Posted onApril 4, 2022|Comments Off on VKLive Seattle coming right up!
I’m deep in class prep this week, before packing to go up to Seattle for Vogue Knitting Live. I’m really looking forward to seeing knitters in person again!
Sheepy Steeky Coasters
I had a fun time this weekend teaching Sheepy Steeky Coasters for For Yarn’s Sake on Zoom, and I’m teaching it in person this Friday in Seattle. After that, I’m teaching it once more on May 7 via Zoom for Twisted Yarn Shop, and then not again ‘til fall, I think.
VKLive Seattle class roundup
Plans for Seattle: 3 brioche classes (Petite Brioche, Deep End increases and decreases, and Syncopation), and steeks and slip stitch.
The marketplace is free to enter all weekend. If you’re not up for classes but just want to shop and check things out, come on by! I’ll be signing Brioche Knit Love books in the Hazel Knits Yarn booth on Saturday from 12:30 to 2 pm. And I’m really looking forward to checking out her Divine yarn base, which is a fingering weight 75/15/10 blend of superwash merino, cashmere, and silk. Sounds very luxe, an I’m all for it! Mmmmm, cashmere.
Book signing!
Also this week: Trying to get ready to publish my Cosette cowl pattern. Wish me luck, or more hours Monday through Wednesday! We’ll see if I get it all done.
Whoa, 21 days since my last post? Inconceivable! I’ve been knitting up a storm, and paring down a to-do list that grew to anxiety-provoking length. It’s better now. On the to-do list were three video tutorials for the project on the needles. No, the project isn’t hard. But sometimes having an extra visual can make things more clear.
Adding beads to your knitting
One of the videos shows how to add beads to your knitting using the crochet hook method, and also using a BeadAid, which is my favorite beading tool. You can click the link above to watch it.
The video also features my bead tin setup. I hope you enjoy it!
Looking south to the Burnside Bridge
This past week the cherry blossoms have come into their full glory down at the Willamette River waterfront. This is the river that goes through the center of Portland.
Looking north to the Steel Bridge
Gorgeous! I went for a walk with friends last Thursday.
And then DH and I rode our bikes down there on Sunday. It’s a nice 10 mile loop from our house.
The magnolia trees are in full bloom, too.
Camellia Wrap
My favorite camellia hedge is also blooming, even more than in this updated Camellia Wrap picture from 3 weeks ago. It’s definitely Think Pink season around here.
It looks like we’re in for a rainy weekend. Perfect timing. I’ll be teaching two zoom classes this weekend: Deep End Brioche Increases and Decreases on Saturday and Sheepy Steeky Coasters on Sunday. It’s not too late to sign up for either one, but the steeks class has homework so you’d definitely need to address that now.
Happy spring! Or fall, depending where you live. Happy change of seasons, anyway…
We’re at an interesting time in the Covid world. Mask mandates are being lifted everywhere. I’ve been to my first in-person event, Red Alder, and felt very safe there with masks and vaccinations required. Next up is Vogue Knitting Live in Seattle/Bellevue in April; vaccinations or negative Covid tests are required but masks are optional. I’m pretty comfortable with that, but I may be wearing my mask in a crowd! I’d love to have you join me in-person!
I’m teaching Sheepy Steeky Coasters, Slip Away Cowl, Petite Brioche, Deep End (brioche increases and decreases) and Syncopation (syncopated brioche). Vogue has extended their early bird registration pricing through March 15. Marketplace tickets are free, if you just want to shop. Hazel Knits Yarn will have my books, and I’ll have a book signing on Saturday afternoon. (Hazel Knits provided some of the yarn for my book samples; it’s gorgeous.)
If you want a class with me, this is the time! I need to some time off from teaching beginning in May to take care of some things, and I’ll be back to teaching in September. I may sneak some classes in during July, depending on if there’s interest during the summer.
This picture says it all. It was so wonderful to be back in a classroom with my knitters! This is my Brioche Pastiche class from Thursday morning. This was my first ”away” teaching since Red Alder in 2020. It’s been a long two years.
I taught 4 classes, and it was a joy. I brought my laptop and document camera, so it was the best of both worlds. Everyone could see the demonstration at the same time like a Zoom class, and then i could go around the room and fine tune with people.
The market was fun, and I had a great time signing books with the fun peeps from Northwest Yarns.
Melissa, Heather, Tristan, and Echo from Northwest YarnsThanks, Echo!Karen and DonnaNancy of Schmutzerella Yarns with her ravishing Oregon SkyDyers Jen of Matchmaker Yarns & Kalliope of Anzula Luxury FibersTest knitter Kris
I met Kris in person; she was so helpful test knitting for Brioche Knit Love. So nice to put faces with names!
Here’s what came home with me:
Sparkly fingering weight yarn from Schmutzerella, and beads from Bead Biz. I have a plan for this combination.
Sparkly DK weight yarn from Anzula Luxury Fibers. Apparently I was having a thing for all things sparkly. I think I have a plan for this, too.
And worsted weight yarn from Anzula, as a backup if the sparkles don’t work for what I was planning…
Red Alder is already planning for next year; mark your calendars for February 16-19, 2023!
Edited to add my weekend knitwear!
Here are more pictures from the weekend.
Chihuly art glass at the old Union StationLove this reflection!Union Station reflection on the Bridge of GlassMural. I’ve seen this expression on BisqueeThe mountain peeked out at sunset on Friday
Now hard at work (at home) trying to pare down the to-do list! It grew quite a bit these past two weeks. Onward!
It’s been a busy two weeks, so it will take me a few posts to catch up. The blog is my searchable journal, so I like to make sure things get noted here. I’ll start with the crawl, then there’s a new pattern, and then I’ll go back in time to Red Alder last month. Three posts, minimum!
I started the crawl on Thursday at For Yarn’s Sake; I had a trunk show and book signing there.
It’s a tradition that Lorajean (Knitted Wit), Shannon, Debbi and I begin the crawl at For Yarn’s Sake. This year we had two tables instead of one (new very spacious venue), so we divided as front and back of house.
We did spend some time all together with owner Anne, and the traditional bubbles! It was so nice to visit with people in person. Masks and proof of vaccination were required for the in-person crawl; there was also a virtual crawl option online.
My knitting/design project came up with an incorrect stitch count, and this dropped stitch may have been part of the reason why. I think it was laughing at me. I showed it who’s boss, though: frogged the section and got it back on track. Yes, you can frog in public. And the FitBit thinks that winding the yarn back up counts as steps. Winner!
I didn’t do a lot of crawling, but I made it to Weird Sisters Yarn Shop to see Wendee of Hazel Knits Yarn. I wanted to thank her in person for the yarn support for my book, Brioche Knit Love. She’ll be vending at Vogue Knitting Live in Seattle (Bellevue, really), and I’ll be teaching there. We’re planning a book signing in the market on Saturday, April 9. More on VKL in a later post…
Here’s the total of my crawl haul. The theme tote was designed by DKGraham. I didn’t really need another tote, but this one was so pretty I decided I had to have it. The little wallet is by Heidi West Designs; she screen prints her own fabrics. I love how it coordinates with the tote. It’s perfect for hanging on to the little things in my larger tote bag. I picked up the shawl pin at Pearl Fiber Arts; I love this style and have several more by the same maker (One of a Kind). And the yarn is from Blu Fiber Company (trunk show at Starlight Knitting Society).
I was looking for a yarn to play with applied pooling. I’m currently looking for a stitch pattern that will work with this; the purple color runs may not be quite long enough to do what I want. We shall see.
Also this weekend, I’m teaching Petite Brioche (beginning 2 color brioche in the round) on Saturday for Twisted Yarn Shop. The class is almost full, but there are 3 spots left. You can register here.
I know there’s a lot going on in the world. My heart is heavy for the people of Ukraine. I’m looking for a good place to send money to support them; I’m thinking World Central Kitchen. Chef Jose Andres is feeding Ukrainian refugees on the border in Poland. Everyone deserves to be safe in their homes and to be fed, whether at home or on the run.
It was a splendidly beautiful day yesterday; it got up to 67 degrees F (19 C); which is unusual for February in Portland. I took my work outside. My math swatch has paid off, and I’m done with the first section of my new design. The next step required some charting and planning to make stitch counts work out on the repeat (do you sense a theme here?). I want to alternate the variegated and semi-solid, and give the variegated yet another chance to sing. This yarn is Knitted Wit Sock in The Future is Bright and Kiss and Teal.
The book on the table is Lorna Miser’s The Hand Knitter’s Guide to Hand-Dyed and Variegated Yarn. It talks about different dye methods, and how to make the most of them. A lot of the book is about how to recognize if colors will pool, and how to avoid pooling, if desired. There are lots of stitch patterns to play with. I’ve swatched the one that it will be perfect for this project. We shall see.
Sometimes you want colors to pool, and Hunter Hammersen’s Stochastic Hat is an example of that. She worked with Gauge Dyeworks to make a yarn with spaced out color runs, just long enough to knit random color burbles into the hat. (As well as a section to knit a brim all in the contrast color, whoa.) You can use any yarn for this hat, but the thought of knitting it with assigned pooling (the yarn tells you when to make the burbles) is fun.
I was going to knit this hat with Knit Picks Chroma Worsted, but the fuzzy single ply (top) doesn’t want to settle nicely into burbles. The smooth superwash yarn (Malabrigo Rios, below) is much better behaved. I’m not sure I have a hat’s worth in two coordinating colors, though. I’ll poke around a little more. I’m glad I swatched the burbles *before* jumping in and knitting an entire hat brim before finding out my yarn wasn’t going to cooperate! Swatching can be very helpful.
I’m teaching a Zoom class on planned pooling for For Yarn’s Sake on March 6. We’ll talk about planned pooling and assigned pooling. Come knit with me! Register here.
That same weekend I’m teaching Petite Brioche for Twisted (also Zoom). Saturday March 5. If you’d like a jump start into two color brioche in the round, this is it! Register here.
Okay, time to see if my charting made sense, and if my math works out!
I started a new design with the *real yarn* twice before resorting to a math swatch.
The first time you jump in without swatching, it’s understandable, especially if you’ve knit with this yarn and needle size before. I thought I had the undulating stitch pattern figured out. Not quite. So I started over.
There are four ways to arrange the two stitch patterns, and I need to pick two that will consistently look the same on the repeats.
I knit for quite a while before I realized that I still wasn’t going to get the symmetry I wanted. so I finally resorted to a math swatch. Yes, I just made up that term. I didn’t need to knit the motifs completely; I just needed to know if the motifs were going to stack consistently. That’s why this just looks like a jumble of kinky yarn (it was from a piece I had frogged after blocking).
I make the mistakes so you don’t have to!
My classes at Red Alder
I’m getting ready to go to Tacoma, Washington next week to teach at Red Alder Fiber Arts Retreat. There is still room in many classes, so if you’re up for some in-person fun, check it out here. Vaccinations and masks are required. I’ll have a trunk show and book signing with Northwest Yarns in the market; they’re carrying my book, Brioche Knit Love. I’ll confirm times (I think lunchtime Friday and late morning into lunch on Saturday?) and post. Looking forward to it!
Just finished a weekend of Vogue’s Virtual Knitting Live. I taught 4 classes and took 2 classes. I loved the back and forth!
My newest class, Sheepy Steeky Coasters, was really fun. The knitting is done as homework, so class is devoted to securing and cutting the steek, and finishing the edges.
Look at all the happy new steekers! You can be one, too. I’m teaching this class again on Saturday February 5 for Twisted Yarn Shop via Zoom; you can register here.
One of the classes I took was called The New Colorwork, by Margaret Holzmann. It’s all garter stitch, working with blocks of color, kind of like log cabin knitting with some extra shaping and construction. The Pythagorean Theorem is our friend.
You can see the progression from the 2 striped pink blocks and small light blue box being connected with the dark blue yarn, and then closing the gap by knitting the dark blue rectangle (actually a rectangle on top of a triangle) between them. This will eventually (if I ever get to it) have 4 more pink blocks, and 3 more dark blue rectangles, to make a larger square with a dark pink diamond crossed by dark blue arms. Cool! Margaret is the designer of the Safe at Home blanket (link to her site) that’s been so popular during the pandemic. Her blankets of geometric block constructions are ingenious.
The other class I took was Keith Leonards’s Pool Party. We played with assigned pooling (center), and planned pooling (on the needles). Keith uses a much simpler, not mathy way to find the Magic Number for planned pooling; it was an epiphany.
Shall We Dance in Rock Candy colorway
It’s much easier than the mathy way I’ve been doing it, so I’ve just updated the instructions for my color-pooling Shall We Dance cowl, and the updated pattern is now available on Ravelry and Payhip. It’s 15% off through February 1, no coupon code needed. (Newsletter subscribers hold tight, a coupon will be in your next newsletter.) Also, I’m teaching a class with this cowl and yarn in 2 color options (Huckleberry Knits Aran 2 Ply BFL that was dyed specifically for this class) with For Yarn’s Sake via Zoom on March 6. (Yarn and pattern included in class fee.) Register here.
So much teaching AND learning! A perfect weekend. How was yours?
I’m teaching for Virtual Knitting Live from Vogue Knitting this coming weekend. Want to learn a new skill? I’m offering Petite Brioche, Log Cabin Knitting, Slip Away Cowl, and Sheepy Steeky Coasters. A potpourri of classes! I love how Vogue Knitting jumped right into online events in 2020, and has continued to put them together on a monthly basis. There’s always something new and interesting to learn; I’ll be taking a couple classes, too.
And in February I’m making my first foray back into in-person teaching, at Red Alder Fiber Arts Retreat with Brioche Pastiche hat, Syncopation Shawl, Minerva Entrelac Cowl, and Designing with Favorite Shawl Shapes. Vaxed, boosted, and masked. I’m hoping to have a book signing at the market, too.
Are you ready to learn something new? I feel like 2022 is whizzing by already!
I’m knitting Da Crofter’s Kep, a free pattern from Shetland Wool Week. The pattern uses 6 colors, but only two colors per row, which is standard for stranded colorwork. I’m terrible at putting colors together, but Anne at For Yarn’s Sake has my back, with color kits of Jamieson’s of Shetland Spindrift yarn, based on the color sets in the pattern.
Mine is a sample for a stranded colorwork class I’ll be teaching via Zoom for For Yarn’s Sake. We’re using the hat as a jumping off point to get us started with stranded colorwork. If you’re looking to learn this fun technique, with lots of tips on managing your yarn and avoiding the dreaded puckering, this class is for you!
The gauge for this hat is the same as for Katie’s Kep, last year’s Shetland Wool Week pattern, and the stitch count is the same. I’m using the same kind of yarn, which gives me a head start on knowing how big my hat will be; my previous hat is a big gauge swatch! It’s always good to keep notes about your yarn and needles; you never know when that information might come in handy. Present me thanks past me.
My class is on Sunday, February 6. Come knit with me!
If you’re already a pro with stranded colorwork, you may just love knitting this pattern, too. Click on the link above to download the free pattern. It’s only free until they announce the next year’s pattern, so don’t wait too long.
Find my patterns on Ravelry: Michele Bernstein Designs
Here are some of my favorites, and the newest. Many of my designs are also available through my Payhip store.
PDXKnitterati 