Introducing Floral Rhapsody

Posted on October 2, 2026 | Leave a comment

Floral Rhapsody is a two color half-pi (semi-circular) shawl, knit flat. It features sweet little assigned pooling flowers on a striped background. The shawl ends with a sweep of Old Shale lace edging.

The half-pi construction keeps your patterning simple with only occasional changes in stitch count. A video tutorial for the Trillium pooling stitch is provided in the pattern.

Choose 2 coordinating 400 yard skeins of fingering weight yarn, one of which is dyed for assigned pooling. I used A Chick That Knitz Singles Fingering in Vintage Rose AP (pooling) and Respect.

The pattern is available on Ravelry and Payhip. Use coupon code ROSES for 15% off through October 10, 2026.

I love this design, and I hope you do, too!

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PDXKnitterati at Rhinebeck

Posted on October 1, 2026 | 2 comments

Well, not me, but some of my knits are going to the New York Sheep and Wool Festival, aka Rhinebeck, October 17-18. They’ll be displayed as samples in the booth with A Chick that Knitz. Tammy dyes lovely assigned pooling yarns.

(Clockwise from top left) Trillium Path, Simply Stellar, Floral Rhapsody, Effervescent, and Fantasia are all designed with A Chick that Knitz yarn, so I’ve sent them off to see the world. It’s kind of like sending your kid to summer camp. But yarn.

(I know I keep saying this: Floral Rhapsody is coming soon! Tomorrow.)

I’ve never been to Rhinebeck, but I hope to go someday. How about you?

In other news, I cut my finger the other night, badly enough that I went to urgent care where they glued it back together. I usually knit with the yarn in my right hand, but I had to change it up! So I’m knitting brioche continental style, using the Norwegian purl for the brioche purls. It’s good to know more than one way to knit! And this forces me to practice.

I have videos linked on my tutorials page, in case you want to see brioche either way, including the Norwegian brioche purl. You never know when you might need it.

Holei Sea Arch 2013 and 2022

One last bit of news: the Hōlei Sea Arch at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park has collapsed into the sea. It stood for over 500 years, and now it’s gone. Nature is awe-inspiring.

Okay, onward!

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Color is a funny thing

Posted on September 29, 2026 | Leave a comment

I wanted to knit a second Floral Rhapsody (coming soon), so I cast on with several different color combinations from my stash.

This one is just too exciting for me.

Better? But still pretty bold for me.

Winner winner chicken dinner! Not super contrasty, but I like it.

The original is still my favorite!

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Handy Little Me Cruise

Posted on September 19, 2026 | 6 comments

I’ve been invited to teach on a cruise next September!

I’ll be teaching along with Louise Bollanos (Handy Little Me) and Melissa Leapman. We’re planning our classes now.

The cruise is on the Holland America Zuiderdam. It departs from Quebec City, and ends in Boston.

map

You can find more information and register on the Handy Little Me Cruise site.

I’ve taught on cruises before. It’s an enjoyable way to travel; you get to visit interesting ports and your hotel room comes along with you! No daily packing and unpacking. We’ll have classes and dinners together, as well as knitting opportunities. Bring a friend, or make new ones!

Have you ever been on a knitting cruise?

2027 is shaping up to be a very interesting year!

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VKLive NYC 2027

Posted on September 17, 2026 | 2 comments

I’m looking forward to VKLive in New York in January! This is the biggest event I teach at; it’s a whirlwind of fun.

collage featuring jogless helix stripes

Helix knitting is one of my new classes. I’m looking forward to teaching it there, and also at For Yarn’s Sake this Sunday, a little closer to home. Jogless stripes are so tidy!

There are so many classes with so many wonderful teachers; there’s something for everyone. The market at VKL is huge, and there are fashion shows and interviews happening on the stage all day long. VKLive is a great place to see old friends and make new friends.

VIP registration is open now, and general registration is coming soon. Come knit with me!

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Crochet trimmed tee!

Posted on September 10, 2026 | 6 comments

I have several T-shirts that I’ve cut up, the way you see on Instagram. Cut off the neck ribbing, bottom, and sleeves, tug and let them roll. This makes a unisex cut shirt fit me so much better. They’re always too long for me.

The neckline of this tee wasn’t cooperating; part of it was rolling out, and part of it was rolling in. I saw a cute video tutorial by @jamiefaeriecrochets on Instagram, and decided to try it.

First, you turn the raw edge under, and make a running stitch, 1/4 inch or so. The hardest part is getting the yarn needle through the fabric; pick the smallest eyed needle you can, and still get your yarn threaded through. I’m using fingering weight yarn.

running stitch and single crochet

Next, single crochet around, using two single crochet stitches in each running stitch. Here we are halfway around.

two rounds single crochet

Make one more round of single crochet, so you have two, total. Done!

closeup of single crochet neckline

I love it. I could add it to the sleeves, too, but I think this is just enough. And I love that I had a yarn that was a great match for this tee. It’s leftover from my Honey Bee Mine Cowl, but the color has been discontinued.

And now I have a more presentable tee! Have you tried cutting up your tees?

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Birthday Sale!

Posted on September 5, 2026 | 2 comments
Collage: Birthday cake, brioche shawl, brioche cowl
Seagull Flight Shawl, Scattered Petals cowl, cake

It’s my birthday! 29 again? Well, no, but all my patterns in my Ravelry shop are 29% off with code 29ENCORE today through September 12, 2026.

As for me? I’ll be knitting and playing the piano today. Peaceful bliss!

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Coming soon: Floral Rhapsody

Posted on September 3, 2026 | 9 comments
collage of assigned pooling knit shawl, yarn, stitch detail

Hot off my needles, it’s Floral Rhapsody! (Name may change, we’ll see. Give me your suggestions!)

This half-pi shawl features easy shaping, easy stitches, and assigned pooling. It’s knit with two skeins of fingering weight yarn, one of which is dyed for assigned pooling. I used A Chick that Knitz Singles Fingering in Vintage Rose (pooling) and Respect.

I’m looking for a few test knitters; let me know if you’re interested!

It took me six cast ons, but I finally heard what the yarn was trying to tell me. I love it!

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Read listen knit!

Posted on August 19, 2026 | 6 comments

Vogue Knitting is launching a membership community in September, the Next Loop. You can read about the Next Loop here. They’ve been running newsletters in advance of the launch, and I was pleased to be included in a discussion: Is brioche still hot? You can read the article here.

I love reading or listening to podcasts while I’m knitting. One of my favorites is Articles of Interest by Avery Trufelman. It’s about fashion and the things we wear, but not about being fashionable. Lots of interesting history. The current episode is titled Lace and Labor, and it’s about knitting, crocheting, and the history thereof. Give it a listen here.

Another favorite podcast is We Tried To Tell You, hosted by Marie Greene (designer, teacher, my ex-publisher) and LYS owner Sarah Keller. I love this industry insider look at knitting/fiber.

You can listen to these on Apple Podcasts, or directly from the links listed above.

Do you read/listen/watch TV while you knit? I’m not much of a TV watcher, but reading and listening work for me!

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Hello Brioche!

Posted on August 17, 2026 | 4 comments
Hello Brioche mitts, hat, scarf

I’ve always meant to publish more patterns from my book, Brioche Knit Love: 21 Skill Building Projects from Simple to Sublime. Still working on it! I just released the patterns for the Hello Brioche set: scarf, hat, mitts. These three pieces are knit in single color brioche. The scarf is knit flat, the hat is knit in the round, and the mitts begin in the round, flat for the thumb section, and in the round for the top.

You can purchase them through Ravelry, individually or in an ebook. The ebook contains all three pieces for less than the price of two individual patterns. The link is here. Use the coupon code HIYA for 15% off an individual pattern or the entire ebook. If you’re a subscriber to my newsletter, you have a coupon code coming; I have to write the newsletter first!

book cover for brioche knit love

I just checked on Amazon for the listing for Brioche Knit Love so I could update my Ravelry pages from the old Library House Press listing, and I noticed that the book is on sale for $17.69, 34% off list price. This is the same price as the Kindle ebook version, too. It’s a great deal. I’m not the one who put it on sale; that’s Amazon. If you’re going to want more than the Hello Brioche ebook from Ravelry, you should jump at buying the whole book on Amazon. I don’t know how long that price will hold, so go check it out if you’re so inclined. (When my original publisher closed doors, I turned to Kindle Direct Publishing to keep my book available; it was the simplest way to get it done.)

I don’t know about your weather, but it’s been a bit cool here in Portland. The hours of daylight are shrinking, too. I can feel autumn is just around the corner. Time to start knitting cozy things, so we’re ready!

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Posted in Knit, my book project, pattern design

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