My Fun with Google

I'm copying this idea from LisaB. Go to google, click on images and then search for these things from your life:

My First Car (funny LisaB and I had the same car):
Blue 1984 Volvo Station Wagon.

I got it in High School when I was a sophmore. And it fit so many people. It's actually still around in my family. My brother was driving it for awhile as his car had some major mechanical issues. But it was recently sold to someone else for a whopping $500. I drove it from 1994-2001. Then got a honda civic because I commute and the civics 35 mpg beat out the 18 the volvo got. But it was an awesome car :)


Place you grew up and place you live now:
Grew up in San Rafael California

This is actually an image of the San Rafael Civic Center. Frank Loyd Wright designed the building and it was the setting in the movie Gattica. This is also where I used to go to the library as a kid and where they had a farmers market in the summer.





Now live in Berkeley California
This is a photo of the Kite Festival they have in Berkeley once a year. It's always kinda fun. I've gone a couple times.








What shows up when you type your name in and your blog name:
Amber:

Shocker. I so have a Porn name :)










Or I get this kind of amber:
















Yarn Junkie:

Favorite Food:
Olives!














Favorite Drink:
Mojito















Favorite Song:
Interpol Obstacle 1

Interpol is a great band. This song is from their "Turn On the Bright Lights" Album. But "Antics is a great album as well. They have a haunted quality to their music.















Favorite Smell:
Just after it Rains
























And I also just love the rain.

Favorite Pair of Shoes Ever:
Well maybe not EVER... but currently these are my 2 favorite pair of shoes. Adn I cheated and went to zappos.com for the pics.


That was fun :)

Help

Just wanted to post a note expressing my sadness for everyone effected by the hurricane and the flooding. Especially the people still stuck in New Orleans. And remind everyone who can to donate time or money or both to the people who have lost everything. This is the the link google has up for donation collection. But I don't really care who you donate through... just go help as much as you can.


Red Cross
And a list of places to donate to including some to help the animals too.

-Amber

Getting There

Has been wound back into balls and the new baby pullover is this:



Although I've actually got one sleeve, the body and the cuff of the second sleeve done. Luckily the baby shower isn't for a couple weeks still. Of course I have another pregnant friend (found out on Friday) so I think I'll knit them one of the stuffed animals from Last Minute Knitted Gifts. They are so cute (there is a bunny, a bear, and an elephant).

And in the saga of the engagement ring.... I am finally done. Here is the current and final ring:


It doesn't stick up as far as the first one and I'm quite happy with it!

Whew!

I almost cracked... Found some Noro Cash Iroha on sale and had it in my checkout basket.... but I closed the window :) I'm getting better at this whole not buying yarn all the time thing :)

Deadlines

#1. Child's Placket-neck Pullover from Last Minute Knitted Gifts for a baby shower Sept 17th


#2. Cigar Gloves for my Fiance for our anniversary on Sept 29th


#3 Broken Rib Scarf for my Fiance for our anniversary on Sept 29th


#4 Jessie's Sweater from Stitch N' Bitch for my Dad... was actually supposed to be a Birthday present in April so I feel like this should be next on my list after the 3 above projects which need to be done ASAP.


Then I can get back to my Belly Sweater and make it a normal sweater (as soon as my extra ball of yarn shows up).

I LOVE Handpaintedyarn.com

So the yellow/glodish "sunset" colored sweater I posted photos of a few posts back.... ummmm yeah I didn't buy enough yarn. Which is funny as I have a tendency to buy way too much yarn normaly. So I have the top portion of the sweater (arms, and chest cover) knit, but now I have to pick up around the bottom edge and turn this sweater belly top into a "normal" length sweater. And I have about 50 yards of yarn to knit 6 inches on front and back. This isn't going to work. So I went to handpaintedyarn.com to see if they perhaps had just one more ball so I could cover my tummy... no. Hmmm I could knit the bottom in another color and add a stripe to the wrist so it doesn't look so dumb. But this didn't sound like such a great plan.

So I figured what the hell... I'll email them and ask if they have a ball hidden somewhere just waiting for me. Mariana replied that she would check with the dyers and see if they had some. Very quickly she got back to me that they have 3 hanks and how many would I like? This makes me very happy... I wasn't in the mood to tear apart a nearly complete sweater and start something else :) So if you've been on the fence about ordering yarn from them.... go for it :)

So much work

I'm done with 70 hour work weeks for a while now. We finished up "Penguins". Which is a 15 minute movie that will be in theaters in front of the Wallace and Grommit movie soon. And now I can leave work! So back to your regularly sceduled knitting blog...

Finished my Cigar Gloves. With a few modications... shorter cuff, different stripe, and no fingers:


And now my fiance loves them and wants a pair. So I'm making him a pair for our anniversary next month (10 years!):

Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran yarn

Mmmmmm Coffee

You Are a Plain Ole Cup of Joe But don't think plain - instead think, uncomplicated You're a low maintenance kind of girl... who can hang with the guys Down to earth, easy going, and fun! Yup, that's you: the friend everyone invites. And your dependable too. Both for a laugh and a sympathetic ear. here

More Knitting

Here's the progress on my Knockaround sweater from Weekend Knitting:

The construction is a bit odd (it is a Teva design afterall) The lower part was knit in a strip and the top part was picked up and knit... adding more stitches along the way to create the sleeves. So the sleeves are knit at the same time.

The knitting is a bit slow going because each row is so long... but I'm to the point where I need to knit the collar... So about half way there. The handpaintedyarn.com 6 ply merino I'm using is awesome. Love the color variation and the softness of the yarn. If I weren't doing so well with my yarn diet I'd be buying more of it right now :)

And here's my first modified Cigar glove. I decided to just go fingerless rather than knit the last two full fingers. That way these will make great photography gloves. I can do everything (load film, focus, grip the camera) without having to take my gloves off.

That should come in handy next month when we go to Yosemite (for our 10 year anniversary!!). I'm looking forward to the trip. Haven't been out there in years.

Engagement Ring Saga

Deciding on a husband wasn't that hard... My guy is awesome. The ring on the other hand has been ridiculous.

1. He proposes and gives me a green sapphire (what I wanted) on a plain white gold band so I can pick the final setting.

2. I pick a setting and get the stone put in:

but it sticks up too high and gets caught on my clothes, in my hair, etc... So I find another setting and leave the stone.

3. I get a call from the jeweler. They chipped the sapphire.

4. We go back in today and pick a new stone (smaller this time since I thought the first one was a bit big... but kept it because he picked it out) and yet another setting.

5. Next weekend I should be able to pick up the final ring.

Sheesh!

Cigar Gloves

I was waiting on a second size 5 needle to come in the mail... and it came. So here's my wrist warmer - to be glove:


It cigar from the current issue of knitty.com So far it's a really easy pattern. Can't wait to get to the green stripe :)

Kitty Pi... need 3?

Well it's more of a Kitty Pancake than a Kitty Pie :) But that's fine.
Jill loves the bed....

But so does Seamus... and then Jack also slept in it today I just don't have the photo to prove it. So looks like I'll have to make at least one more of these.

July... perfect time to knit scarves?

Here is another Diagonal Lace Rib scarf from The Knitters Handy Book of Patterns:


One strand of each held together:
Rowan Kid Silk Haze (blushes), Mal Abrigo Thick/thin Bulky Wool (velvet grapes), Lisa Souza Petal (garnet)

It was a nice change to knit on big needles... seems that I've been making scarves on size 7's for a bit now. The above scarf was whipped up on size 11's

Kitty Pi as a Hat?

Do I really need to coment? This is my fiance.... and that is my Kitty Pi on his head... and that is our cat (one of 3) Jill who will love Kitty Pi as soon as I get it felted.

He thought it made a nice warm hat :)

Pattern link to save

Cardinal Grapje

just so I remember that this sweater exists... nice lace sweater.

PJ Pants

Funny... I just noticed how you can see my stripe PJ's in most of the photos I took this weekend. So if anyone thought that was my carpet... it's not :)

Actual Photos

My cat Jack mushed into a shoe box... he loves them for some reason:


In Progress:
Lace Rib Angora Scarf. Pattern found in Knitters Handy Book of Patterns:

Weekend Knitting Knockaround Sweater:

Kitty Pi (started in May and recently picked up again):

Swatch for Cigar Gloves from Knitty.com

Backyard Leaves from Scarf Style:

Yarn Binge Counter

Ok the turtle it is... of course it's too wide to live in my sidebar. So it's living at the bottom of the page instead. Thanks for helping me make that very important decision ;-)

I think turtle

to replace the black numbers to the right. What do you think?

count tester

Another kal :)

I joined another knit along... these things just keep popping up for projects I'm interested in making. Cigar from Knitty.com is my most recent join. I've wanted to make a pair of gloves for some time now and I have yarn in my stash that I can use too!



So I'm still going strong on my no yarn buying pledge. 25 days and absolutly no yarn bought... but I have picked up a couple books. I'm ok with that.

And in wedding planning news... we have a location picked out and I'm meeting with a photographer next month that I think will work out well. It's just too busy at work for me to make it into San Francisco after work this month. And she is of course busy on weekends shooting weddings at the moment :) This is her web site

Ok back to work for me now.

Viking Knits Rocks

I just got this book yesterday.. and as a cable addict I am in love. The hats are a little silly (for me at least) but there are a few sweaters that I just have to make as well as some nice cables to use in scarves or as accents on sweaters.

no-poncho-pledge

no-poncho-pledge

This is a really funny site:

It is the loathsome seducer of the womens. It calls in the sweet voice, “I am the poncho, if you wear me I will help you conceal your flaws. I promise, your hips, they will disappear under my protective cover of man-made fibers. Look, darling, you can even make me yourself for $1.49 in the material. Choose the aqua yarn. It is pretty no?”

Read through the main site as well... funny stuff.

Enough

As I plan for my wedding and realize that it's going to cost about a billion dollars to have the wedding I want... I think it's finally time for me to really stop buying so much yarn. I've been clean and sober for about 2 weeks now :) and I'm going to start a no yarn buying diet until one of these things happens:

• I use up all my yarn
• my credit card is paid off
• our wedding is paid off

I will leave myself one loop hole.... if I'm making a sweater/scarf/glove/whatever and run out of yarn to finish the project I will allow myself to buy enough to complete the project. So here is the group I'm joining to keep myself honest:

http://yarnaholics.blogspot.com/

Ok here goes

Wesley Buckaroo

I found this posted on Stitchy McYarnpants blog and started laughing out loud at my desk at work... so of course I had to share :)

Some finished projects

Vintage Velvet from Scarf Style (red one), Pashmina Cowl from Last Minute Knitted Gifts (blue), and aFarrow Rib scarf (stripes). See my finished projects page for yarn details and whatnot.

cool scarves

Decidedly Different Scarves from Stitch Diva Studios

I actually broke down and the bought the patterns. You get all 3 patterns for $7. Seemed reasonable to me. And I've been on a serious scarf kick lately. Guess it's been a little warm for working on a whole sweater. And I'm feeling a bit a.d.d. lately anyhow. So a scarf is the right sized project for me.

Me as a doll

Hmmm I make a pretty cute doll... I made it here.

With Shrek Ears (since I did work on the movie) and without the ears

In Progress Photos

Here is a polka-dot scarf I started using Knit Picks Elegance yarn:

I had picked up some of this yarn to check out the colors and the yarn itself. It's really quite nice... so it's now a scarf knit as a tube to hide the ugly backside.

And this is the Diagonal Lace Rib scarf from the knitters book of handy patterns. I came across a photo of this scarf on someone's blog and thought that my hand painted yarn from Inspirations would look nice. Both sides are different but nice:

So many projects...

I love the Union Square Sweater in the current IK (not that my copy has shown up yet) and would love to join the knitalong but I just have way too many projects started and in line in front of this one. I still need to finish my hourglass sweater and my Dad's sweater with flames on the sleeves. Not to mention the 5 or so scarves I have in progress. Perhaps it's time to finish a few projects :)

Engangment Ring

This is the ring I picked out to go with my green saphire center stone. My guy picked out the stone and had it put in a temporary setting so I could choose the final setting. It was so fun ring shopping today :) Here's what I picked:

Like this one

I totally want a dress like this one:


I'm so having fun with wedding stuff (for now).

And thank's for all the congrats! Your comments were sweet :)

Got Engaged!

I'm back from Maui and my boyfriend proposed :) I hope planning the wedding is fun... got to find a venue and make a guest list.... I'm excited!


And on the knitting front... not much knitting got done in Maui. It's just too hot and we were out and about a lot. But I did get alittle bit of my cowl neck (from Last Minute Knitted Gifts) worked on. I'll report back in a few days with better progress.