerous trees. about 10 trucks in all, just for my park...kudos to them.

I have the greatest neighbors, and life here in "the hood" (it's not really) is a constant blast, so in true neighborly fasion, we threw a block party with the power out! (micah would have been proud) 7 dogs, 3 kids, 20 adults all throwing down in my backyard in the dark. We fired up the barbecue, filled up my old galvanized pail with ice and 100 beers, and got to work! hell, 10 of us even went for a walk through the park about 1 am, climbing the downed trees and whooping like silverback gorillas.....(a lot of beer down then...)

The kids and I went out for a picture cruise today (yeah, the kustom kruiser is the much fun to ride) and shot most of these.

Last Night, when the winds were blowing 40-50 Mph, and gusting to 75mph, this porta potty was cruising across the soccer fields and since I had a truck bed full of neighbors going for a ride to see all the damage we hopped on top and surfed across the park. I wish I had the camera then. We even flew and broke 2 kites. apparently they were not up to the challenge. Trees started going down about 2 pm, and the power was gone by 3 pm.....back on at 5:30 this morning......

after an awesome meal of Brats, burgers, corn and salmon burgers for the vegans(all done on the grill) someone came up with a radio and an 3" mini tv and we all huddled around the steelers/browns game. I couldn't tell you who won, But I got hozed along with many others and had an awesome time. the pic below is a good depiction of what the whole neighborhood looks like, just a wreck!

Off the needles came the first of 2 ribbed watch caps I'm knittin' for my 2 buddies as early x-mas gifts. they are deer hunting maniacs and both have been begging for them this year for the anual hat gift I give them. Hand dyed by me using pro chem dyes and knit picks bare merino worsted superwash.

Next up is cast on hat#2 out of some yarn I dyed up in a 3 color stripe, but since it's Kramer Judy DK superwash merino, and the stripes are looking really thin, I think It may be socks instead, but I'll see in another few rows...There isn't much else to report from here, and I hope I've entertained you all a bit for the day. Last nights blow out was so much fun, and thank god most of the jobsites were without power, and schools were closed city wide, or I'td been a loooong day for me for certain. Be productive citizens tomorrow, Millions of people on goverment assistance are depending on YOU!!!

-matty

on the grind.....

Big thanks to Mia, who baits (guilts : ) me into posting everytime I want to stop blogging/delete the blog/or in this case, just let too much time lapse between posts. Back in june, I started a familar call from a friend who said, "I could use your help for a weekend or two" on a flip of a historic house in a quaint affluent community outside c-town. I predicted history would repeat itself with this kind of thing and began a grueling 9 week grind with one day off in between.....As we finished the project up, it sold and closed within a week.

so for the last 2 weekends I drank beer on the porch and power knit. finished a pair of socks and a ribbed watch cap and am in the home stretch on another pair, no photographs of any of them to show, but I'll get to it this week, if it fits into my total slacker schedule. in a nutshell, I worked the summer away(totally worth it) without doing much outside of work. What I do have pics of, (drumroll please) is something I have searched long and hard for morethan a year to find, its the single most coveted retro-stretched limo style-beachcruiser-lowrider bicycle ever made and if you can find one (good luck) expect to pay through your......well, you get the point....

enough from me- Dig on this yourself:

Behold, the Kustom Kruiser "Roadster" ....The problem with taking a pic of m on this puppy is at 6'6", I still dwarf it and it barely fits in the back of my big f-150! seriously, I had to tie it down for the 90 minute ride home. I've also seen some Sweet custom ones like these, and this 2 seater... I was like a kid on x-mas morning, and the kids and I bombed down to the local ice cream joint for fun on it last night with a few other neighbors all on 2 wheels.

By the weekend, I should have knitting pics to post, unless of course I decide to get started on the next flip instead (it's already been bought), in which case, lord only knows when I'll get around to it. Thanks for sticking around!

who knew I was pregnant?

yeah, child birth is a bit#%! I started out my friday morning with a slacker friday "I'm outta here" moment (with permission of course) and made a run to damn near west virginia where my baby was.....In a little over 2 hours, I touched down in Flushing Ohio and picked up our new baby girl.....People, meet Matilda....

Yep, It's a girl! A little boston terrier puppy at 7 weeks, born easter morning. I wanted to name her magdaline (easter, mary magdaline, (how catholic was I raised?)) but that wasn't happening with the rest of the fam.....then B wanted to name her coco chanel.....ok, could you picture me at 6'6 and 270 lbs at the park yelling "come back here coco chanel".....me either...Matilda works though, or tilly for short.

By 10 PM, after hours in the car, a couple of quick stops off the highway at some Zanesville Ohio pottery shops, a quick run by a jobsite and a supplier, followed by hours of exploring her new house, She found that Crosby our 10 Year old GSP was a perfect nap buddy. Months ago, I dyed up some coarse wool with some almosted exhausted red dye, and it made a neat rose color next to the matural off white wool color. In my washing machine now is the test felting of about 18" of a 3 stitch I cord that's has wide stripes of rose and natural color of about 4.5 inches each. The goal is to make a long, lightweight drag around lead for her to start off leash training right off the bat. I'll throw up some pics later in the week of knitting, Promise!

-matt

Speed post

It's been a crazy 5 months, but here's what happens when I get the chance to gut the first floor of a 30 year old house in need of a facelift......

New painted maple cabinets, Granite tops, Tumled limestone backsplash.....

Awesome Wolf range, second Dacor under counter oven, fireclay porcelin sink

I won't even mention the cost of the faucet.....

Totally custom and built on site bench seat, I even made the v-groove paneling from scratch.
Custom dry bar w/kitchen aid wine fridge with 3 seperate temp zones

seeded glass in the upper cabinets, granite top, travertine backsplash....

The big red furniture piece, Built in our shop by one of the greatest craftsman I've had the pleasure of learning from, finished offsite, installed by me

Same cabinet, just a close up of hardware and rope mould fronts

It's not often I get to demolish, frame, set cabinets, and do all the trimwork by myself, but to be honest, since this one was all me from start to finish, it's one I am the most proud of. Next week, I'll give up pics of the mantle, powder room, and laundry to finish up the view from my office...maybe even some knitting pics. Relax this weekend, I know I am......

And 2 weeks later.....

.....I still have nothing to report....but tomorrow I take pics of my big 5 month project and as of wednsday evening, I'll be on walkabout.....yep, a few days off are in order, so I got the "Crackmobile" outfitted and am getting set to head out, somewhere....anywhere.....but most importantly, a place where there is no cell reception, and as far as the eye can see rolling hills, thick woods, water, and fish. The bear and I spent sunday on the water catching crappies and as of now, wednsday couldn't come fast enough. Check in tomorrow, I'll have pics of one sweet renovation.....As for now, I'm on my way to Restoration Hardware to pick up a few final pieces!

I can feel, for heavens sake.....

.....for tonight, We'll try something new. More pics, less words, and a short story at the end about taking my 13 year old daughter to her first show.(concert for those not in the know ; )
Most of what I have is about this old house, and the beginings of the process to make it ours. So for starters, lets talk carpet. If theres one thing I hate more than feet, it's carpet.. Carpet is just gross, even when it's brand new like ours was when we moved in, carpet just fuels the germaphobe in me and already I've had enough.....so I did something about it....behold......

Yep, here's where it starts! Enough of the wiring, and replumbung of the laundry area in the basement, and fixing of the down spouts and drainage lines, and.....you get the picture. Time to tear shit apart and put it back together. Get to what I do best....Carpentry.....(and drinking)
With all the excitement, Poor Crosby needed a nap, and as I pulled staples, tack strips, and used hot water and white vinegar to scrub off what seemed like half a million little paint spots he just sacked out and snored. as I pulled back more padding, he'd just move a few feet back and sleep some more. (lucky bastard)
The fruit of my labor was this......Who in their right mind would cover this? To each their own I suppose but knowing what lied beneath ate at me all winter and I have swore for months that I'd rip it all out when spring came. The Misses was a huge help with the billion staples from who knows how many re-carpet-ings and in the end got into the swing of things and was re arranging furniture and talking wall colors by the end of the day. Especially in the dining room.



When there wasn't an assload of snow on the ground, it bothered me to no end that there wasn't any mulch in any of the beds...just mud....that the dog just couldn't stay out of....So before plants started emerging, I picked up a big load of bulk mulch with the "Crack Mobile 150" and laid it on thick. Just in time I'd say since there isn't 3 square inches in any of the flower beds without something popping up. This is better than x-mas morning, since we have no Idea whats in any of them! So far tons of lillies, tulips, 6 out of control Peonie groups, cool ground cover, etc....I'll keep those pics flowing as they come up!

Next week, the lawn gets a nice dusting of powdered Com-Till (pulverized mulch mixed with essentially human wast,e sludge from local waste water facilities)(yelgth.......). As gross as it is, I'll get over it for a kick ass lawn devoid of fertilizers or other chemicals, and I won't tell one damn neighbor what I used when they come asking.... "Oh, some shit from 'Blows' in a bag" is all I'm sayin'!

Didn't I say less words? Damn am I shot......On the knitting frontlines is a variation of my beer cozy, designed with a flap to protect my really expensive Bronze Block plane, known only as "the precious"(like golum from lord of the rings, you get the picture) safe in my nail apron. Everyone who knows me, knows not to fucking touch it. This is not a tool for sharing. it you need one, you need to buy one. That's the rule.....

Next up is a Clog experiment...I love my army man green crocks...The kids love theirs....My wife has several pairs, but they are cold in the winter....So why not knit up Fiber trends clog pattern, just without the second sole as a nice warm liner? I think the Lambs pride bulky verigated I used is still too thick, but since I can crank these puppies out in record time, I'll knit some more out of a thinner yarn on smaller needles until I get it right. On the topic of taking your kids to their first show when they are old enough......

We went to CD101.1's annual spring show.....It was a fuckin' blast! 6 bands, 5 bucks and the line up was awesome.... Ashley loved the switches and they put on a long set of 8 songs complete with knocking over mic stands, wrecking guitars, and roadies scrambling to keep up! She was grinning ear to ear all night and even wanted to stay in the crowd on the floor in front of the stage start to finish. They were good, but the Duke spirit was absolutely awesome live, so much that I'm gonna go see them in a few more weeks again with Black rebel motorcycle club.....Looks as though I've found myself a concert buddy for life, and that I'm not a total square of a parent as she spent all night pointing out the ones hovering in the background, trying to keep an eye on where their kids ran off to.....for the most part, it was a great show, and a well behaved older (but drunken) crowd of mid 20's to mid 30's. A perfect night wasn't complete without a pit stop of taco hell for food.

You better lie down cause the angels are watching.....

.....It's way overdue but I'm back with Lots of good stuff so grab a drink and we'll get started!! Everybody loves crap so we'll get started there. I have officially had 3 full scale basement floods in 60 days to deal with and I can't tell you how much I appreciate the previous owners not disclosing that information. just look at the water coming up out of the fireplace. If they thought they would just get away with it, they were wrong, and I've set my "team" in motion to go get in their ass and see what they find. Maybe corn, maybe coin, we'll see. In the meantime, I've got buckets, shovels, Miller high life, a jackhammer, and I gotta say that with such tough menial tasks ahead, all you need is a mediocre attitude cause a good buzz will make up for the rest. nuff said on that one.

So, who knows what NSAIDS are? anybody, anybody? It pretty much encompasses every pain reliever in your madicine cabinet excluding tylenol, maybe....opinions vary and I need to get tested for that. As of yesterday, I found out the hard way that I am allergic to them. Scary stuff but after an IV full of benydryl, some steroid, and a shitload of synthetic adrenaline, I had an awesome buzz and didn't give a shit about the fact that I was purple from the chest up and my blood pressure was soaring, and I couldn't breath, and was basicly going into shock. good times.

Oficially, there are a pair of epi pens in the glove box of the new crackmobile for the next time.

Anyone want to see some knitting? thought so...

I finished a pair of socks out of my own homegro.., I mean hand dyed yarn and absolutely love them.

I was really worried they were a bit too tight, but after a good washing they relaxed quite nicely.

Weeks ago I ordered some yarn from Ohio Valley Natural fibers and have had a great time dyeing it up for a sweater! A top down raglan was in order after sweater fitting disaster struck with the rowan bottom up one. I am just going to dye up random lengths in random colors and knit them in as I run out of the last. The columbia wool bulky I am using is one denst yarn and will make a nice tough swetaer I hope.

It is supposed to be a sloppy fitting roll top and I am glad I cast on too many stitches at the collar so I can knit it to the right fit later. In hindsight I should have used a temporary cast on and went back after it later, but thats how I learn everything, the hard way. so far I've got a mottled army green, and a slate blue/greyish color and the next color will be either burgandy or brown. we'll see. Tonight, I will sit and relax. Tomorrow, I've got 2 yards of mulch to spread and then a basement to attend to so no slacking off this weekend. Get outside for a bit, walk your dog, and get ready for MDSW! if you are going, remember to watch out for all those deal crazed white women. They'll knock you off over the last skein, It happened to micah last year!

Wintery Mix.....

On a day like today, I would find it next to impossible to study all day, but since I hit the books at 8am instead of going to work, I decided to take an hour and wrap up a WIP. Crosby (my GSP)and I had already shoveled once, and warmed up the misses SUV for her 2 hour commute, we decided to go out and hunt up where the squirrels had been in the yard. Even the old dog loves a snow day, but with his short coat, he dosen't last more than 30 minutes before wanting in.

The hat, cost about 150 bucks.....Let me explain- when you figure it's leftovers from the Rowan Yorkshire tweed aran sweater that didn't fit, well, thats it really, and I am still bitter about it. But here it is anyhow:

I had a hard time taking a self Pic that included the crown, but the opposing braids sort of collapse on themselves leaving a neat 2x2 cable along the outer edge, seperated from the next set by 2 purled sts. I'll try to get a better pic later with some help. The plan today, since now we have freezing rain and sleet coming down on top of about 3" of snow, will be to stay indoors. when all is said and done, we're supposed to have 5-7" of crap on the ground. Hope fully, the college will close, but somehow I doubt it. class should be small tonight and an abundant amount of parking spaces.....Stay home, stroke your TI-84+ calculator, and remember that if you don't have 4WD and can't drive to begin with, just stay home..............

--Update--

Campus is CLO-SED!! time for total slackerdom to set in!

What sundays are for.....

.....It's been about a week since I've had a total slacker of a day, so I think I'm due.....

Sunday maornings are now for eating fresh bread for breakfast with black coffee.

Sunday mornings are for Wool clogs and stoking up a good fire

for your German shorthaired Pointer. Yes, I'm still in my P.J.'s.....

Sunday mornings are for casting on thick wooly man

socks out of that stuff you dyed up a week ago.....

It was about 4 degrees this morning here when the dog and I went outside so hunker down, Knit something for yourself, and be a slacker....after fixing the dishwasher AND the garage door yesterday, I'm not going to do S&$@ today....(lord knows what google would have turned up with that word right?...)

You'd have thought....

.....I had the wonka golden ticket at how excited I was when I saw KnitXcore's post about the bread, and seriously, I was on a mission after that! Without any messing around, Here's the result:






"A" and I turned out 2 loaves. The white one was...phenomanal,(and almost gone) The dark one was made with Teff flour, and it was like a rock, but had an interesting flavor. After some more google strokin', I found out that Teff flour should only be substituted in a ration of 25% of the total flour amount, so that's where we hosed that one. but the recipe was correct, Even a 6 year old can bake bread as good as sullivan's bakery in Hells kitchen, NYC. For any more info, Check out Robbie's blog, he had an awesome post all about it, including the recipie and a video of the owner of the bakery making a few loaves. I'm a regular lurker there. As a final thought, There are 2 more loaves rising in the cupboard for tomorrow night! one with white all purpose flour. The other, 75% organic whole wheat/25% organic teff flour....(I don't give up easily)






Off the needles (yes, I said off) The Noro 1x1 scarf is done, but somebody obsconded with it already so pics will have to wait. A pair of knucks for B finally got knocked off, so without further words:


Tahki "Shannon" is a really fun yarn, and I scored a few balls at my lys a few weeks back with the intent on making a scarf for her, but she was right, it made great knucks. this was my 4th pair, and they are fun to knit, I just hate closing up the holes between the fingers. It's just a pain. I even got busy with the dyes yesterday with some reynolds "Candide" that I scored from my friend Mary's stash reduction sale last week. It's 100% virgin wool 2 ply that is a cream strand, tan strand plied together (I could have just said rag wool I suppose) and it took dye really well. These pics don't do it justice so I'll take some more in the day light if we ever get any around here before june.
The ball on the right, 197 yards, prochem dyes in 3 c0lors and one from country classic. The ball on the left was a half drunk, way-too-late-to start this experiment but what the hell.......I took the left over country classic mahogany (which I added too much yellow too, and it ended up looking exactly like the pro chem mocha brown I was using, ) and added it to a pot of simmering water, and tossed a 1/3 skein (I had made up for heels and toes) right in in the twisted skein form! I simmered about 2 minutes and cut the heat off, and continued to swish it around in the pot for another half hour while I had a few more drinks (a few) and by 2 am I had one beautiful rusty orange skein with dark yellow hints. the best part, was no tangles when I wound it. The party didn't stop there though....(no, it didn't) I left it in the pot until the next morning, hung it next to the de humidifier in the basement, and this evening, I've got my new boot sock yarn! that was an adventure for sure. Sundays are for fuzzy heads, late breakfasts, and long showers, The latter 2 were much more enjoyable I assure you. I finally got my Ravelry invite saturday, and signed up as Mattomite so don't leave me friendless!
have a good week, and watch out for old man winter, he gave us some flurries here tonight.

Time flies.....

.....and around this old house, seems to fly some more...

I met Yarmando for some friday morning knitting, and a liquid lunch, but was teased by a few sassy ladies of the knitwitters group at the merc about not blogging anymore, so here I am. I have been busy at work, busy around the house, and frogging nearly 75% of the projects I've been knitting that I just was bored with. On the Job, I've been on a whole house remodel (with clients crammed into 2 bedrooms till I'm done(they are saints to say the least)) complete with hydrolic foundation lifting:

Good times there since it was in a crawl space and I'm nearly 6'6"....

Yarn related, after all the frogging I caved in to the striped noro scarf craze, but without color:

I got hooked when I saw Brooklyn Tweed's version but had a hard time dealing with all the saturated colors, so I started knitting it out of Noro silk garden chunky in the #4 color. about a foot into it with one ball only, I frogged and started striping. I think the trick to using one color only is to find balls that begin and end in different colors Which has worked perfectly without any color overlapping (which I was afraid of). I wont bore you with the gory details of fixing our c.1935 home, but Yesterday I wrapped up a major plumbing fix caused by 3 lbs of carrot peels (that is a no-no) going down the dispose-all which required sawing out the old galvanized pipe in the basement and a power drain snake with 35 feet of snake, which did the trick. (thank god) ((that would have been the most expensive x-mas dinner yet)) The fireplace damper which was stuck for 20 years in the basement, has been unstuck, and after a professional inspection (not done by me) I have a working brick fireplace in the rec- room! thursday, I got a pick up load of wood, and I gotta tell ya, it's just nice to build a fire and knit for once. Now, on to the dishwasher water line......

Woke up the next morning and @#$%^&#.....

.....stole my bike.....not really, but it was a fitting song lyric for this week. So it's been one crazy month so far getting moved and robbed, but a promise is a promise, so who wants to see pics?
So without further delay, Welcome to big Matty's house!

Heres the front stoop with some fluted engaged columns, some dentil moulding and crown around the top. I thought the dog might coperate and stay on the porch for the photo shoot, but there were just too many squirrels out for him to stand it, so he stayed inside......

The house sits on a corner lot and has a picket fence around the whole backyard. We didn't have neighbors behind us before, just the Baptist preacher who had 4 acres, so it was a plus that we have a detached garage behind the house on the alley, to keep things a bit more private.the screen porch sits on the left side of the photo under that bit tree which keeps it nice and shaded. Just 2 blocks down the street there is a HUGE park complete with playgrounds, city rec center, tennis courts, so on, so on, but I had to know exactly how far around and its 1.2 miles in circumfrence. just far enough for a nice long walk with the dog.

We absolutely fell in love with this door in the dining room leading directly out to the porch. Since we don't have a firepit (yet?) the adirondak chairs fit nicely with a few small tables out there. To top it off, this is my favorite feature of the whole place, old school full mortise lock sets with skeletons for every door in the house. Bridget and I found a nice shade of pale yellow for our room, and I got the kids rooms painted (mostly) before we got moved in so we all had a place to retreat, that was finished. For now, there are still a bunch of things to unpack, arrange, rearrange, then alter B's rearranged arrangement at least a few more times before sh...ahem, We're done. (right...)

As for my beloved full size SUV gas hog, no word yet and we are on to day 3. My biggest problem with the whole thing is the timing of when it got boosted. Monday night, at 10:30 (with a mild buzz) the dog and I went out, did our business, and checked the doors on the truck...all locked. There were huge storms all day that stuck around all night. By midnight, it was gone, and one of my credit cards was used at a gas station. What pisses me off the most is that the bear and I stopped by the old placxe to grab some last minute crap from the house that was still left to go, like, 2 waterford vases, and B's beloved art glass lamp, among other things. My old boss used to say everything cost 200$, it dosen't matter what it is. A few years later, he said everything now costs 1,000$.....I have no idea exactly where the total stands now, but I have a feeling this is going to get costly. Poor Bridget picked up a rental car today since I need the other SUV we own and it reeked of cigarettes. to top that off, it is an ugly blue dodge .....whatever the hell its called, but she's not thrilled. I assure you of that. Saturday our agent is sending us to dinner at a nice restraunt tha only serves 20 a night, needs reservations a month in advance, and serves traditional country italian food.....Can you say veal boys and girls? I knew you could...thats all for now, I'll check in in a couple of days, but yarn time is a bit limited for another weeks or so.

It's all good in the hood.....

.....yeah, Big Matty's neighborhood......

I do have to apologize....I can't find the wire to the camera, or the battery charger for that matter, so pics are out of the question.....

I do know, however that some ass wipe stole my giant ford expedition right out of my driveway last night......

Pics are comin, but for now, I'm gonna fix another drink, and work a couple of rounds on my sock......More funny details about it to come, just not tonight......

Where's Matto?......

Matto has been a busy boy......I have been totally out of sorts for 2 months and it's finally come to an end.. The wife and I bought a house finally after an exhausting 2 month search! (can you imagine what that was like for the carpenters wife?) ((she's a saint)) So with any good luck, I'll be back to regular posting in a week or 2 but after tonight the interwebs go bye-bye, and wont be back till next weekend. If I can bogart a signal at the new place this week, I'll do a mini picture post, but if not, you will just have to wait and see. It's a neat 1930's 2 story, with (sko G, get ready for this) all the origional woodwork and full mortise locksets in every door with all the skeleton keys to match! screen porch, leaded glass windows, bomber door in the kitchen to dining room, ......to say the least, we absolutely love the place! So until then, this weak little post will have to do....Pics coming soon with the whole story....

It's not what you think.....

Here in the midwest, a state wide holiday commenced today, and it's not what you think....dig this......

Nope, it's got nothing to do with halloween, thats what I thought at first, but then I realized the case (well, 30 pack to be honest) had pictures of deer and turkeys all over it and this caption ensued: "Enjoy one after the hunt" Thats right people, it's deer season here in ohio. Jobsites and offices all over the city were near empty, and if you can believe this, in a few weeks when gun season hits (it's archery only now) a few school districts close their doors, because all the kids will be out, and literally, there will be NO CHILDREN there to teach. No BS, it's true. I bet neither NYC or LA has blaze orange High life cans. This morning the sunrise was spectacular at the god aweful time I hit the penthouse, so I snapped a few pics for the "View from my office" and got to work.

I have been Knitting, and contrary to popular local beliefs, am still alive. To prove it, I am stating publicly that I'm going to make my monday night secret engagement, where contrary to other popular and quite verbal beliefs, there is no constant bashing of other people going on, just knitting and good company. (private joke right there) To prove the knitting, I have to say I was lucky to stumble upon the Garterlac Dishcloth pattern from Criminy Jickets. The pattern totally demistified entrelac knitting for me, so thanks Dave. There is nothing more exciting for me than to figure out something all by myself without paying for a class. Here it is:

Now that I'd cranked one out (come on, stick with me here), I finally grew some cojones grandes and cast on for the Danica scarf from a past knitty issue. I don't know why I was afraid to give this a shot. I think somewhere early on, somebody told me I had to learn to knit backward to do it. (you know, no purling, like my daughter does) When I finally got serious and read through the entire pattern, it really was as simple as it looked, With all the other WIP'S lying around, I haven't been able to work on anything else, so I will leave you with a pic of the new leftover entrelac scarf, using leftover Rowan yorkshire tweed aran in 2 colors, some leftover noro big kureyon, and some leftover Tahki donegal tweed in a nice deli mustard color. (man colors)

Have a safe week all. I am going to enjoy the day off I get tomorrow by, well, I don't know, but it won't involve working, I assure you of that!

Even the plastic doll knows the power of the majic pillows.....

.......That is a direct quote from my wife as she rocked the baby to sleep (with her "majic pillows"). I apparently forgot what it was like to have a baby around the house full time, So my daughter in middle school for health class brought home a 7.5 lb. replica. Damn is that thing loud. Not only is it loud, but consistent too. It howls like the devils child at least every 30 minutes, and most times less. By 10 pm tonight, that girl was a mess. (I think that was the

point) On a lighter note, I have been knitting this week, just sporadicaly. To be brutally honest, I've had one hell of a trying week, and I've been a bad friend for a month, not making my usual "secret knitting night" or the wool gathering in yellow springs last weekend. I can't help it, I just have a bunch of stuff goin' on.
In a moment of cast on itis, I got cranking on a pair of mittens out of cascade pastazza, which is really nice stuff. I got tagged by Kyle for "8 things about me" and I've tried to pick a few that were pretty funny to talk about so her we go, but I think we are supposed to get to the rules first......Once tagged, you must link to the person who tagged you,then post the rules before your list, and list 8 random things about yourself. At the end of the post, you must tag and link to 8 other people, visit their sites, and leave a comment letting them know they've been tagged...

Heres the list.......

1. I you could rate my adult ADD on a scale of one to ten, my wife would said "it would be around a 12, depending on the day, actually it could be worse". she and My good friend mike should be nominated for sainthood for understanding me. I cannot hold a conversation pertaining one topic to save my life.....honest. Thank god I have a job that allows me to freely set my own schedule, allowing me to multitask (or freak out) which totally soothes this little issue of mine. When Bridget asked what I was doing, I told her about this list, and that I didn't expect to finish it tonight, she replied "of course not", and giggled at me. yeah, I'm a special one. Dee, dee, deedee.......(carlos mencia joke there)
2. although, I have a title of construction manager, a office, a computer, I never forget that First and formost, I am a carpenter. A disciple of Gustav Stickley's, and that, if I need something in particular furniture wise, and its made out of wood, I'd rather build it than buy it. This started out of necessity years ago, when I got divorced, and the ex took everything I owned. My boss, stopped by to put 2 cases of beer in my fridge, patted me on the back, and said, looks like we should start building some furniture, she really cleaned you out! and away I went, reading everything I could about Mission and prarie furniture, and spending late nights out in the garage building away.
3. I am a budding germaphobe. I don't think we should talk about that yet.
4. As a kid, my family moved alot, which means Micah (my baby brother) has been my best friend for almost 30 years.
5. I still consider north New Jersey home, since my parents still live there, and I go home to visit a few times a year, but wish it could be more.
6. I knit, because it totally massages my urge to count things. I'm a counter. There, I said it. I count everything, add and subtract big numbers in my head quickly, and to top that off, it is a huge plus at work that I can divide fractions well in my head as well. Math is reliable, and can be proven. it never leaves you wondering. it's always finished.
7. Before Bridget, I was a single dad for a few years, raising a daughter full time (not just the weekends) without any family close by. Now that she's a teen, I don't think I could do this without B's help. Girls are complicated. Nuff said.
8. I am a momma's boy. I love my momma. If I had my way, I would go spend a vacation every year with just her sitting at island beach state park in the sand, next to the ocean, in the Beach buggy area, where there's no one around like we've done since I was a kid. She's an amazing woman, the type you could talk to for days on end, laughing till tears ran down your face, and nobody tells a story like she does. besides, we are kind of cute together, I stand almost 6'6" at, ahem, 260, and she is a mere 5'0". I still open doors for her too.

I hope only half of you went running screaming for the hills, it was fun to write, and please don't take all the psych stuff seriously, My monday therapist says I'm not all that nutty, but the thursday guy disagrees. I guess we'll have to wait and see huh?

I am so glad I called the teacher about the "think it over baby" baby tonight, cause apparently this thing was not acting right, (it was actin' a fool) nor was any other childs tonight, and if this would have kept up, we'd have been notified that there had been a shaken baby syndrome incident in this house before the sun rose, for certain. I think this is such an important assignment to teach kids especially young girls, and one that could positively change a young persons future. I do feel a little bit bad though.......it's about 11:30pm now, and she and the baby have been asleep for about an hour. at some point tonight it's going to wake her up, and I bet more than once, and the teacher told me how to shut it off, but I think I will let it go just a bit longer so she gets a real taste of what having a baby is really like.

If No one tagged Micah yet, Your it dude! I think some people want to know a bit more about you.....(yeah, he's single ladies FYI)

goodnight all, and thanks Kyle for tagging me..........