Made By Amber

Another amazing hand-made gift from my lovely friend Amber, who is a way better knitter than me :)

She made me these absolutely GORGEOUS cabled fingerless mitts:

I don't even know if I could make these.... and if I could, it would take me a month. I watched her make the 2nd mitt in just one night while we knitted together!

I absolutely LOVE them. They are part of a whole set (mitts, hat, scarf) she is making for me to wear on a trip this fall. I am so lucky! But I'm not waiting til October to wear them. I'm so cold when I do computer work at Starbucks and they are my perfect new companion:

Potluck in Amberland

Amber and I joined a ladies' group in the Denver area and have been going to a few different events. Last month I hosted a recipe-sharing potluck... and this time it was Amber's turn to host it!

I got there a little early and took some photos of some pretty flowers in her yard as well as her cat Bernard who was just chillin'

Only 3 other people showed up (better than the 2 at mine at least!) but it turned out to be a lot of fun, a lot of laughs!! Good food and good company :) And silly Amberz taking silly pictures hehe:

After the other ladies left, Erin stayed - we met her at my pot luck and she got together with us one day to start learning some knitting. She decided to join us for some knitting after the pot luck and learn a little bit more. It was fun to have her hang out with us :)

Amber started on the set of mitts she's making me... oh man am I excited! They are going to be gorgeous!

On the way home I was treated to a GORGEOUS sunset on my drive. Great end to a great day :)

Serendipity Shawl Progress

I finished the lace edging and started on short rows. The piece is worked from the center outward and keeps getting larger... so it's pretty small right now, but I'm so glad to have gotten past the lace and onto regular knitting. Should go faster now.

An Amberous Evening

Met up with Amber at Starbucks for some knitting today! She was LOVELY and finished off my mitten for me, it had just a few rows left and it had been SO LONG I forgot how to finish it off at the top. They are now FINALLY complete (it took me forever to order the yarn I needed). They still need to be blocked but I just HAD to try them on. Better pics later :)

Amber just started making a poncho/sombrero combo for a chihuahua. I wonder how it'll turn out. She has to make up the pattern because there's nothing out there!

After our hands got tired, we went to Chili's for dinner. Apparently it was happy hour. She ordered a beer which is rare for her and somehow got two. And two waters even though she was just trying to get one for me. I was in the bathroom for two minutes and I returned to a very thirsty Amber!

LOL! I love the face! She only drank half of one beer and I barely touched one water. But we had fun!

Big Blue Blanket Completed

Finally finished this massive thing!! :) Compliments of Amber & Erin, a photo to show you just how big it is...

And some more photos of the finished blanket...

Wool Fest 2012

Amber and I went to Wool Fest last Saturday up in Estes Park. It is this big event having to do with yarn and knitting/crochet. There are alpacas, llamas, goats, rabbits, and other yarn-producing animals there... some to see, some to pet, even some to buy. There are tons of yarn vendors and other fun things too!

Amber was mostly excited to pet the animals. I suppose I didn't mind either :)

Tents were full of the wool straight from all these cool animals, for people who like to spin it themselves. They also sold skeins already made, and even finished projects for those who don't knit/crochet themselves, just so everyone had a way to enjoy the fine fibers.

These animals, called Paco Vicunas, are about the cutest things I have ever seen:

The super-fluffy Angora Rabbits were pretty cute too:

There was a HUGE shopping/vendor tent full of everything a knitter/crocheter could ever want...

I did end up with a few goodies. An adorable new project bag with sheep on it and some gorgeous hand made glass knitting needles:

We wandered into the Bijou Basin booth...

And found quite a surprise there...... ME! Hanging on the wall! Well, the pattern I modeled for :)

You can see the pattern page online with the rest of the photos, if you're interested. :)

Anyway, the owners were in the booth and they were SO NICE! I got inspired and decided to buy some yarn and try to MAKE the shawl I modeled for. I thought about getting the yellow since I like how it looked on me... but I went for this multicolor one that has the same yellow plus green, pink and orange.

Now I'm using the yarn, the bag and the needles all to work on this project. I've just barely started it. It's full of new things for me - I've never done lace and I've never done short rows. But I'm doing my best!

A couple more fun wool fest pics...

Starting Serendipity Shawl

Well here it is! Humble beginnings to the Serendipity Shawl which is the pattern my face is on :) It's the first time I'm doing lace & following a knitting chart, as well as my first time doing short rows.
When I'm done it should look something like this (I hope):

.... but of course a bit different with this multicolor yarn I'm using. Yep that's me, a pattern model, LOL! Probably the only time I'll ever model in my life.

Biiiig Blanket

Hey guys! I'm still here. I have lots more to post but just taking a little break. I'm working on a blanket right now that I really want to get finished. It's getting pretty darn big.

It has a really great texture that I'm totally in love with. I wish i was keeping it.

I'm trying to get through 3 more skeins of yarn tonight. Watching Design Star and crocheting = peaceful.

Obstacles

See, this is why I so often take my projects to Starbucks. Trying to work on a blanket at home seems futile...

Birthday Bash Begins!

I hung out with Amber yesterday and she could NOT wait any longer to give me my birthday gifts. I was like... next week is good.... but no, she couldn't wait LOL! And now that I HAVE the gifts, I'm glad, because I LOVE THEM! I seriously can't tell you how freaking thoughtful she is with the things she got me.

These are the BEAUTIFULLY wrapped gifts (Papyrus wrapping paper!!) she gave me... and I did not dress to match them on purpose, I swear. PS I like purple.

As you can see, I was pretty excited.

Look, I mean just LOOK at this gorgeous wrapping paper:

It's just lovely. I did eventually tear myself away from staring at them and actually tear them open.

My first gift was a cute little bento box! With bunnies on it!

Another gift was a cute little floral cosmetics case. I don't have a photo of it. But it fits my hard drive and cord!!!!! Yep, I'm on of those girls.

The other gifts were all HANDMADE, beautiful, amazing gifts. My thoughtful friend snooped around my Ravelry account and picked out things from my favorites so she would know I would like them. HOW SWEET is that?!

Fingerless mitts in a lovely silk-wool blend and shades of purples and greys.

The next one - two awesome potholders/trivets:

Aren't they pretty?!?!?!! Oh I just love them.

Last but not least this AMAZING herringbone scarf. It's super thick for very cold winter days (or days when I sleep at Amber's hosue! LOL)

I just love these gifts. I can't believe she made all this for me. I think I need to start planning ahead for her birthday in November!!!!!!!!!!

Ian says he has something he wants to get for me in Estes Park, so we are going up Saturday. I can't wait! I like surprises!!! And tomorrow night is birthday dinner with his family, and Saturday with my family. STEAK!!!!!! By the way.... I like steak now. And in case you didn't notice, I like purple. And birthdays. Mainly mine.