Cody's Christmas

So my son has a few really cool fencing coaches and every year I make them each a present. This year Cody is back and I made his big feet some socks! Cody is an Olympic epee fencer and he grew up right here in our neck of the woods. He was Gregory's first coach on his very first day of fencing. So I thought socks in club colors would be just perfect!

Sorry about the crappy photo I had to use my boys cell phone to take it! Happy Adventures, Trish

My latest design!

I designed this hat to teach a fair isle class at The Knitting Bee. It is knit with very soft Manos Maxima and Noro Kureyon for the contrast. The Noro changes colors as it goes creating a muli colored fair isle with only two yarns. It is commonly referred to as fake isle. I really like how this hat turned out and am looking forward to teaching two handed fair isle at the Bee!

Happy Adventures, Trish

My Boy is Home!

I am not sure that I have let you all know that my biggest boy has traveled to Europe twice in the last two months to fence. He is one of 20 US male foil fencers in his age group to qualify to fence Cadet World Cups. He first traveled to Budapest and place 13th out of 198. This last weekend he fenced in Halle Germany and he placed 11th out of 180 fencers. I am so proud of him. So I thought I would share a picture of the boy at the last tournament in Halle!

While he has been fencing I have been busy knitting! My camera is broken so I am only able to share things when other people take the pictures! So Tanya took this picture of me in my Santa Hat at the Knitting Bee the other day! Oh and this pattern is available at the Bee for free with a purchase:)

happy Adventures, Trish

Humbolt Redwoods Half Marathon

So last weekend I ran the Humboldt Redwoods Half Marathon! I grew up in Southern Humboldt and I thought is would be so fun to run a half marathon at home! Boy I wasn't disappointing! It was super fun and the course was beautiful. I convinced my three siblings to do it with me and that made it even more special.

This is my race report! The course is very flat over all with some minor grades and a couple of small overpasses. I had to walk up one overpass about 50 yards or so and that was it. Sooooooo my 3 siblings and I hit the course together and only stayed together for about .5 of a mile. Tommy my 26 year old brother had not even run a mile in preparation for the race! He drank beer the night before and went to bed late! Yeah he beat me! I am not bitter at all:) My younger sister Isla had trained a little but not much more then Tommy, also went out the evening before and did great in the race! Unfortunately for her at mile 11 she couldn't take the shin splints anymore and mom saved her from the course! Great job Isla 11 miles is nothing to sneeze at! Oh and poor Nina! She is one tough cookie let me tell you! She ran with me for the first couple miles and then went on ahead since she is fast! She has been struggling with her IT Bands and feet four years and they were no exception on race day. She ran the first 10 or more miles before she couldn't run anymore! At that point she was determined to finish even though her leg kept trying to collapse on her! She carried on and she even ran the last 200 yards to the finish! I passed her at mile 10.5ish and she was walking almost as fast as I run at that point! I am soooooo proud of her and I hope she does another half when we figure out those inguries! I think she needs to challenge Tommy again because she can soooo beat him! Oh and he needs it! So I ran my steady pace the entire race, I enjoyed the trees and found people to talk to! It was awesome. I finished in 2 hours and 18 minutes and beat my goal by 5 minutes. I am soooooooooo happy with how it all turned out. It was an amazing experience to be on the race course with my family! My mom kept driving to different spots and cheering us on! I will cherish this forever:) So if your thinking of doing this race my only complaint was the post race food. There was no protein at all and the fair was sparse. By the time I got somewhere that I could get a meal I was feeling pretty crappy. So if you do the race you may want to pack a sandwich to eat in your car post race:)

Pumpkin Season

This time of year in our area there are lots of Pumpkin Patches, we try to go to a different one ever year. This year we went with my friend Chrystal and the kids all had a blast!

I hope you all have some great adventures this fall! Oh Oh and I finished a sweater:)

This is Mulled Cider by Thea Colman. I changed the neck but other then that I followed the pattern. I loves it! I used Tara Tweed that I bought at the Knitting Bee and my sweater is on display at the Bee if you would like to see it in person. Happy Adventures, Trish

My boy's Blog

My boy started a blog to talk about all his fencing travels. His blog is called Distance to Fence. Check it out. Trish

I'm Alive!

Hey everyone, I have been crazy busy with work, a boy getting ready for international travel and my health! I have been working a lot of hours at The Knitting Bee this summer. I love my job! I mean come on who doesn't like to help other people spend money on yarn! When I haven't been at the shop I have been taking care of my boys! The oldest made the US Men's Cadet Foil Squad and will be heading to Budapest in early October. I have spent a lot of my time figuring out all the logistics of that! He and I are also traveling to Germany for a competition in November! I am so excited. I started a little knitting project to wear when I am in Germany last night:)Can you say Kidsilk Haze and a rainbow! On another note I have been taking care of me. I have started running again and am planning on running the Humboldt Redwoods Half Marathon in October. I am from that area originally and I have convinced all my siblings to run the half with me!!! It is going to be soooo much fun. I hope our family lines the course and cheers us on! I have also been concentrating on eating well making almost all my food myself and counting my calories using a website called Calorie Count. I have lost 50 pounds since March and plan on losing 15 to 25 more! So these are the reasons that I have been absent from my blog! Sorry! Oh oh and I can't find my camera battery charger! I will have some pictures of knitting as soon as I find it! Happy Adventures, Trish

Tour Colorway!

I love this years Tour Colorway! If it doesn't sell I will be soooo happy to spin it:)

Happy Adventures, Trish

Dyeing

This is what I am playing with today! I have a bunch of fiber to dye:) A couple of special orders, Fiber Club and the Tour colorway:) I am going to have some fun with all this pretty fiber today! I hope you are having some creative fun today also!

Happy Adventures, Trish

Baseball Boys!

I have been spending a lot of time here! Probably one reason I don't have many pictures of knitting:( Happy Adventures, Trish

Spring Flowers and a Walk in the Woods

My hubby and I went for a beautiful hike in the woods with some friends the other day. My dear friend Helen has lots of beautiful flower in her yard and I had to take some pictures of them! I also got some pictures of some wild flowers on our hike! Flowers from Helen's Yard!

Pictures from our Hike!

I am still knitting lots I just haven't taken any pictures! Happy Adventures, Trish

Socks!

I finished some socks and actually remembered to take a picture!!! These are just plain old socks knit out of Malabrigo Sock purchased at the Knitting Bee! These were fun to knit and I might just have to cast on another pair. I have finished two T-shirts for summer and have not gotten around to taking pictures and sharing them with you yet! I am sooooo bad:) I better make that a goal for this week.

Oh and I had to share some pictures of some of the spring flowers in my yard:) They make me smile.

Happy Adventures, Trish

King's Mountain!

Boy did I go for some hike today! 2600 feet elevation gain in 2.5 miles. It was crazy steep and my legs feel like jello! But I did it:) It was so beautiful and worth all the climbing.

Oh and yes I am still knitting. I have finished two summer tops that I just need to take photos of. I have just been concentrating on my health and working a lot:) Happy Adventures, Trish

Yummmm

Yummmmmmmm! Lunch!

I just had to share a picture of my lunch today. My dear friend Joann was kind enough to give me the kale from her garden. Boy was it tasty!

On a knitting note, I am still working on my mom's T-Shirt. It should be finished today so hopefully I will have pictures for you tomorrow:) I have all the yarn to make one for me next and I am hoping to cast on today!

Happy Adventures, Trish

Today

It is grey and rainy out today. I live in Oregon I should be used to this:) We have had such a nice sunny week and I spent some time hiking, walking and running! Yes I said running. I have started running again and it feels great! I am planning on running a half marathon in the fall, so there will be lots of running this summer.

This is what is in my window this morning:) Growing things make me smile:)



I have been knitting some but have not taken any pictures. I finished a market bag that was a test knit for The Knitting Bee:) It is our free pattern for the spring news letter. I loved knitting it and I want to make one for myself. I am also finishing up a top out of Seduce for my mama's B-Day! She doesn't read my blog so I can talk about it here:) Here is a lousy picture of the knitting in progress!


Happy Adventures, Trish

A documentary that ever American should watch!

So I have been taking better care of myself and yes I am knitting just a little everyday:) I am trying to balance my hobbies! Anyways in the evenings I like to watch a little TV while I knit. Last night I watched Bag It on Netflix! I feel strongly that everyone should watch this movie! I am going to try very hard to used less plastic in my life and I really hope you will too!
Have a great day everyone:)Trish

My Orchids Are Blooming

So I woke up this morning to a very grey sky that is trying to snow. For the most part as soon as the snow hits the ground it melts. My lawn does have a little snow on it! It looks so pitiful though I couldn't bring myself to show you a picture. While I was trying to take a picture of the pitiful snow from inside my warm house I realized that my Orchids are blooming:) I love it when they are in bloom. I showed you all the yellow one a few weeks ago but I haven't shared the pink one because the first flower just opened! I love buying plants that flower. One of my least favorite gifts is a bouquet of flowers because I know that they will only last a couple of days and then die! That is not the case with a flowering plants:) I love my Orchids:)




On another note I am only knitting a little this week. At least once or twice a year I just don't feel like knitting for a week or two. It has happened ever year now for at least the last 9 years and I just go with it. So you won't see anything finished out of me this week! I never know when the urge will hit me again but it will with a vengeance! It always does, it could be later toady:) So this week I am concentrating on getting my health back in order. Life has been stressful with the hubby not working. I am feeling like I can handle the stress now. So I am ready to take care of me again! Sooooooo HAPPY about that.

Happy Adventures, Trish

Superfine Merino

I spun this fiber up a couple of weeks ago! I have been so busy though I have not had time to tell you all about it! This is around 350 yards sport weight superfine merino spun by me! I have another bump of the same color on the bobbin, so I will be able to make something large! Oh and yes I dyed it and it's sisters are in the etsy shop!




Happy Adventures, Trish

New Pattern Up!

I finally finished one of the afghans that I was knitting:) I love it! I have named it Color Play and it is available in the free patterns section on the side of my blog. Enjoy!






Happy Adventures, Trish

Walk With a Friend

My dear friend Joann and I have been walking in the mornings. It has been quite nice to get out and move my body. I also love the company and of course nature!




Oh and we are both wearing handspun hats and mittens in the picture of us:)
Okay I am off to get some more knitting done:) Four UFO's left! Woot!
Happy Adventures, Trish