River Rocks run through ...

Just a quick post to wish you a wonderful Labor Day Monday if you are celebrating it ...

We usually go camping or somewhere for this long weekend ... This year we had a staycation.
It's been nice ... We got a lot done in the house and tomorrow I plan to relax a little ...

Since we didn't go camping I thought I embellish some of our rocks. This one is a rock my daughter had since she was in kindergarten. She has always loved rocks and she brings and buys them everywhere we go...

I was so happy on how they turned out I think I'm going to make more ... Lots more.

I found the pattern on ravelry : Lacy River Rocks, by Margaret Oomen. Lovely, easy pattern and so satisfying ... In about an hour you have a pretty, door/paper weight. I think I will make some more tomorrow :)

My kids' start school on Tuesday ... Off we go into another school year ...

Thanks for stopping by to "visit" me again ... And have a lovely Labor Day, holiday Monday !

My Ravelry Collection

Hi there friends. 

I have been so busy trying to get the house in order and the kids set up to start school again.

Summer is coming to an end and I can hardly believe school is going to start in one week here for us ... where did the 3 months summer vacation go ???

I have been busy cleaning, unpacking more boxes and getting ready for a new school year. 

My daughter is going to be a Senior this year... and after HS comes to an end ... off to a new path and to college she will be. Independence and all the fun and responsibilities that come with it ...

I knew this day would get here... I'm glad this day got here ... but I can't lie I'm a bit nostalgic about it.

It's just starting now, but sooner than I expect it will be ending and she will be turning a huge new page in her life.

Don't get me wrong I'm very happy and extremely excited for her. The perspectives are for a beautiful future and the dreams are endless. I want her to go explore and live life to the fullest... but I will for sure miss my little girl. Till the day she goes though I'm going to live every second and every moment with her... I'm going to enjoy seeing her grow up to be the smart, beautiful, kind young woman she is becoming ... the young woman I'm so proud of.

Now ... I have been working on several different projects this week, but honestly have not taken any pictures yet because I have been updating my Ravelry account. Since I started my blog I have not even posted one single project on my Ravelry space. I post here and forget that Ravelry can be so very helpful and so fun for so many other people to look at.

So, I decided to go on and start updating my profile and have started with a few pictures of my projects.

While it is still a work in progress I sure made a little progress tonight and here are a few of the pictures I posted there :

wow, after I posted some of the pictures I do have a feeling that shawls, scarves and cowls are my favorite things to knit and crochet ...

I do love the instant gratification that these projects bring to me ...

These are mostly the ones I made for myself and I can honestly say I made at least 50 of them last year... Mostly gifts for family and friends ...

They make me happy and i hope they make somebody happy also...

And if this is the whole purpose of my knitting ... to make somebody happy and make me happy ... I think I will keep on doing it ...

I will leave you with a picture of a wip ... Another one I just started yesterday for my daughter's new year at school ...  Will give you all the details as soon as I finish it.

And life goes on... as happy as we can make it :)

Hope you are having a fabulous week ... and thank you for coming to visit me today, you make me happy. 

AnneTarsia Knits - Book Review

 Last year I went to a workshop with Anne Berk to learn a new technique on intarsia. I had never taken very much time to learn intarsia and I was always intrigued by it. I went with 2 of my best friends, Tammie and Shan. We had such a wonderful time as we always do when we are together and doing one of our favorite hobbies... knitting. 

Here is a sneak peak at the book... I absolutely love the shawl in the front cover 

AnneTarsia Knits - all rights reserved

As we were in the workshop we also got to try a new intarsia technique which Anne was developing as she was writing her book. 

I was amazed at how easily I learned as Anne is a a fantastic instructor. 

We got to try these two projects and I have to say although I always though intarsia was so very difficult I did come out of her workshop with a feeling of accomplishment and a smile on my face. I now can do Intarsia and I really enjoyed it. 

While we were at the workshop Anne's husband, Bill Berk,  who did most of the photography for her book (which by the way look wonderful - Great job Bill !) took a lot of pictures throughout the evening. Anne asked if she could use some  of the pictures in her book. I never thought, in my wildest dream, that when the book came out I would see a picture of myself on it ... I was so surprised and so happy ...

Can you see me on the top right picture with my friends Tammie and Shan ?

The book is fantastic and it shows you how to do intarsia from the simplest and more traditional way to the "new link" or new technique which Anne introduces in the book. She shows you how to knit intarsia "in the round" and on garter stitch. She did a wonderful job at pointing every single details and the pictures are fantastic. She guides you, from the very beginning, with the introduction of Yarn, tools, and terminology to the fantastic tour of our Great Northwest - Portland, OR pictures as she introduces each new project to the book. Each chapter is full of new details and beautiful pictures.

It was a delight to meet and continue to know her today and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised to see my name and my picture on her book, but even more I am very proud to have been a very, very small part of a book I think Anne should be very proud of ... and I am so privileged I got an autographed book :)

If you don't have a copy yet hurry and get one ... it's worth getting it... 

You will be very surprised if you haven't tried intarsia yet you will have no problem starting it right away with this book. If you have already done or even if you are a pro at it you will want to learn her new technique and you will just love knitting intarsia on the round.   

  

Well, that is it for me today my dear friends ... As always I'm so happy you came to visit me today ... you make my day ! 

thanks for all your kind comments and I hope you have a wonderful week.

I will leave you with a picture of my favorite project from Annetarsia Knits and I think I have to hurry up and go get some yarn (wink) and start on this one for myself before winter gets here ... I'm soooo in love with it !!!

Have a fantastic week ...

Bend, Oregon & Dinner with the Girls

The week before last we went to Bend, OR for a small family vacation. We had so much fun the 4 of us and my daughter's best friend who is a daughter to us.

We starter the trip with a car game which we had not played in years - since we had at least 4 hours to drive ahead of us.... While we all played a guessing game I started my newest project ... This time something for myself ...
The Turnagain cowl is a patten I bought almost 2 years ago when we ( me and my knitting fiends) went on a "filed trip" to the yarn crawl around our city Portland, OR.
I just love this pattern and although it did take me 2 years to start I'm loving to make it and I think it will be one that I'm going to wear a lot ... It is not double knit but it resemble it because you knit a very tall cowl, fold it in half and graft the first row to the left... I will show you the final project when I'm done with it ... Promise :)
We went on nice walks, had nice yummy dinners, the kids and husband went floating the river ( while I had a couple of hours for myself to knit and crochet) and we had a blast together...
That is what life is all about for me ...
Great moments ... Great family times pet together.

After we came back I had dinner with my blog friends who are so dear to me ...Teresa, Gracie and Betsy. Betsy is here from Spokane and we had such a wonderful time. We did what we always do ... Again ... Had a great time together ... We toasted to our dearest friend Meredith and exchanged gifts ( another tradition I think we can't break).
Gracie and Betsy brought me a house warming gift and I couldn't wait till I got home to place them in a special place. I do love my friends and the time we spend together ... I'm so grateful for having met them and I have to say they are a blessing to me :)

This time we waited so long before we saw each other I really missed them. I hope we will see each other soon again.

Hope you are having a fantastic weekend and that summer is just perfect for you.

Thanks so much for all your comments ... I'm so happy you stopped by to "see" me today :)

Blog Hop Part 2 & Thank You ...

Today I'm announcing the second part of my blog hoping and introducing to you the next blog "hopper"... I'm sorry it took me so long, but I was on vacation and not able to post for a while.

I'm pleased to introduce to you Heather from "At Home on the Meadows"
( athomeonthemeadows.blogspot.com). Heather is a mom and wife who loves spending time with her family. She makes gorgeous blankets and I love her crochet projects, but I also love her pictures. She, like me, just build a house and moved not to long ago. I had so much fun every time she shared each stage of her building and moving and felt close to her knowing that even thought we were so far away in miles we were going through the same process almost at the same time.

If you have not visited her yet, hurry and go check her blog and gorgeous projects...

She will be posting her blog hop this coming Monday and it will be all worth it ...

I also wanted to say a BIG THANK YOU to my sweet friend Tammie for "T's Daily Treasures" (tsdailytreasure.blogspot.com) ... I got home this last week to find this beautiful doily and a delightful card from my thoughtful friend Tammie. She was traveling and visiting here in the US and I'm so grateful she thought about me ... thank you, thank you, thank you my dear friend... You are one in a million and put put a huge smile on my face ....

I will leave you with this beautiful sunset right at my backyard ... Isn't it just perfect ???

Thanks for your visit and and all of your kind comments I read and appreciate each one of them :)

Hope you are having a wonderful weekend and have a great week.