Hi, I’m Crista!

I’m a multi-passionate writer, knitter, fiber-artist, academic researcher and strategy consultant based in Portland, Oregon. I have over 18 years of experience across the tech industry, design, education, the outdoor industry and business. I am the Founder of Dirtbag Runners, an international running community and previously lifestyle running apparel brand. I currently work as a Business Consultant and Strategist.

In my free time, I love knitting, gardening, reading, writing both fiction and non-fiction, riding bikes with my husband and our mini dachshund.

Find me on Instagram - @Crista.Tappan

I’m having so much fun with designing patterns 😍 This is a “first draft” of a beanie pattern (co-designed with @wanderingtriumph ❤️🙌) for RAVEL 📚 Although this pattern won’t be available until the book releases (& it
I love reading seasonally, which means I seek out horror books specifically for summertime! These are some of my favorites & ones I have on my TBR 📚 Rather than just sharing my monthly recaps, I’ll be sharing more content about book speci
FANTASTIC month of reading! All five star reads. Here are my favorite quotes for each book: “Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul and sings the tune without the words and never stops at all!” ― Kathryn Stockett, The C
July 📚❤️✨🧶
June Reads 📚 I was all over the place this month for my TBR / reading selection 😂 Read a little bit of everything it feels like. Loved Daughter of Crows — another great book by one of my favorite writers. His prose is solid gold, and I love
Snapshots from the last two months ✨📸📚🌹❤️🍩
In one week, I’ll be taking medical leave for two months to focus on my health as I undergo surgery related to endometriosis and adenomyosis. I’m sharing this largely because awareness matters. These are two common conditions that affect
May reads 📚✨ I went for soft, cozy and *easy to read* this month after my Dark Tower journey. I needed to get away from dense fantasy for a bit. And did these books deliver! I LOVED: Into The Blue, The Road to Tender Hearts, Beautyland & Snake
Ride to Peninsula Park’s rose gardens! 🚴‍♀️🌹🚴‍♂️❤️ @wanderingtriumph #pdx #portland #roses
Latest sweater is complete! In my *favorite* color 😍✨ Yarn: @tealtorchknits TTK Sport in “Tall Drink of Water” (100% SW Shaniko Wool) + @kaosyarn lace “Intuitive” (100% Alpaca) Pattern: Mellow Mood Sweater by @juliapiroknits
The first roses of the season 🌹✨📸 Last year I pruned late and planted about a dozen new roses later in the season during the height of summer. Despite that, I still had spectacular blooms! This year, however… 😛 I pruned them all carefull
March & April moments 📸
April Reads 📚✨ AKA the month I finally finished the Dark Tower series (+ a re-read of Salem’s Lot!). This was a JOURNEY. It took me about two months. Roughly 4,700 pages, each book averaging between 600-700 pages (two of them nearly 1K!! 🤯)
March Reads ✨📚 T’was a month mostly of Stephen King! I’m working my way through The Dark Tower. Realized there is a main character in book 5 that is from Salem’s Lot. So I went back and re-read Salem’s Lot! Basically…
@rosecityyarncrawl snapshots 📸 Had so much fun squishing (& buying!) all the yarn and hugging my dear friends ❤️ @craftyjasmine @shea_crochet @tealtorchknits @oshenknits @oshenknitsandfibres @fionakayknits ✨🧶 Thank you to the Rose City Yarn
February Reads 📚📖 My favorites this month were Funny Story (my heartttt!), The Ballad of Black Tom, To Cage A Wild Bird and of course, (re)beginning my Dark Tower Journey. Will I finish the rest of the Dark Tower series in March? We will seeeee!