Off to Maui

I'm getting the plane tomorrow morning and I'll be back on the 17th.

And I've packed way too much clothing... But I always do :)

I am bringing my Hourglass sweater (knit in cotton) to work on once we get there and I'm bringing the Vintage Velvet and Branching Out to work on during the flight. 5 hours on a plane isn't too bad... but I figure 2 knitting projects and a book should keep me busy.

Aloha!

And a couple completed projects

Misty Garden from Scarf Style (knit in Inspirations Yarn foam)


And yet another Short Row Rib scarf from magknits.com
this one is made from Noro Transitions yarn... I really liked working with this yarn.

Some scarves in progress

Vintage Velvet from Scarf Style... but mine is made in Debbie Bliss Alpaca Silk. This will be heaven to wear.


Farrow Rib in Artfibers Rune (alpaca blend as well.. yummy)
Farrow Rib:
Multiple of 3 sts +1.
Row 1: *k2, p1* repeat across ending k1
Row 2: p1 *k2, p1* repeat across


Branching Out in Cascade Indulgence. Pattern from knitty.com

Fun photo

Came across this and thought it was fun :)



I love chamealons!

Damn Webs!

So I innocently check my email today and there is a note from webs saying that they have put Berroco Pleasure on closeout for $60 for a bag of 10 balls... and if I spend $60 I get 20% off as well?!?!?!? It was just toooooooo good to pass up... Gah! I made a shawl from this yarn a couple years back... the yarn has held up well and it is soooo soft!

So I bought 12 balls of pleasure in this color:


I am shameless... I think I could knit for 10 years and not run out of yarn!

Well we're leaving for Maui a week from tomorrow so at least I won't buy yarn while I'm there (for 17 days!) It's a start. I figure that if I can put my yarn binge counter (look to the right in my side bar) to 17 days I'll want to keep going... blowing it at 3 days is no biggie.

Artfibers Loot

Rune for a scarf. It's a bulky alpaca/wool blend. Brownish purple and sky blue:


Kyoto in lavender, silver, and brown:

The silver and lavender will be used together for a stole or scarf. And the brown is to go with the leftover red kyoto I have... so that'll be a scarf.

Then I got a ball of Hana and Chai (both silk). I have Rowan Kidsilk Haze in green and lilac that I plan on stranding with this silk for 2 different scarves :)


And I literally have no where to store this yarn... soooooo out of space. So please send me happy yarn diet wishes! ;)

Yarn?!?!?!?

So yesterday my boyfriend and I took B.A.R.T. into San Francisco to see the "friends and family" premiere of Madagascar that my work put together. And he (somewhat jokingly) says that if I'm good we could go to Artfibers while we're in the city. For those who have not had the chance to go to this awesome yarn store... let me tell you it's great! They have their own yarn label that they sell. The yarn is spun and dyed in Japan and sold in San Francisco. I've been trying to not buy any yarn till I use up some of my massive yarn stash but I just have a real soft spot for Artfibers. They even have a seating area where my boyfriend hung out while I shopped. So I left there about $100 lighter and about 10 balls of yarn heavier.

Apparently I'm not so good at the yarn diet ;)

Inspired

The link below totally inspired me to actually write an entry about... me. Not about my knitting but about me, my home, my life, etc. (I'll update the post with some photos later... as I'm at work right now)

http://crazyauntpurl.com/

So here goes...

Me
My name is Amber and I'm 28 years old. I've lived this first 28 years in the San Francisco Bay area. And I've lived in the North Bay (San Rafael), the South Bay (Mountain View... I didn't like the south bay much. Everything is beige, tan, or cream colored there.) And currently live in the East Bay (Berkeley). This is definitely home... I love where I live. I live in a great little 2 bedroom house that was built in 1929. But I think I'll have to live in a different state or country at some point...

We (me, my boyfriend, our 3 cats, and our lizard) have lived in this house for the past 5 years or so. Being that it's such an old house and we own it... there is a huge list of repairs/remodels that we either need to or want to do. It can be a bit overwhelming at times (we gutted and remodeled our kitchen several years ago... it's still not quite done as there is no trim around one of the doors and one of the windows... also need to finish the tile on part of the counter and paint said trim). We also ripped up most of the carpet in the house last summer and re-finished the hardwood floors. And when I say we... I mean me and my boyfriend... we did it ourselves and it was a TON of work. I know people who can afford to pay people to do this kind of work and I am seriously jealous. So like I said the house situation can be a bit overwhelming :)

Me and the boyfriend have our 10 year anniversary coming up in September of this year. The 29th. This is a bit scary because about a year ago I threw down the gauntlet and said he'd better marry me as I didn't want to "date" him for a decade. In essence I told him that I either wanted for him to make that commitment to me or I was going to leave him. And gave the 10 year cutoff. And this sucks because I really don't want to leave him... I love him and think he's a great guy... I just want the type of commitment that marriage symbolizes to me. To me marriage is for always, truly "in sickness and in health till death do we part". I realize that most people end up divorced.. I swear I live in reality. But for one... my parents are still married and happy. They've had some ups and downs but they are mostly happy. Alas my boyfriend's parents divorced when he was an infant and he's never met his father... and then he had a crappy step dad to boot. So I know we see marriage differently. But I still want him to look me in the eye and tell me that he wants me and only me forever... now is that really too much to ask? ;)

Well that covers the home and boyfriend. So here's some more stuff. I make a living as a commercial artist of sorts... I do 2D digital painting on CG movies. So far I've worked on Shrek2 and Madagascar (comes out 5/27 so go see it). I love where I work and the people I work with. My only gripe about work is location... It's about 45 miles from my house in the dreaded South Bay. Bay area traffic is a bitch... today it took an hour and a half to get here. People freak out when it rains.. it's like their brains fall out their ass.. it's truly amazing. Most days (no rain) my morning commute is about an hour and my evening is about the same. So 2 hours for travel and a 10 hour work day sure do eat up a lot of time. Thank god I love it there because from 8am till 8pm that is where I am. But I do get to paint and listen to my ipod all day long... not a bad gig really.

Well I'm getting a bit bored typing about myself so I'll assume that you (all 2 of you) who are reading this are getting bored too. So I'll just talk about my pets for a moment and call it good.
So the pets. Jack and Jill are my/our 2 8 year old brown tabbys with white markings. They are litter mates and so damn cute. About a year after I met my boyfriend we moved in together and I really wanted a cat. I was almost 20 at the time and had never really had a pet of my own and I've always been a HUGE animal fan. I actually like animals more than I like most people. So we found a kitten rescue in Marin County and checked it out. Of course it was the wrong time of year ( I think it was January or February) for kittens so I had to wait till March. then they got a brother and sister pair that they wanted to place in a home together. Since we were both students and not home a lot we figured it's be good for them to have each other for company and took them home. Jack was a pound and a half and Jill was a pound. He is now 17 pounds (just big not really fat) and Jill is 11 pounds (she's a bit fat and runty but sooo sweet). They are great. Then last April a coworker took in a stray cat (read a pregnant stray) and he found himself with 5 kittens in need of homes.... well that's how we got Seamus (Shay-mis). My coworker sent me kitten pictures every week until he was old enough to take home in June. I was told he was an orange tabby so I gave my redhead an Irish name... well he was and still is beige. So the name is a bit funny but I still like it. So our 1 year old stalks and tortures the older cats and gets swatted on the nose now and again. But we sometimes catch them all sleeping on the bed together so I know that all is well.



Last but not least we have Lydia the Bearded Dragon. She's about 3 and a half now. Very cool pet but a lot of work as she eats live food. She has to have king meal worms and adult crickets every other day. So it sounds like camping in our living room because that is where she and the crickets live. Someday when I'm not gone 12 hours a day I really want a dog... a Rhodesian Ridgeback. Here are some cute photos.

ok that's enough about me :)

mother load

I've placed a couple yarn/knitting related orders in the past couple weeks... and they all showed up today!

Some highlights:

Loop-d-Loop knitting book
GORGEOUS!

handpaintedyarn.com super bulky wool in rhodesian-


Catalina yarn from handpaintedyarn.com in velvet grapes-

And a "couple" trial balls of knitpicks yarns... Elegance (cornflower & daisy), Andrean Silk (sangria & lettuce). and the stripy sock yarn (vineyard & autumn colors).

Hmmm no room at home... where the hell am I going to put this beautiful yarn?

Cascade Pima Tencel

I just got my order of this yarn in a soft sky blue (well a little more of a soft sky blue/grey). I had no idea this yarn was so soft. I can't wait to start the premiere pullover from the IK summer 05 (I posted a photo of the yarn and sweater pattern in my May 5th entry).

I was going to finish my hourglass sweater before starting this... but I think I'm going to swatch when I get home tonight!

It's such yummy yarn... and at 20% off from yarn.com it was a good deal too.

I LOVE yarn :)

Misty Garden from Scarf Style

I've done it again....



bought yarn for a project that I can't start for a very long time ;-) It's Jo Sharp Rare Comfort Kid Mohair... elann had a good price on it today. I bought it for the Misty Garden Scarf from Scarf Style. Oh well, I got off light... today was cheap. 3 balls of the mohair and a pattern for a neckdown short sleeve cardigan. It's so cute :)

New Blog Templates

Every 5 or 6 months I feel the need to change the background of my blog... so I've done it again and I think I have my links and everything put back the way they were. Hmmm every few years I feel the need to repaint the walls in our house a different color too... this is so much easier :)

my finished projects got a facelift as well http://yarnjunkie2.blogspot.com/

Some finished scarves

These have been done for a few days... but I'm just getting around to washing them and taking photos. For yarn and pattern details see here.

Here is my Here and There Cable scarf:


And my Twin Leaf Scarf:

better photo

of my short rib scarf:


And what is a knitting blog without photos of kitties too?



top to bottom Seamus, Jill, & Jack. Funny, they are never all in the same place like that.

Almost forgot about this one

Someone on Craftster started a knit-along for this sweater (months ago) and I just stumbled across the post. It's from the Vogue Knitting Winter 04/05 issue. Great pattern and I'm feeling inspired to work on this too. Perhaps once I finish my hourglass sweater and the sweater with flames on the sleeves for my dad, and make the premiere pullover I posted about a couple days ago... then I can make this too. I have some rowan kid classic in imp green that would work well for this pattern. (the beauty of a large stash... I almost always have yarn that works for patterns I want to make. And here is the Shawl Collared Pullover:

Your Inner European

Your Inner European is Italian!



Passionate and colorful.
You show the world what culture really is.

http://www.blogthings.com/whosyourinnereuropeanquiz/
Who's Your Inner European?

two finished scarves

both were made from the Short Row Rib pattern from Mag Knits. For yarn details and whatnot see my finished projects page.

my next project to start

Premier Pullover



It's in the Summer 05 issue of Interweave Knits. The yarn used in the pattern is Classic Elite Premiere which is kinda expensive. The ladies on the Knitters Review Forum swear that Cascade Pima Tencel is the same yarn. So I picked up some to make this sweater even though I never use the suggested yarn. I just really don't have a cotton or cotton blend in my stash to use.... I'm generally a wool and alpaca girl.

Cascade Pima Tencel blue/grey:


I have to finish up my hourglass sweater before I start though :-)

ebay strikes again

So my last yarn purchase showed up yesterday. I hadn't made any yarn purchases for a little less than a month and then managed to go way overboard on an ebay binge. So here's the loot (And of course I'm really happy with my purchases):

Rowan All Seasons Cotton in Safari Green:


Debbie Bliss Cashmerino in A dark orange:


And Jeager Luxery Tweed in China Pink:


Yikes! yarn for 3 more sweaters in one swoop. It's been 9 days since I actually made this purchase and I'm going to try and use up some stash for a bit :-)