Meet the newest addition to our design family! Phyllis Campbell, wife and mother of 6 children ages 9-25, is also a designer and Omaha resident. Aside from knitting, Phyllis enjoys sewing, quilting, gardening, playing piano, singing, snow skiing, tennis, and reading! She has been knitting since she was six years old! After seeing what her sister had learned in Girl Scouts, her interest was sparked. She began by watching her grandmother knit. Phyllis remembers, "She was a beautiful knitter and, as long as I was quiet and didn't talk, I was allowed to look over her shoulder. I'm a visual learner, so it worked!"

Although she enjoyed knitting, life got busy. It's no wonder, either! She did knit a few scarves and even tried a few sweaters, but was disappointed that the sweaters didn't fit very well. Knitting fell by the wayside. A few years ago, a friend of a family member introduced her to "knitting in the round." She was fascinated by the new technique and was back into knitting! Phyllis walked into String of Purls for the first time in 2005. A stocking cap caught her attention...and, well, everyone got hats and scarves that year! She confessed, "Just walking through a yarn store excites me."

Phyllis' gift for visual learning is evident. After learning to do basic stitches from watching her grandmother, she picked up the rest from studying pictures and patterns in stitch books. Her gift proved essential to her knitting success as well. Phyllis explains, "They say, 'Necessity is the mother of invention.' With me, that is true. I’m over 6’ tall so I have to change every pattern to fit myself." After doing that several times, it became apparent that it would be easier for her to design her own patterns.

"I literally design in my head all the time. It’s something I don’t seem to be able to stop. I see a 'ready-made' item in a store, and I think about how I could make it. I read a pattern, and automatically, my head goes to how I could change it. I don’t do it on purpose. It just happens. I'm amazed when people like my designs and buy them. It's a nice compliment."

When asked what she'd like to see more of in the world of knitting, Phyllis responded "I would like to see more "busy hands" everywhere!" She'd like to start a Children's Sit-N-Knit and wishes we could get more men interested. As for designs, she started her designs to focus on the beginner knitter who is sick of scarves. (I think most of us can relate to that..!) We hope to see more designs in the future from Phyllis that are "challenging for the beginner and will teach them some new skills without scaring them off."