Progress report on my jewelry storage project. I want to hang my necklaces so they don’t tangle.
This circle isn’t quite as big as the embroidery hoop, but it’s going to be stretched while wet blocked. It seems a bit ruffly, and if I fold it in half it’s slightly more than a half circle.
Wet blocking solves that. And the little yarn over holes are a good guide for centering it in the hoop.
It definitely grew when wet. Now what should I do with the excess fabric? I don’t want to keep it looking like a mob cap.
I can turn it to the back and trim it off, but it might still show. Or I could try to glue it to the inside of the hoop. Or I could take yarn and sew across the hoop to hold the extra in back, like spokes on a wheel. That might show through to the front, though. What do you think?
I’ve decided I want a brighter color for my bedroom; the gray/blue isn’t as contrasty as I thought it would be. Also, I think I don’t want it to be a single ply; it’s going to get some bumping and handling as I hang and swap out jewelry on it. So this lovely yarn is on its way to me from Sharon Spence at Garage Dyeworks. It’s a plied MCN blend (merino/cashmere/nylon), colorway April in Paris. I think it’s going to be perfect.
Simply Stellar is an asymmetric triangle brioche shawlette, knit on the bias from narrow end to wide end. It features assigned pooling stars. The pattern requires two skeins of fingering weight yarn, one of which should be dyed for assigned pooling.
I knit my Simply Stellar with A Chick That Knitz Deluxe sock in Wildflowers (pooling) and Sassy, a fabulous hot pink.
I designed this shawlette as a slightly simpler version of my Starstruck. Tammy Pelfrey, the dyer at A Chick that Knitz, told me that some people were intimidated by the syncopated border on Starstruck, so Simply Stellar was designed as a simpler introduction to brioche plus assigned pooling. The shaping is very simple, and the yarn tells you when it’s time to make a star.
This pattern is available through Ravelry, link here, and Payhip, link here. Use coupon code SHINE for 15% off through September 9, 2025.
We’re barreling towards September, and I am juggling several projects! I’ll have a new design out next week (Tuesday, September 2), another one ready for tech edit and test knit, and a fun online project for October. I had a photo shoot with my sister yesterday. She doesn’t work for cash, so we go out for our favorite lunch instead. Her: chicken and waffles. Me: usually the perfect fried chicken sandwich.
Lunch at Screen Door, PDX Pearl District
But this time I had a fried chicken salad. It’s salad, so it’s healthy, right? (Look away from the bacon.)
I’m still editing pictures, so you’ll see those later.
I’ve been looking for a way to store my everyday necklaces and earrings. Right now they’re jumbled in a pretty box, and they’re always tangled. I’m planning to use a big circle of knit fabric in an embroidery hoop, and add some hooks to hold the necklaces. Those hooks may be spiral stitch markers; we’ll see if they work. Earrings can go directly into the fabric. Wish me luck!
I started knitting with leftover yarn, but I really wanted something that coordinated with our bedroom, and I wanted it to be more interesting than a stockinette circle. Assigned pooling is doing the trick.
I bought this yarn, MadelineTosh Tosh Merino Light, at For Yarn’s Sake on the way to a meeting. I didn’t have the right sized dpns with me, so I bought these Knit Pro Cubics. They’re square shaped. I like them!
We’re heading into a holiday weekend. Hope yours is full of knitting. I hope mine is, too!
And off, and on, and off, and on again! Sometimes it takes a while to figure out what your yarn really wants.
This yarn is A Chick that Knitz Singles Fingering in Tropical Flowers. I got it at Nash Yarn Fest, intending to pair it with another color for brioche plus pooling.
Here it is with Caribbean.
It was nice, but the stars didn’t really pop against the background.
I liked the contrastier combination of Wildflowers and Sassy. this is A Chick That Knitz Deluxe Sock. This pattern, Simply Stellar, is coming soon. It’s been a busy summer, and this will make a nice intro to fall knitting.
I frogged the blue version, and decided to try a different assigned pooling pattern, without brioche. I want this to be a cowl, and it has to be worked in the round because the motif has to be worked from the right side of the fabric.
I love how the colors pop against the background when it’s just the pooling yarn. The second color in brioche really didn’t add anything meaningful.
But do I want the motifs to be flowers?
Or volcanoes? I knit on this last weekend, while we were traveling to and from Ellensburg, Washington for a friend’s birthday/retirement party. And by the time we were halfway home, I decided I wanted flowers.
And voilà, my project was instantly transformed into a swatch! I needed to frog the whole thing, and work it from the bottom up instead of top down.
That meant choosing an edging for the beginning, and doing some math. Easy peasy. The nice thing about working it from the bottom up is that there won’t be any yarn chicken shenaningans going on. The edging is completed first, so I know there’s enough yarn for it. And I can knit the top of the cowl to be as tall as I want it to be with the yarn that’s left; the height isn’t a critical measurement.
I’m about halfway done, and looking forward to showing you the result. It’s an easy knit.
Cheers! (Cocktails at Julep in Ellensburg. Backwoods Barbie on the left, Rhinestone Cowboy on the right.)
I started a brioche project with a new to me yarn. This lovely Andante worsted from Sweet Paprika is 195 yards/110g, or 1.77 yards/gram. My usual worsted is Malabrigo Rios, which is 210 yards/100g, or 2.1 yards/gram. So the Andante is a bit heavier/thicker than what I’m used to. I cast on with Andante based on my previous gauge with Rios, and it turned out that it was noticeably bigger.
As usual, my project is a project, until it’s a swatch. At least I measured my swatch for gauge before frogging!
You can really see that brioche is a 2 layered fabrc when you frog the colors separately. I find this highly amusing.
I’m back on track, and have a fun project that is easily memorizable. It will be fairly simple, for newer brioche knitters. I’m designing this for Sweet Paprika’s Skill Builder Yarn Club; it will be published in 2026.
I spent last week in San Diego, presenting and teaching for the San Diego North Coast Knitters Guild. This is a happening guild! They bring in guest speakers/teachers nearly every month, and have two retreats per year. Impressive!
Monday was travel day, in order to be in place on Tuesday. I arrived in the afternoon, so I went to the beach! Moonlight State Beach was just a half mile down the street from my hotel in Encinitas.
Not your usual concession stand hot dog
It’s a lot more crowded than an Oregon Coast beach, because the water is warm.
I walked a half mile south to where it was quieter. Perfect. Then back to my starting point, and a little ways north. I sat on the sand watching the waves, and it was so pleasant that I couldn’t bring myself to get up for an hour past when I thought I should.
I explored the main drag of Encinitas. Very touristy, lots of fun shops and eateries. And overlooks at the ends of the streets so you can see the beach and ocean.
The main drag is Highway 101, so 4 of these surround every tree and lightpost. .
I gave a presentation on my design process, and blocking accessories at the guild meeting on Tuesday. And I enjoyed the Show and Share time at the end of the meeting.
The knitters in Emmy’s family had a knitalong (KAL) of the Both Sides Now shawl that I designed for Knit Picks. It was fun to see so many of them, and to see how different each side looked.
And one of the knitters modeled a cardigan that she started in 1997. She had set it aside many times, and was finally determined to finish it. Then she ran out of her lilac yarn, so she color blocked one of the fronts in a gorgeous spring green. It looked fabulous, but the kicker? She found the rest of the yarn after finishing the sweater! I think the color blocking really added to the piece, so it was a serendipitous misplacing.
I was pleased to have a chance to wear my new Scattered Petals cowl.
I taught classes on Wednesday and Thursday: Brioche Pastiche, Whale Conga Line, YO YO Fancy Stitches, and Sheepy Steeky Coasters.
I loved that program coordinator Theresa bound off her coasters just before class, and she brought her steamer for steam blocking!
Mary is knitting a Starstruck shawlette. I love her color choices.
It was so nice to meet Karen, who test knit for my Brioche Knit Love book.
Theresa, Denise, Karla, Anne
I had a great time with this guild! I’d happily teach for them again.
I came home and hit the ground running. Lots to get done this week before I leave on Friday to go sing in Sisters!
Scattered Petals is a bandana cowl knit in the round. It features a dusting of assigned pooling petals on a two-color brioche rib background. Choose two skeins of fingering weight yarn, one of which is dyed for assigned pooling. Knitting begins in the round at the bottom with a contrast color brioche rib edging. Simple shaping at the center front creates the look of a triangle shawl.
Smaller and larger cowls stacked, for comparison
The pattern offers the cowl in two sizes, depending on how much coverage you like.
Assigned pooling stitch detail
I used Yarn Snob’s A Good Fingering for my cowls, in Black Orchid (pooling color) and Wicked Green. I love, love, love how this turned out.
The Scattered Petals pattern is available on Ravelry, link here. It is also available on Payhip, link here. Use coupon code ROSES for a 15% discount on either site. I hope you enjoy this sweet knit!
I’ve been a fan of the Bootie and Bossy Eat Drink Knit podcast for a while now. These two sisters talk about knitting, cooking, and life. Recently they’ve been on a read-through of Anne L. Macdonald’s No Idle Hands: The Social History of American Knitting. I read this when it first came out (in hardback!). I think I’ll read it again, on my Kindle.
I was honored when they invited me to have a chat with them for their podcast. It was a fun and rambling conversation about all things knitting, and more.
I think my suggestions for snacking while knitting really captured their fancy. Have a listen here, and giggle along with us! (Link is for Apple Podcasts, but you can also find them on Spotify.)
I’m knitting away on this new entrelac piece. It’s much like Minerva, my usual entrelac teaching piece, but it has fewer units in width, so it grows more quickly in length. There’s also an optional flower motif in the center squares, because why not add something new?
The driving force behind this new piece? I’m teaching an online entrelac class for Marie Greene’s virtual Knit Camp at the Coast in September. I decided that I want a minimalist project that better fits into the allotted time.
I love the yarn that I’m using here. It’s Berroco Wizard, which is a fluffy chainette. It’s listed as chunky/bulky, but the chainette construction makes it almost weightless. So cozy! One skein is enough for up to a double looped cowl or scarf, but you could stop at any time after 20” and seam it up for a shorter cowl.
Pattern coming soon! This will be my entrelac teaching piece after it’s published.
I’m headed to San Diego on Monday to speak and teach for the San Diego North Coast Knitters Guild. We’ll be playing with brioche, fancy elongated stitches, and steeks. And I’ll have plenty of knitting time on the plane to finish this entrelac project!
In the meantime, happy 4th of July to the Yanks! I’m working this weekend, prepping for San Diego, and getting ready to launch Scattered Petals on Monday. Knit on!
It’s been a busy couple weeks. I did a photo shoot with my sister for my two upcoming designs, Scattered Petals and Simply Stellar.
Scattered Petals and Simply Stellar
I’m publishing Scattered Petals next Monday, after the July 4th weekend. If you’d like a 25% discount on the pattern when it’s published, sign up for my newsletter by Saturday July 5, and you’ll receive the coupon code via email on Monday. I publish my newsletter once or twice per month. I promise I won’t spam you; I don’t have the energy!
My favorite public art, by Botero
This past weekend DH and I went to St Louis to celebrate his mom’s 92nd birthday. It was an art-filled weekend! There is a wonderful exhibit at the St Louis Art Museum called Roaring: Art, Fashion, and the Automobile in France, 1918–1939. There are 12 fantastic motorcars, lots of art, and some exquisite fashion items.
The theme image at the entrance is from the painting “Eiffel Tower” by Robert Delaunay, 1924.
My favorite gown. Coco Chanel, 1937. The whole sheath dress is covered in flexible gelatin sequins, covered with a net overskirt and bodice. So gorgeous. Very Downton Abbey, don’t you think? And timeless. I’d wear it in a heartbeat.
This Lanvin gown (1929) features a rhinestone spiderweb. I love it.
Sweater by Elsa Schiaparelli, 1935. The information card noted that women’s knits maintained silhouettes while allowing for comfort and movement. But that asymmetric detailing at the shoulders makes me twitch!
I felt the need to make my own art, too. Probably more along the lines of Andy Warhol!
I have a ton of work to finish this week. I need to do all the background work to publish Scattered Petals. And I’m prepping and packing to go to San Diego on Monday to present and teach for the San Diego North Coast Knitters Guild. Git ‘er done!
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 