Category Archives: book review

Well hello there, Geminids!

Posted on December 13, 2025 | Leave a comment

I’m completely charmed by this knitted font by Rüdiger Schlömer. It’s simple slip stitch knitting, sideways, and you can make your knitting say whatever you’d like!

This would be even more legible with a heavier yarn and tighter gauge, but I used a DK that I had in stash, and a US 2 needle. I’d go for worsted next time.

You can order a copy of this ebook from Modern Daily Knitting. I ordered mine when Kay first wrote about it, when you had to order from the author in Switzerland. MDK is easier. Go for it!

Another heads up: Tonight is the peak of the annual Geminid meteor shower. If you have clear skies, go out and take a look! I saw 28 meteors this morning as I was admiring Orion before dawn. Here’s more info from earthsky.org. And it doesn’t have to be tonight; it’s going on during most of December.

I’m really happy with my upgrade from an iPhone X to a used iPhone 14 Pro earlier this year. Night sky pictures are a lot easier with the upgraded camera and night mode. This picture is only lightly edited. Someday I hope to see the Aurora Borealis! My old phone couldn’t handle it.

Happy December! It’s flying by quickly. Are you gift knitting? I’m not!

Knitting, tinking, knitting Stardust Nebula

Posted on January 26, 2025 | 7 comments

it shawlette standing in a knit art installation by Sarah Divi — Posing at Sarah Divi’s art installation at VKLive

I finished my current design project in a hurry so I could wear it at VogueKnitting Live last weekend. But I had 15 g of my pooling yarn left, and I still needed to make a video tutorial on how to make the assigned pooling stars, and the shawlette needs re-blocking anyway so I can take product photos…

so I tinked the bind off and the last couple rows, and put it back on the needles. I added 18 more rows at the wide end, about 3 inches longer and 1.5 inches wider, unblocked.

tiny ball of yarn on scale, weighing 0.5 grams

Yarn chicken is so much better when you have a scale to keep track. I won!

I had great helpers. Caturday knitting in bed is great, even when it’s work!

Video tutorial is done. Shawlette is blocking, again. Pattern has gone to tech editor and test knitters. It’s still called Stardust Nebula for now. We shall see. If you’d like to be the first to know when this pattern is published, sign up for my newsletter here!

In the meantime, here are a couple book recommendations from me. I like to read while I knit; I can control the pace, unlike television. I usually read fiction, but the last two books have been nonfiction. First off, The Wide, Wide Sea by Hampton Sides. It’s the story of Captain James Cook’s final journey from England to the South Seas to Alaska to the South Seas again. I knew he died at Kealakekua Bay on the Big Island of Hawaii, but this filled it all in for me.

We were at Kealakekua Bay last month. I didn’t want to hike 2 miles down and 2 miles back up (you can also get there by boat), so I settled for seeing it across the bay from Hikiau Heiau at Nāpo’opo’o Beach, a place that Cook had visited (and been mistaken for a god). Apparently he was mortal, after all.

The other book is The Art Thief by Michael Finkel. It’s the story of Stéphane Breitwieser, who stole more than 300 artworks from museums and churches across western Europe in the 1990’s and early 2000’s. Fascinating true crime.

What are you reading and knitting? January is flying by!

7 Comments

Posted in book review, Knit, pattern design

Tagged book recommendation, Knit, knitting, stardust nebula, tinking, yarn, yarn chicken

Brioche Knit Love review in Vogue Knitting

Posted on April 7, 2023 | 12 comments

The new issue of Vogue Knitting is out to subscribers (thank you to Kathryn to sharing hers with me), and should be at your LYS soon.

My Brioche Knit Love was reviewed in this issue; here it is:

I’m so happy they liked it! I sent the book for review last fall. After that I found out that my publisher was closing, and the book was close to sold out. I bought the last 120 and have sold most of them via my two LYSes. (Those are gone now.) I have about 8 books left…If you want one right now, I can sell them as long as I have them.

I’m learning all sorts of things about self-publishing, including that I don’t want to have them printed myself (750 books at my house, and I would have to manage and distribute.) I’d earn more money that way, but I thought about it and realized I’d rather be knitting and designing. I’m working on having the book reformatted so I can use a Print on Demand service (my book isn’t a standard size for POD), and I’m also planning on publishing this as an ebook. I’m hoping there are physical books available by the end of May, and ebooks sooner than that. I’ll also be publishing individual patterns from the book, if that’s more your jam.

Step by step, and I’ll get there. But for now, I’m THRILLED by the review in Vogue Knitting!

If you’d like to keep current and know when the book is available again, including the ebook, sign up for my email newsletter. It comes out once or twice a month and includes knitting news, tips, and a 25% discount on my new pattern releases. I promise I won’t spam you…I don’t have the time or energy to send more often than that! Here’s the sign up link.

In the meantime…keep on knitting!

12 Comments

Posted in book review, Knit, my book project

Tagged Brioche Knit Love, brioche knit love book, Vogue Knitting

Flashbacks to 2020

Posted on March 28, 2023 | 4 comments

My Facebook memories are full of the beginning of pandemic lockdown. Part of it is terrible, and part of it is slightly amusing. Do you remember washing your groceries? Trying to get a grocery pickup time? Trying to find toilet paper and bleach wipes? Hunting for flour and yeast?

I made these bagels 3 years ago today, just before running out of yeast. And now I want to make some again. The recipe is on my blog here. Will I actually get it done today? Maybe. Or I could opt for yogurt bagels, which don’t require yeast or rise time. Apparently that’s what I did for the next batch when I ran out of yeast. There was a lot of cooking and baking 3 years ago!

I’m also reliving those early days of the pandemic while reading Peggy Orenstein’s memoir, Unraveling: What I Learned About Life While Shearing Sheep, Dyeing Wool, and Making the World’s Ugliest Sweater. It’s about her pandemic sweater project, and also about so much more. Fiber history, etymology, family stories…so much to enjoy here. I’m on chapter 4, and I highly recommend it.

Of course I’m knitting while I read it on my Kindle. My current project is mostly stockinette, with an occasional assigned pooling blip. It’s a perfect multi-tasking project. The hardest part is remembering to stop for a break to stretch because the book is so interesting. I guess I could set timers on my watch; that would be the responsible thing to do.

Knitting can be such a comfort during trying times, and the results can be a comfort, too! I designed and knit my Beanstalk Poncho in 2016, but it lives in my box of samples. I’m sending it on to my Aunt Rose (my favorite aunt, who taught me to knit), who is recovering from pneumonia. It’s a light hug of a wrap, and it’s a cheery sign of spring, too. Please send good thoughts her way!

One last thing: Our hearts are broken at the news of yet another mass shooting at a school. Clearly, we don’t have the political will to solve this problem. I’m sick of it. Children should be safe at school. Or everywhere, really. What would it take to change?

4 Comments

Posted in book review, foodies!

Tagged bagels, unraveling book

One night in NYC, pre-cruise

Posted on September 23, 2022 | 11 comments

I flew into NYC the day before boarding for the Vogue Knitting Cruise. On the non-stop Portland to JFK flight, I inhaled a book called The Boys by Katie Hafner. It’s about relationships, pandemic isolation, parenthood, and more…with a great twist that I never saw coming. This is Katie Hafner’s fiction debut; she’s the author of several non-fiction books, and when I met her at Sonata piano camp in 2002 she was writing for the NY Times. I loved this book, and I highly recommend it.

Late in the book, the protagonist has dinner in New York city at a ramen restaurant that is known for solo dining. I was alone, so I googled and found Ichiran. The restaurant has long counters with folding side panels, so you are alone at a booth with your food. If you’re with a friend, you can fold the panel back and be side by side, together. The curtain goes up, you place your order (written), and never see the server’s face. The ramen shows up, and the curtain goes back down. The idea is to concentrate on your food, but I think for introverts and solo diners, the point is to be alone without feeling like a weirdo! At least it was for me. And the tonkotsu ramen was delicious.

I had time for a bit of a walkabout on Sunday morning before boarding, so I’ll share some favorite sights.

Window shopping on Fifth Avenue, love those animal prints

I loved this dress. I want it. Dolce & Gabbana. $7800. I don’t want it that badly, and it would have to be shortened, anyway. Nope. But isn’t it gorgeous?

Me, in my $20 dress, ready to sail on the Norwegian Breakaway

Don’t forget, I’m giving away my Knit Fit kit on this post over here. Leave a comment there to enter!

11 Comments

Posted in book review, foodies!, travel

Tagged Katie Hafner, New York City, Vogue Knitting Cruise

Podcast: We’re Doing What We Love

Posted on October 14, 2020 | 9 comments

The Dissent Cowl (pattern by Carissa Browning) is done! I steam blocked it this morning. I like this with the dot pattern folded to the inside, and just the dissent collar portion showing.

It was best to knit this while looking at it, because it’s easier to maintain the patterning by reading the knitting instead of counting. Which meant I needed to *listen* to something instead of reading my iPad or Kindle while I knit. Game on.

Mary Chapin Carpenter has a new album out, The Dirt and the Stars, and it’s wonderful. A lot of it feels like it’s written especially for this time, so deeply introspective, but she’s been working on it for several years.

Carpenter made a podcast with poet Sarah Kay, called One Story, to promote the album. It’s a great example of pivoting and adapting to our pandemic times. Normally a musician would go on tour to promote a new album. Instead we get to know about what she was thinking when she wrote the songs, and then a deeper dive at the end. All three episodes are great, but the third one really struck me. Titled “We’re Doing What We Love,” it has so much resonance for all makers of art and craft. They talk about heroes, mentors, impostor syndrome, and legacy. Give it a listen; I hope you love it as much as I did. You can listen to it on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and who knows where else?

Lots of introspection on the album, but my favorite track is this sly, rollicking song about…Lindsey Graham.

So that’s what I’ve been listening to. And I’m reading the memoir “All I Ever Wanted” by Kathy Valentine, the bassist for the Go-Go’s. It’s a fast moving read, with lots of name dropping. Highs and lows and lots of music and drugs fueling it all. I’m just getting to the part where money changes everything, but I’m enjoying the upbeat 1980s music while I read.

Do you multitask while you knit? What’s your favorite thing to do while you knit?

9 Comments

Posted in Blogging, book review, Knit, music

Tagged dissent cowl, making, mary chapin carpenter, podcasts

Clara Parkes was here!

Posted on October 29, 2019 | 9 comments

Clara Parkes came through Portland last Friday on a tour for her new book, Vanishing Wool. We saw her at Powell’s, our lovely independent bookstore.

While waiting for Clara, I noticed that Mary Mooney, our friend who works for the Oregonian and used to keep a knit blog there, had a blurb on the back of the book jacket. Go Mary!

Clara gave a great introduction musing on the changes in the American wool industry post-World War II. It’s a little sad, but it’s also uplifting to know that there are those of us who care about it and want to support good wool. Her book chronicles her Great White Bale project, when she bought a bale of unprocessed Saxon Merino wool and used it to learn the process of yarn production. The bit I’ve begun has me captivated already; I’m looking forward to reading the rest.

As soon as Biscuit lets me have it back. We’re also sharing the Goodwool Ambassador pin.

9 Comments

Posted in book review, cat

Tagged clara parkes, Vanishing Wool

January purge, book giveaway

Posted on January 18, 2018 | 27 comments

I just looked up, and January is half over. Whoa!

I’m doing a deep toss of my studio office. Lots of dumping and recycling going on, and I’ve moved more of my knitting books in, and more of my kiddos’ books out. I now have three shelves of knitting books. The top three shelves are mine, and the middle shelf of the three is the powerhouse; it has all my reference books.

I also found this lone mitten. Once upon a time, I made 8 pairs of these, with Bugs Bunny buttons, for eldest son’s third birthday. Pretty swank party favor! I knit these flat and seamed them, because I didn’t know how to knit in the round yet.

January feels like it’s time to tidy up! My studio is also the guest room, so it will be much nicer for guests to not be drowning in my yarn and papers.

I found duplicates of several books, so I want to have a giveaway. First, I have this book, Shetland Lace Knitting, in Japanese and in English (funny story here). I bought the book at Kinokuniya and decided I wanted to read the rest of the text. I found out that the original book is in English, so I bought that, too.

If you can work from charts, this book has lovely stitch patterns and edgings that are accessible to you. I’m having a drawing to give the Japanese copy away. Leave a comment below and let me know you’re interested! USA readers only this time, please. (I just sent a book to Canada last week, and it cost more than the book itself to send it, ouch.) I’ll pick a winner on January 31.

If you’re a newsletter subscriber, you can also reply to the upcoming newsletter for a second chance to win. (Newsletter coming out in a day or two.) Not a subscriber? You can subscribe here.

Last fun thing: I worked as an extra last summer on TNT’s The Librarians. Season 4, Episode 8 is now out there, and I can say that I saw myself very briefly!

(ETA: Video unavailable. Glad I got the screen shot while I could.)

The original call was for knitters, but they eventually changed the knitters into quilters, and I ended up being a townsperson, and not a needleworker at all! It was an interesting experience.

If you don’t blink, you can see me walking by in my Garland Shawl! So many hours for a tiny bit of screen time.

http://youtu.be/p_x8LrCx93k

The Purple Hat ad we did at Twisted last year is airing again locally. That was much more fun to film, and had actual knitting in it. Here’s the backstory on that, if you missed it.

Back to my knitting!

27 Comments

Posted in book review, giveaways, Knit

Tagged books, giveaway, Knit

Merry Knitmas! New holiday knitting patterns

Posted on October 12, 2017 | 17 comments

I have a pattern (or two, depending on how you look at it) in the new Knit Picks book, Merry Knitmas.

Aren’t they sweet? It’s a choose your own adventure pattern. I wanted to offer a choice of cuff motifs that looked fairly traditional. Three hanks of Wool of the Andes Superwash Bulky can be knit up into two coordinating stockings.

I love how they styled these. Very homespun Americana. I love everything about these stockings. Christmas stockings are great first socks, because big yarn means that they knit up quickly. And you only have to knit one, so there’s no Second Sock Syndrome. The stubby toe on the short leg makes me smile. And you can’t even see where I snipped the yarn, frogged half the leg, and grafted it back together.

This is what they looked like when they came back from the test knitter, oops! I couldn’t show you yet when I posted about my grafting adventure this summer.) Not the proportions I intended.

And look: They’re on the cover!

The Merry Knitmas Collection has patterns for these stockings and a lot more holiday home fun! You can order it as a hard copy book, or as a pdf download from the Knit Picks site.

I’m having a little giveaway. Leave a comment on this blog post and tell me who you want to knit these stockings for. I’ll do a random drawing on October 18, and the winner will receive the Merry Knitmas e-book. Ready? Go!

17 Comments

Posted in book review, Knit, pattern design

Tagged Christmas stockings, knit picks, Merry Knitmas

On the nightstand: Stitch dictionaries!

Posted on October 3, 2017 | 2 comments

I love perusing the knitting books at Kinokuniya, the bookstore inside Uwajimaya. I’ve picked up a couple stitch dictionaries there, both here and once in Tokyo. It’s usually possible to puzzle out the charted stitch patterns, even though I don’t read Japanese.

I recently picked up this book. There are stitch patterns and edging patterns, and the charts are clear and easy to read. The thought of a Japanese book about Shetland lace was kind of amusing, too.

But the more I looked at the book, the more I wanted to know what the text said. There was some text with each chart, but more intriguing was the text at the beginning of the book. I could see this page was trying to indicate that you could space your stitch patterns so they fit in your repeat. I think. I wanted to know!

I poked around inside the book, and found that the author’s name is Elizabeth Lovick. Hmmm. That’s a pretty non-Japanese sounding name. So I googled her, and lo and behold…

So I bought it! There’s a wealth of information in here. It has taken the place of the Japanese copy on my nightstand.

And apparently her name was on the front of the first book, too. I just couldn’t read it. I asked Son2 if this cover said Elizabeth Lovick, and he said yes. Or at least it was something like “Erizabesu Robikku” using Katakana (phonetic alphabet).

I’m using one of the edgings on a new shawl design. I’m pleased that I figured it out from the Japanese book, so it wasn’t a complete spending fail. (Just the sawtooth edging, not the shells.) More on that, soon.

And look! I have this on pre-order. In ENGLISH. (I must be learning.) Looking forward to receiving it, October 10. I took a class with Gayle Roehm at Sock Summit 2011, and she knows her stuff!