Olympic Knitting ~

My neighbor sent me this picture with this note, "One of your relatives?"

I couldn't believe it, this person is obviously at the top of the mountain, knitting bare handed and using metal needles that must be sooooooo cold. The project is a substantial one, not just a small hat or small cowl, or mitts....something big.... I love this kindred spirit!  I found out that this is the Finnish Snowboarding Coach, and I would love to meet him and talk about yarn!

Paradise is Fort Worden ~

Last year was my first Fort Worden weekend, and it is the closest experience to fiber paradise I have ever known. Friends and knitting, friends and spinning, friends with great advice, friends selling great stash, scary acrylic that makes us all laugh....no classes or schedule, just friends and fiber, 24/7.

  Here we are, just knitting and laughing....

 

Laughing and knitting.....

Knitting Tools ~

The proper knitting tools can really improve a knitting experience. A great tool can help knitters be more accurate, more efficient and able to spend more time knitting, and less time fiddling with bits and pieces that do not work quite right. Ask your friends about knitting tools that work really well for them, I'm sure they will have some good recommendations...This wizard of a coffee maker is my newest knitting tool, and a great recommendation from JitteryKnitter. I can now get a fresh cup of coffee (or tea) on a moments notice, any time of the night or day. On weekends, this has extended my knitting time greatly! Hurrah! This picture is the first "inaugural" cup of coffee, in my crazy sheep mug!

Knitting as Art ~

I was taking my babysitting charge out for some air and a change of scenery. The occasion was the beginning of Cross Country practice, so I get one hour of knitting time while I wait for practice to end. (Hurrah for Cross Country practice!!!)As I sat and knit, I noticed someone in the seat across the cafe sewing some big BIG piece of knitting, and I realized that she was part of the group that knit and created the wonderful Socks (below) in our town.She was working on a grand scale project in Seattle, and it is so amazing! click here and here to see the photos of the Seattle display!

Last day of school ~

Today was the last day of school in our district. Tag on 3 extra days for "snow days" so our kids seem like the only ones in the world still in school. As soon as they finished their half day, they raced off to camp for a long weekend.I found this note waiting for me when I arrived home from work...How wonderful is this??? (very wonderful, indeed - I am counting my blessings) Since I don't have to pack lunches, do laundry or other "mom duties" I think I shall knit....
P.S. please don't tell them how quiet the house is, or that I miss that delightful noise and chaos they bring to my life :)

Vogue, Really?

I was lucky enough to be gifted many Vogue Knitting magazines and I've been excited to look through them, as I've never been past the cover on one of these legends... When I opened the cover of the first one, I started turning the pages with a bit of amazement, and then surprise...and then disbelief.... I laughed when I made it to the patterns in the back....does anyone ever knit these patterns? Do mere mortal knitters knit these patterns, or does one have to have super-human super-hero powers to knit these patterns... There seems to be a hat that I think I could tackle....maybe....if the pattern wasn't four pages long....for a hat? Really?

Summer Stitch 'n Pitch ~

Get ready for this year's Stitch 'n Pitch, coming to a baseball field near you!



I hope you are able to attend this year ~ I'm hoping to attend my first one! Bonus is that I'll be sitting with this famous knitter!!!

Knitting Squared ~

At the Sew Expo this weekend, I took a class with one of my favorite Sew Expo teachers from Fiber Ect yarn store in Tacoma. In years past we learned this and this...

Roberta taught us Knitting Squared, diagonal knitting, and it was a lot of fun. I've tried this before and have no trouble with the first square, but adding the second square never made sense to me....

so it was great to have a teacher and time to practice! Hurrah!!!

Yarn Graffiti ~

While driving one of my kids to cross country practice, we noticed a delightful bit of excitement on the high school driveway corner.


Yarn Graffiti ~ beautiful and fun and colorful!


Done by the same ladies that created the marvelous yarn graffiti exhibit at our library this spring.


On this corner they are decorating several dead tree trunks that were going to be carved into statues, but funding ran out.... and I think this is a perfect way to share some art!

Summer Knitting Time ~

While there was a little sun break today, I planted flowers in the pot on our back deck where I do a lot of knitting in the summer. I planted two types of lavender that smell wonderful, plus two happy verbena plants, one red and one is purple and white. They are really beautiful.

As you can see from the larger view, the back deck is now ready for some serious summer knitting!
P.S. Here is my helper, as I was planting in the front garden, she was always in the pot that the new plant was about to be planted....

I think she liked the company!

Yarn Tour ~

Each year the yarn stores in our area get together for one weekend and host a Local Yarn Store Tour. This year 25 shops came together to sponsor this event.

This the the first year I've been able to go to any of the shops. The JitteryKnitter and I went to four of the 25 shops. We entered all the raffles, and received four free patterns! This one, below, was the best of the four ~ a very beautiful shawl.

The best part of the day was spending it with The JitteryKnitter!
~~~~~~~~~

Library love ~

I love the library. I love our library. We have a library system that shares books from all the area libraries, so we can get many many knitting books and magazines.


There are a few knitting books that we don't have at the library, it seems there are those that only are distributed to yarn stores...

But, in the meantime, I am methodically checking out all of our knitting books, and getting inspired!


I recommend that you check out your local library for inspiration!
~~~~~~~~~~~

Tonka Toy Joy ~

Our front yard has become a place for Tonka Toy fun, except these are bigger than the ones I remember from my childhood. Trucks and a backhoe, lots of dirt and gravel everywhere.

Every guy in the neighborhood drawn like a magnet to the smell of diesel and sound of these engines.

Boys and their toys...


I'm going back to my knitting...

Knit Art at City Hall ~

Question: What can be greater than a long walk to the library with one's sweet daughter, hearing all her stories of her delightful weekend?




Answer: When the library has been decorated with knitting.....from the parking lot to the community plaza...


Three ladies and a knitting machine....and lots of inspiration....


lots of acrylic, and lots of creativity......


supportive friends and one has a great husband that was taking pictures of us taking pictures of the delightful knitted art....


I do hope City Hall keeps this knitted art here all summer!!


It is so great - knitting even in the parking lots!!!!! Click here for another site to view this fun!

S...is for Speechless ~

Wonderful celebration at work today, where the 200+ employees honor those that have worked at our City for 10 years, 15 years and 20 years. Here is what my co-workers said about me, in celebration of my 20 years at the City:

Words that describe Trish:
Appreciated
Balanced
Competent
Dependable
Energetic
Friendly
Giving
Helpful
Information (as in full of)
Joy
Knowledgeable
Listener
Mom (at home, at work, at the Planning Commission)
kNitting {How cool is this one! They Noticed!!!}
Organized
Planner
Quaker Oats (Healthy)
Runner
Sparkplug
Thoughtful
Unimpeachable
Valued
Wonderful
X-men (she is a superhero)
Young (When she started work with the City. Now, young at heart!)
Zookeeper (See Mom)

Why I didn't knit last night ~

Tuesday night was delightfully busy in our part of the world. We started out at an exciting basketball game of oldest daughter...

...and ended up at her induction into National Honor Society.

Great night! We are so proud!

Travel knitting ~

What to take when one is travelling... how much knitting to bring? Which projects will be the most fun? (H's Harry Potter socks?)

Which ones will I be in the mood to knit? (my birthday socks?)

Which ones will I wish that I'd packed? (last Christmas hat?)

The same questions each trip.........still unanswered......

More Late Bloomers ~

I told you about my sunflowers that were a month later than "Jerry at work" had his sunflowers bloom. Today, on my way out to the kids' bus stop, this is what I saw...

Really late bloomer....and what a pretty color!

These bright yellow ones (below) are really late as well, and falling over due to the rain we received this weekend...

One good thing about a rainy weekend is there is no guilt to stay inside and be cozy and knit like crazy!

Spectabulous Bamboo ~

I know I already mentioned our wonderful bamboo we just planted in our backyard. No, we're not quite ready to harvest it for yarn just yet...but I'll keep you posted....

I wanted to show you a close up of these whimsy canes on our bamboo, I think of it as Dr. Seuss whimsy, and the Latin name is Spectabulous...parts of the canes (trunk) twist into right angles instead of being straight ~ can you see the cane in the middle already at right angles? Such happy looking bamboo!

Here are the canes looking toward our deck, and you can see me up there knitting, just beyond the tomato towers!

New arrival ~

I found a great knitting chair this year, thanks to creative neighbor Tif, and my sweet H found a great reading chair as well, from neighbor Virginia...well, sweetie E found a great reading chair this weekend....from neighbor Elisabeth.... I love this neighborhood, as there is nothing as wonderfully cozy as curling up in your very own chair in your very own room.....

Cozy, eh!!!! Check out the other admirer of this cozy chair here....