Goddess Knitters

...52 weeks of happy (13/52)...

2013-05-19T19:22:00.000-07:00

1. new counter top and back splash in the kitchen.
2. my favorite soccer player.
3. new baby sweater design coming soon.
4. new shawl design in process...
5. Coming Home!

A week full of remodeling and knitting. How was your week?

...Mother's Day, part III...

2013-05-15T20:43:00.000-07:00

My Mother's Day weekend was really full. On Sunday I went hiking with our daughter Kate. We headed out to Multnomah Falls and hiked the trail to the top and back down.

It's only a little over a mile to the top of the falls but I'm here to tell you it's a long way up. There are 11 switchbacks to get to the top and with each one the trail gets more steep.

It was a cloudy, drizzly day but the view from the stop was beautiful.

It's been more than 30 years since I've hiked this trail and believe me when I tell you I won't be waiting 30 more years before I do it again. What did you do this weekend?

...Mother's Day, part II...

2013-05-13T18:32:00.000-07:00

When our girls were growing up we spent a lot of time at various activities. Between the two of them they danced, tumbled, cheered, golfed, ran, dribbled, shot, spiked and probably a few more things that I am having a hard time recalling. Well, this weekend I got a glimpse at what Erin and Kris' lives are going to be like for the next 18 years.

Yes, it was Paytan's first soccer experience and it was absolutely fun!

There is nothing quite like watching a bunch of 2-3 year old kids run around after a soccer ball to make you laugh. Not that we laughed at them. This was pretty serious stuff. All I can say to Erin and Kris is this: hang on for the ride of your life...

If you missed the post yesterday, I just released Coming Home in honor of Mother's Day. Go have a look! It's pretty special!

Elliet and Coming Home...

...Mother's Day...

2013-05-12T14:12:00.002-07:00

I am very lucky to be the mother to 2 great daughters. I am even luckier to be the grandmother to 2 beautiful granddaughters. When our second granddaughter was on the way I set to designing a baby blanket for her. Because she was due in July I knew that the blanket needed to be light and lacy. I started the design process and was busily knitting on it while we were on our Italy trip in early June. Image our surprise when Elliet Harper Cook arrived the day after we left for Europe.

While I had planned to have the blanket

done for her so she could come home from the hospital in it, this just wasn't her plan. She was on her own time schedule and has been ever since.

I continued to knit on the blanket while we were traveling around Italy, getting daily updates on the new little girl we would meet when we got back. There were many photos, videos and skype conversations with our daughter and son-in-law while we were away, but nothing could compare to them meeting us at the airport when we got off the plane. And so, the blanket is named Coming Home, not so much for the reason I had originally intended but because it was the our coming home that finally got us our introduction to her!

I hope you enjoy it as much as I have.

~ Coming Home ~

Yarn:

600 yards Sport/DK yarn

Suggested yarns:

Valley Yarn Colrain

(color way: natural)

Blue Moon Fiber Arts Woobu

(colorway: china rose)

Knitted Wit Superwash Merino DK

(colorway: canopy)

Supplies:

US 8/5mm 24" circular needle

or sized to obtain gauge

cable needle

markers

yarn needle

Gauge (after blocking):

3.75 stitches/inch on US 8/5mm needle over stockinette stitch

Finished Measurements:

Length: 34 inches

Width: 34 inches

~ enjoy! ~

...up next...

2013-05-10T15:33:00.000-07:00

I have a little surprise coming out on Mother's Day. Stay tuned!

...pioneer...

2013-05-03T14:52:00.000-07:00

I've just spent the past two days at A Verb For Keeping Warm in Oakland, California where the owner, Kristine, has launched her new yarn. Pioneer is a beautiful, soft 100% organic merino that you can read all about here.

natural colors

some of the beautiful, naturally dyed colors from Kristine

This project is really as wonderful as the finished yarn is. I was lucky enough to meet and visit with the farmer, Sally Fox. She is delightful and has so much knowledge to share.

I'm so proud of Kristine for doing this. And it seems to me that Kristine and Sally are a true match made in heaven.

I did buy a few skeins of Pioneer. They were just too beautiful to resist.

...52 weeks of happy (12/52)...

2013-04-29T22:23:00.000-07:00

1. a letter from a good friend.
2. first shipment from the Great White Bale.
3. happy baby on a big bed!
4. orange shoes that I wore all weekend while shopping with my daughters. Great weekend!

My weekend was amazing! Now looking forward to a little trip! Where are you traveling to?

...52 weeks of happy (11/52)...

2013-04-22T22:02:00.000-07:00

1. Tomato and Daisy

2. New yarn from Sincere Sheep and new project bag.

3. More new yarn from Toots LeBlanc.

4. More remodeling...the island is in!

Doing a happy dance!

...52 weeks of happy (10/52)...

2013-04-17T16:09:00.000-07:00

1. Chicken Boots
2. remodeling project
3. new front door at Sunriver
4. toasting the new front door at Sunriver

Here's to happy things!

...52 weeks of happy (9/52)...

2013-04-07T21:47:00.001-07:00

1. brand new book. Can't wait to make something out of this!

2. new swatch....

3. toasting a great weekend at VK Live.

4. 2 good friends with great taste!

How was your weekend?

...52 weeks of happy (8/52)...

2013-04-01T22:18:00.001-07:00

1. Easter egg hunt treasures.

2. Hunting is hard work.

3. Should I?

4. More eggs discovered on Easter.

5. Picot bind off.

6. Words to live by.

How was your weekend?

...52 weeks of happy (7/52)...

2013-03-25T16:24:00.000-07:00

1. new favorite coffee place.

2. still life in knitting and coffee. That beautiful knitting belongs to him.

3. a little tea shopping and sipping with a friend.

4. one of the button walls at Britex Fabrics.

5. new toy. Wanna play?

...52 weeks of happy (6/52)...

2013-03-18T13:26:00.001-07:00

1. New shoes

2. Pretty flowers

3. Farm fresh eggs from a neighbor

4. A few days in the city by the bay

Quite a mixture of happy things. What's your mixture look like?

...Dear Tina...

2013-03-15T11:52:00.000-07:00

Dear Tina,

You and I have walked quite a long road. From meeting for the first time at The Farmhouse Knit Shop when you brought in your first skeins of STR, to packing the first sock club in your living room with Rabia, down the road through 2 Sock Summits (complete with a Flash Mob), Sock Camps, not to mention the countless shows, no matter how you slice it, that's a long road.

There have been many skeins, much laughter and a few tears throughout this journey. We have shared olives, crafts, a bit of knitting and a monkey or two...

I have felt very fortunate throughout this journey. I have worked hard but have had a ton of fun. I have met some fantastic people and done some really fun things through this and am grateful to you for all of that.

Thank you for trusting me as your show coordinator for these years and thank you for showing me your colorful world. The flowers are beautiful, as is the card.

Thank you again for all of it. This says it all...

"Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened." ~Dr. Seuss

love,

Debbi

...52 weeks of happy (5/52)...

2013-03-10T08:47:00.000-07:00

1. finding your place in the sun.
2. favorite new project bag from A Verb For Keeping Warm.
3. done with clue #1 of this using this. Are you knitting along?
4. working on a design with some of this.
5. just because... he really don't care.

Did you find your place in the sun...maybe with some knitting?

...52 weeks of happy (4/52)...

2013-03-03T20:03:00.000-08:00

1. trunk show
2. true signs of spring on my walk yesterday
3. a new friend
4. before (what a mess)
5. after (now I can find any knitting book or magazine I own!)

I'm digging out my studio. Took care of my library today. The rest will be revealed as I make my way through it. You won't believe what I'm finding in there...

Happy March!

...great day...

2013-03-01T22:00:00.000-08:00

Trunk show - photo credit - Kate Huth - Thanks Kate!

Yesterday was my trunk show at Twisted. It was amazing! I was there with the talented Anne Berk and her beautiful things. Anne is currently working on a book that should be coming soon and I can't wait to see it. She's really clever!

Anne and I had a really great time and met some wonderful knitters. Thanks so much to Shannon and Emily for hosting us! If you are out and about for the Rose City Yarn Crawl you really should make sure you stop in and see them. Twisted is a beautiful shop with the best customer service around!

Happy yarn crawl!

...trunk show...

2013-02-27T17:35:00.000-08:00

This weekend is the Rose City Yarn Crawl and Twisted has invited me to bring my trunk show!

I will be there with all of my designs tomorrow from 10:00 - 12:00. I get to hang out with Anne Berk and all of her beautiful argyle designs! I have 3 new designs that I will be previewing (patterns coming!) Stop by and say hi. I'd love to see you!

...52 weeks of happy (3/52)...

2013-02-25T09:41:00.000-08:00

1. Great friends. (Susan & I)
2. Hipster glasses and we don't care. (with Melanie)
3. End of Stitches West. (Man, are we tired.)

...52 weeks of happy (2/52)

2013-02-17T21:46:00.001-08:00

1. Elliet and her new blanket. Pattern soon!

2. Old Joe. Loving this pattern and the yarn!

3. Build-A-Bear!

4. See that? That's a shadow and that means that the sun is out!

5. Funny faces!

Headed to Stitches West tomorrow and more happy things to come!

...I think I might be biased...

2013-02-11T22:20:00.001-08:00

I literally just finished this...

A sweet blanket for a sweet little one...

Elliet will be here this weekend and we are planning a photo shoot with her new blanket! Pattern to come!! I think the blanket is pretty cute but not quite as cute as Elliet is! What do you think?

...52 weeks of Happy (1/52)...

2013-02-10T08:30:00.000-08:00

Over at little birdie there's something pretty fun going on; 52 weeks of happy. One post a week of things that make you happy. So here goes...

1. rain drops

2. lucky penny

3. pop of color on a gray day

4. just as curious about me as I am about her

What's made you happy this week?

...just ten minutes..

2013-02-08T14:41:00.002-08:00

One of the many things I learned from Judith at the mini-spinner retreat is everyone should spin just ten minutes a day. Just ten minutes. Judith likes to think of the wheel as a musical instrument, and the idea behind this is that practicing 10 minutes a day is like practicing the piano 10 minutes a day. The more you practice the better you get, you don't become a slave to the instrument and everyone can surely find ten minutes in their day for this practice.

I've started my 10 minutes a day with this.

This is half of a luxury batt, made by Judith, that I bought while at the last Knot Hysteria Color Retreat. The other half went home from the retreat with my friend Stephanie. The idea being that we each spin and ply half of this beauty. We would then split the finished yarn, keep half for ourselves, and send the other half to the other person. From there we each would weave a scarf, scarves that will be kind of fraternal twins. Steph came up with the idea and I think it's brilliant!

I see only one problem with this. I'm going to want to spin more than just ten minutes...

...so much to do...

2013-02-05T21:10:00.002-08:00

We have had a busy, wonderful weekend. As you might have guessed, we were on Paytan's schedule which was just fine with us. First up, Home Depot and building a Valentine Box.

hammering

all together

painting

and paint on the fingers!

finished!

This program the Home Depot has for little people is outstanding! This is the second class that Paytan has attended
and she really loves this, especially the hammering and the painting! And what comes after painting? That's right, a bubble bath...

Actually, there were many bubble baths while she was here. That kid loves the water! But not so much having her hair dried. After one such bath I remarked that we need to fix her hair and she said, " That's okay, LaLa. I don't do hairdryers." She settled for a towel.

The next great thing we did was a visit to the Portland Children's Museum. When our girls were growing up we took many trips to the Children's Museum. Taking Paytan was a walk down memory lane. We did everything!

The very best thing for Paytan was the Grocery Store. We went back twice! She loved the shopping carts and the check stands. I think when we go back she will be just as happy staying in there the entire time.

Pro-tip. You want to wear out a 2 1/2 year old? Take her to the Children's Museum for 2 hours, feed her lunch and put her in the car. She was snoring (loudly) before we made it out of the parking lot. This is the sign of having a really good time.

While she was here we watched movies, colored, played with babies, stacked blocks, took naps (all of us), and rode on PopPop's 4 wheeler.

The only thing we never got around to was the play dough. Maybe next time...

...I'm gonna be a bit busy...

2013-02-01T12:45:00.002-08:00

Tillman and I love to have our family around. We like to have the house full of activity. We had such a great time at Sunriver over the holidays that we have been looking forward to the next time things will be that active and loud. Well, this weekend is it! Guess who's coming to stay?

That's right! So the house will be full of the fun that is a 2 1/2 year old! We have a bunch of things planned; walks, breakfast out, Home Depot Kids Workshop, The Children's Museum, movies, play-dough you know, really, really important things. Got any good play-dough recipes? It's been ~~over 25 years~~ a little while since I've made any.

We would be having Elliet too but she's still nursing. Her time will come. So this weekend it's all Paytan, all the time!

She's staying until Monday and we can't wait! Photos and updates along the way! Stay tuned...