Almost finished

Alright, so I've been working on my Tangled Yoke Cardigan for what seems like months. I believe I started back in August (?) BUT I've frogged the whole thing twice because of my carelessness. Not to worry, I've got this now. On the first round, I continued my ribbing on the body too far up where I was supposed to work in stockinette stitch so instead of trying to rip to a certain point, I decided to just frog it. Let's face it, I might stab anyone that tried to get near me while trying to count the stitches in garter rib and run a safety line. I figured I'd save myself further headaches of losing my temper. The second time around, I did it right! Yeah, it's a darn shame the sweater was enormous on me. Ugh!! Why did I even thing I was that size? Who knows?! I had Paul measure me so that I would have a more accurate idea of my size but I just ended up just measuring my favorite cardigan. I think we're good now. The body seems just a couple of inches short but I think it'll come out in the blocking. God, I hope so! Hehehe. So, you want a picture of this famous (and first sweater for me) cardigan, eh? Sorry. I have not taken any pictures of it yet. I know. I know. Bad blogger, Zen! It's coming though. I'm really almost finished. I have the body and sleeves completed and they are now joined. Just another inch and I begin on the cables on the yoke. I can't wait because it's getting cold in West Virginia and I'd like to wear it to New York City for my birthday in December.

For now, I leave you with a picture of my earthworm. I made it this summer but never posted pictures. It reminds me of how I would like to get back to knitting these little critters. They're so fun and quick.

Ten On Tuesday

10 Things You Think are Cool

1. Furry little animals
2. Knitting
3. Clint Eastwood
4. Horror Movies
5. Shoes
6. Handmade items
7. Passion
8. Historic places
9. Nature and all it's wonders
10. The Beatles

Mittens and Kittens

While looking at Facebook recently I noticed the beautiful hand embroidery that my boss' wife does. When I commented on her picture to compliment her and tell her how beautiful it would look on a pair of mittens, scarf or hat she proposed the idea of starting an Etsy shop. I would be in charge of knitting and her the embroidering. Here are the first mittens and now they're in her hands to begin the embroidery.

Lastly, here is the latest addition to the family. I introduce to you, Smokie. I saw her in the pet shop while picking up some bugs for my sugar gliders and just couldn't resist. She ended up coming home with us and is the sweetest kitten.

Wowserz!

I CAN NOT believe that my last post was in mid July. I had absolutely no clue. I have been so consumed with work, knitting and reading. In the beginning of August I took a trip out to New York City to spend some good quality time with family and friends. I stayed out for a magnificent week. I was amazed with how big all my little nieces and goddaughters had gotten. They truly grow like weeds. We took a huge family trip to the Hall of Science. Later on that evening my brother took me out to see Toto La Momposina, who is a famously known Colombian singer who does afro-colombian music. Her voice is phenomenal and the band really got you moving in your seat. At the end of the show she even came out to sign autographs. She was truely inspiring. She had told a woman up ahead of me in line who was having a traditional straw hat autographed to be sure and only buy authentic colombian hats that help preserve our culture and not overpriced cheaply made hats which she basically had. When I got my chance to speak with her I asked her not to forget about her fans out in nyc and to come back around to which she assured me she wouldn't and gave me her autograph saying "Con Sabor!" meaning "With flavor!". Another evening I got to meet up with my friend and see the Big Surprise Tour which consisted of Old Crow Medicine Show, Dave Rawlings Machine, the Clive Brothers and Justin Townes Earle. They are all kind of country, folk, bluegrass and old time mixed into one. At the end of week, the family gathered up and we all headed out to Bear Mountain. As kids we all spent some of our summer days out through there. Between playing by the lake and running into the pool to cool off. The place is just as fun as it was back when I was a kid. After playing hard we found a picnic table and ate sandwiches and watched the kids play baseball and attempt to skip stones on the lake. The trip back into West Virginia wasn't the best but I didn't let it ruin my vacation. Just to give you an idea, I was supposed to leave at 6:50pm and didn't leave until 9:30pm. When we finally reached Charleston, we were told that it was much too foggy to try and land the plane in the mountains. Guess where we were taken? ... Columbus, OH. Yes! From there, they were going to charter a bus to bring us back to Charleston, WV. At the end I got the bus driver to drop me off in a gas station closer to home and didn't arrive at my apartment until 4am. That's right, 4 in the morning. I was supposed to be home by 9pm.

Ten On Tuesday

10 Favorite Songs of the 80's

1. Take On Me by Aha
2. PYT by Michael Jackson
3. Come On Eileen by Dexy's Midnight Runners
4. Message In A Bottle by The Police
5. Uptown Girl by Billie Joel
6. Walk Like An Eygptian by The Bangles
7. Livin' On A Prayer by Bon Jovi
8. Talk Dirty To Me by Poison
9. Under Pressure by Queen and David Bowie
10. Another One Bites The Dust by Queen

A Monkey, A Bar and A BOOM!

Now that I've finally let enough time go by, I have a few things to write about. I wish I could write every week like other bloggers out there but really, I don't want to bore you with mundane writings.

Let's begin with my monkey socks. I've heard of the Cookie A. pattern to monkey socks and was always a bit skeptical but now that I've begun knitting it and am half way through the second sock, I've been won over. I swoon for these socks. They pattern is amazingly effortless to follow. Even I who has the memory of a goldfish have managed to memorize the pattern and am whizzing through it. I have seen the Cookie ways.
About a month ago, Paul and I went to a Hank III show. He actually decided to get a hotel room for the night down in Huntington to avoid the drive home at the end of the show and I agreed. It was a nice treat from him since he got the executive suite and got a room with a nice view. The nice surprise that was included with the hotel is the fact that the band was staying in it as well. The van was outside and we even ran in Lucky Tubb in the elevator. Lucky is actually the nephew of Ernest Tubb, the famous country singer. He was very friendly and introduced himself, shaking every one's hand. I didn't happen upon Hank himself but we did see Gary in the computer room. The show itself was great (as usual) but incredibly and uncomfortably hot. The AC wasn't enough to sustain the crowd. We stood in line for nearly an hour in the hot... HOT sun so we were soaked before we got in and it just got worse from there. It was so hot even the beer didn't feel cold to us. By the way, the upright bassist for Hank III looked just like the actor from the notebook. It was very strange.

I want to take the time to wish everyone a Happy 4Th of July. We had a fairly relaxing one watching movies and watching the fireworks with dad. (By the way, I recommend Gran Turino. Spectacular movie.) The fireworks were beautiful and a great way to end the night. It was also pretty neat to have a view of them right outside my door. Although, it is not the fireworks that made the 4Th great, it's taking the time to remember what a great country we live in. I feel I sometimes take it for granted but I'm happy to have the freedoms that we have. Even this blog represents our freedom of speech which some people in the other side of the word cannot take part in. I revel in the beautiful landscapes this country offers, from the Alaska wilderness to the desert to the swamps to the Rockies and Appalachian mountains to the pacific and Atlantic beaches to the prairies and the cities (I can go on forever). We really are fortunate to have this all at our grasp. In my moment of patriotism, I want to share my favorite patriotic song with you. It's "My Beautiful America" by Charlie Daniels which paints a beautiful picture of this country.

Ten On Tuesday

How funny for this topic to come up after last nights events with our neighbor.

10 Things That Turn You Off About People

1. Discourteous
2. Talkative (I mean REALLY talkative)
3. Snobby
4. Intrusive
5. Contradicting
6. Brown nosers
7. Body odor
8. Dishonest
9. Downers - the people that always have a hard luck story that brings you down and they never do anything to fix their situation
10. Know it all