Here’s last year, and we hope to see you this year, too! Pictured with me left to right: Debbie Stone, Lorajean Kelley, shop owner Anne Lindquist, and Shannon Squire. Our trunk show is Thursday February 23, from 10 am to 4 pm. The shop is open from 10 am to 6 pm that day.
I’ll have copies of Brioche Knit Love to sign for you; this is a great last chance to get a copy before they’re gone! I don’t know if there will be a reprint, and we’re down to the last few boxes. I’ll also have samples of my applied pooling adventures, and samples for upcoming classes. Come say howdy!
I’m participating in this 12 hour knitting marathon to raise funds and awareness for food insecurity. The money we raise will be equally divided among Feeding America, World Central Kitchen, No Kid Hungry, and Meals on Wheels.
Please support me by donating through this link.You can also sign up to participate yourself, if you’re interested.
We’re working on getting space for local PDX knitters to knit together on March 26. I’ll keep you posted!
Pooling is a Cinch is a convertible piece that will please both hat and cowl lovers. The stockinette stitch body is a perfect canvas for playing with assigned pooling. Worsted weight yarn knits up quickly for a fun introduction to this technique. Choose a yarn that is meant to pool; you’ll want 6 to 8 inch (15-20 cm) runs of your pooling color.
Knitting begins and ends with a reverse stockinette rolled edge. A knit cord is threaded through a round of eyelets near the top. The cord is tied in a decorative knot on the cowl. The cord can also be cinched to convert the cowl to a hat.
The pattern is now available through Ravelry here, and through Payhip here. It’s 15% off through February 14, no coupon code needed. If you’re in my Pooling class at Red Alder Fiber Arts Retreat, the yarn and pattern is included in your class packet. (I think there are 2 spots left; come knit with me!)
Or February, if you’re traditional. This is a jam packed month for me. Who knew you could have this much fun knitting? I have three in-person weekends coming up. I hope to see you at one of these events!
At Vogue Knitting Live NYC Feb. 10-12 I’ll be teaching Petite Brioche (beginning brioche), Deep End (brioche increases and decreases), Syncopation (syncopated brioche), Sheepy Steeky Coasters (steeks!), and my new Embellishment Cowl (elongated stitches, slip stitch quilted lattice, and beads).
At Red Alder Fiber Arts Retreat Feb. 16-19 I’ll be teaching Petite Brioche (beginning brioche), Whale Watch Cap and Cowl (brioche increases and decreases), Sheepy Steeky Coasters (steeks!) and Assigned and Planned Pooling.
Rose City Yarn Crawl is Feb. 23-26. I’ll have a trunk show and book signing at For Yarn’s Sake on Thursday Feb. 23, along with Lorajean Kelley (Knitted Wit), Shannon Squire, and Debbie Stone.
I’ve just signed on to teach aboard the Zodiac, a schooner that sails out of Bellingham, Washington. This is in conjunction with Northwest Yarns of Bellingham. The 3 day cruise is July 31-August 2. It’s a nautical knitting cruise! And you get to learn to help sail the ship, too.
(photo from the Zodiac website, used with permission, copyright Taylor Hodges)
The trip includes 4 knitting classes. Two of them will be brioche! We’ll use my Whale Watch Cap and Cowl pattern to introduce brioche and then learn increases and decreases.
Our other two classes will explore fancy stitches and herringbone braids (and simple stranded colorwork).
Petite Brioche, which is a quick start to 2 color brioche in the round,
Whale Watch Cap and Cowl, which is all about brioche increases and decreases
Planned and assigned pooling
Sheepy Steeky Coasters (cutting your first steek)
There are classes for knitting, spinning, weaving…more? Check out the website, choose your classes, and register beginning Sunday. The event is at the Hotel Murano, which is a beautiful venue full of glass art. Come knit with me!
Or OFFF, as we fondly call it. We missed 2020 and 2021, and lost our venue at Clackamas County Fairgrounds. This year found us at the Linn County Expo Center in Albany, Oregon. It feels a lot further away, 66 miles vs 20 miles, but I was glad it happened.
It was great to see so many fiber friends! (There were more, just not all pictured)
Lots of animals, and 450 fleeces for judging, and then for sale.
Upper left: Valentino, Breed Champion Romney, Topaz (Icelandic), lower left
Beautiful prize-winning knitting (4194 beads in the purple shawl, in 2 colors)
Both gourd art and coiling were new to me, but coiling is an old indigenous technique.
Gourd art + Coilng = WOW from Jane A. WilsonFelted dolls by Carolyn St Clair Hibbard
This weaving by Jane Herbst features wool from 131 different sheep breeds.
I taught Petite Brioche, and the classroom was a definite upgrade! This is how I like to teach since the pandemic: Overhead camera so everyone sees my hands demo at the same time, and then I get to go around the room to fine tune with everyone.
You can see all of my OFFF pictures in this Instagram album here. There are a lot!
The other nice upgrade: All the vendors were indoors, in climate controlled splendor. Not quite as charming as being out on the lawn, but the possibility of being overtaken by a monsoon doesn’t exist, either. The weather was gorgeous this weekend, but that’s not always the case for OFFF.
Loot!
I don’t generally buy yarn until I’m ready to use it. That keeps my stash tidy, and is moth avoidant, too. So I generally buy other goodies at festivals. I came home with dryer balls (what pretty colors!) from Compass Moon Creations, an RBG-themed notions bag from Kirbie at Change Your Fate Creations (love that I can see what’s in it), a notions tin from Miss Purl so I can give it away as a bead tin at my Embellishment Cowl class at Vogue Knitting Live NYC in February, and a cute sheep necklace from Sheep Lady Charms (she was with Valentino the Breed Champion Romney, above).
I also bought this bookmark/bracelet loom from Craft Emporium PDX (Shannon and Lorajean). It’s a very teeny way of experimenting with weaving. In my copious spare time. But I’ve been dreaming about it ever since I saw it last month!
I did bring home a little yarn. It’s a slippery slope, isn’t it? At least it’s not yarn support, which sits around making me feel guilty that I haven’t designed with it yet. This was just a trade (and I think it will be a little brioche confection). Or just something to dream with! Carolyn mentioned she wanted to learn brioche, so I traded her a copy of my book for this set of minis.
Speaking of my book, Brioche Knit Love is one year old today! Happy birthday, baby!
Have you been to any fiber festivals this fall? What was your favorite thing?
I’m teaming up with Shaina Bilow and Keith Leonard to bring you Brioche Buddies! We’ll spend a month exploring the loveliness that is brioche. Weekly classes will be via Zoom, and are limited to 40 participants. Registration went live yesterday, and there are 18 spots left. If you want to be part of this brioche extravaganza you should register now.
Classes will be recorded, and you’ll have access for a year. We’ll also have an option for recorded classes only. That’s a great option if the schedule doesn’t fit your schedule, or if the Live Zoom classes are sold out.
For the Brioche Buddies event, I’ll be teaching fixing mistakes,
and brioche increases and decreases, which is how we get the lovely patterning in 2 color brioche rib.
Shaina and Keith are engaging, experienced teachers. I met Keith at VKLive Columbus in 2019, and I met Shaina at VKLive Seattle 2022. Shaina and I taught at Knit Maine last month, and that’s where I learned that they’ve been buddies ever since she taught Keith to knit. All three of us will be teaching at VKLive NYC in February 2023. I’m thrilled to be joining this dynamic duo!
If you’re brioche-curious, and want to really get it down, this series is for you. You’ll have plenty of time to practice during the week between classes, and just keeping it rolling will help you gain the muscle memory for the rhythm of brioche. I hope you can join us!
After the Vogue Knitting Cruise and a few days in New York, DH headed for Portland, Oregon and I headed for Portland, Maine. Knit Maine (from Peacetree Fiber Adventures) was held at Haystack Mountain School of Crafts in Deer Isle, a 3 hour drive from Portland. It was like going to camp! North Coast Maine is a magical place.
It’s probably good that I didn’t know beforehand that I’d be taking my suitcases (2!) down these stairs to my room.
And back up again at the end of our stay. And that I’d be up and down them repeatedly every day. I got my 10,000 steps every day, and a stairmaster workout, to boot!
With Louis, Shaina, and Christine Walker (Knit Maine organizer!)
Happy to be settling in!
Gathering area outside the dining hallMorning yoga
My classes? In the wood studio. I taught Petite Brioche and Whale Watch/Brioche Increases & Decreases, as well as 3 other classes.
YO? YO! Fun and fancy stitches to dress up your stockinette.Thrumbelina thrummed slippersSo much floof!
Jacquie didn’t love making the thrummed butterflies, and I mentioned that some people use the roving as a carry-along strip. Worth a try! As long as you get the result you want, you’re doing it right.
The days were packed with classes, but we also had time to shop in the market that was set up in the clay studio. Casey Ryder from Port Fiber had some beautiful yarns from Cashmere People, Spin Cycle and Harrisville Designs (and more?).
Madder Root Trundle Bag
Madder Root had beautiful bags. I couldn’t resist this one. You know I love the night sky!
Louis choosing colors from North Light Fibers
and Sven from North Light Fibers brought beautiful yarn, including Water Street, a DK weight 40/60 cashmere/merino blend that is making me dream of cushy brioche accessories. There was more, the offerings changed from day to day. I’m sure I didn’t see everything.
The weather was perfect, and there was time to explore the campus.
At Picnic Rock with Shaina, Kristin, and CalStacked stones at Picnic RockTrail…Found the beach!Across from the flagpoleMoonrise, full harvest moonEven the stumps are beautifulTeachers!
Louis Boria, me, Shaina Bilow, Kristin Drysdale, Casey Ryder, Christine Walker (Peacetree Fiber Adventures), and Cal Patch. Knit Maine featured classes in knitting, drop spindling, embroidery, sewing, needle felting…a nice mix of fiber arts.
Happy campers!swag
Christine is such an excellent organizer. She had Knit Maine tote bags ready for each participant, with supplies for their classes. Also in the bags? These mugs, and a center pull ball winder from Katrinkles. ETA: T-shirts, and a copy of Taproot magazine. (I had partially unpacked, and things got separated!) A skein of yarn from Moss Fibers, specially dyed as The Maine Event colorway, was the parting gift. I’m looking forward to making something special with it.
The fun didn’t stop when we left Haystack; we still had to get back to Portland.
That’s a wrap on my epic east coast adventure! I’m so happy I had the opportunity to teach in such a variety of settings. What a great way to start autumn knitting. Now I’m gearing up for virtual and in-person teaching. Looking forward to a fiber-filled fall!
I only had 3 days between the Vogue Knitting Cruise before heading to Maine. Going home would have turned two of those days into travel days, so I made a plan to stay in NYC instead. It was also my birthday, so DH came out to celebrate with me.
We took walks, explored parks, relaxed, and saw Hamilton and Six. Six is the story of the wives of Henry VIII, reimagined as a sing off in which each wife tells why her lot was the worst. I love Tudor history, so that was very fun. The music is very catchy, and I’m still listening to it and singing along with the soundtrack.
Hamilton was all that fun and more! It’s a masterpiece. I hadn’t seen Hamilton or listened to the soundtrack before attending, but it wasn’t a problem. Also, I recognized many main characters from Outlander, haha! Washington, Lee, LaFayette. The Battle of Monmouth (and General Lee’s retreat). No Jamie Fraser in the musical, though.
Empire State Building from Bryant Park
I loved knitting in Bryant Park; it was just the relaxing afternoon I needed. Bryant Park is right behind the flagship New York Public Library.
A couple days before I left for my epic East Coast adventures, DH came to me and said that he had been planning a surprise for our anniversary, but had been persuaded to make it not a surprise. Confusing? He wanted us to renew our vows, and had been talking to my pastor. (He doesn’t do church, but he’d met her once a few weeks before.) She recommended that he ask me, because vows should be consensual and not a surprise. Makes sense! So we had a phone chat with her while we were in New York, planning for a small ceremony in a favorite park in Portland on our anniversary, the day after I’d get home from Maine. (Nonstop fun, right?) We didn’t want a big to-do; my September was full enough!
These are not the rings we seek
Since we were in New York, I got a wild hair to see if the jeweler that made my anniversary band (7th anniversary a very long time ago) was still in business. (We lived in Queens back then.) He had passed away, but his grandson now runs the business. We had a nice visit, and ordered white gold bands, each with a single tiny diamond. They wouldn’t be ready for the ceremony, but we borrowed their ring sizers as stand-ins.
It all worked out. The kids came to help us celebrate. DH and I had lovely tributes for each other. (I called him a romantic hidden inside a curmudgeon.) We renewed our vows with updated versions of the original ones. It was a small and perfect event!
Peninsula Park Rose Garden
But that happened after Knit Maine, so I’ll head back to the east coast…in the next post.
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 