Category Archives: pattern design

Introducing Trillium Path

Posted on July 7, 2026 | 3 comments

Trillium Path is an ode to spring wildflower hikes. A field of simple, twinkly assigned pooling flowers on stockinette combined with optional eyelet stripes make this eye-catching accessory sparkle. This asymmetric triangle is knit on the bias from skinny point to wide end. Trillium Path can be an easy-to-knit social knitting project, or a multi-tasker’s dream.

A video tutorial for the assigned pooling pattern is included in the pattern.

Trillium Path is knit with one skein of fingering weight yarn that’s dyed for assigned pooling. You can also extend your shawlette with a second skein of yarn if that’s your jam.

The eyelet stripes are optional, but I highly recommend them for visual interest, and also as mini-goals while you knit. The final eyelet edging at the bind off keeps your edge from rolling.

I knit my shawlettes with A Chick That Knitz Singles Fingering in Wildflowers AP (blue) and From Paris With Love AP (green).

The Trillium Path pattern is available on Ravelry (link here) and also on Payhip (link here). Use coupon code THRICE for 15% off on either site, through July 21, 2026.

Are you interested in a knitalong? This could be a fun and easy summer KAL! Let me know; if there’s enough interest I’ll announce it here.

Thanks to tech editor Jen Lucas, test knitters Ann Berg, Greta Heintz, Karen Viglione Lauterwasser, Martha Grace McCune, Iris Mondri-Kish, Melissa A. Rowe, Patty Scruggs, Evan Tribelhorn, Sue Zois, and model Sharon Hsu.

Special thanks to Tammy Pelfrey of A Chick that Knitz for this beautiful yarn to design with!

3 Comments

Posted in Knit, pattern design, yarn

Tagged a chick that knitz yarn, assigned pooling, Knit, knitting, shawl knitting, shawlette, Trillium Path

Introducing Hi Ho Helix!

Posted on June 22, 2026 | Leave a comment

woman wearing hand knit striped hat and cowl — Hi Ho Helix!

Helix knitting is a method of knitting jogless stripes in the round. It works well for single row stripes, seamless garter stitch, and blending dye lots of yarn.

This worsted weight hat or cowl begins with a jogless garter stitch band. Jogless stripes are then worked in your choice of two or three colors. These projects are great for stashbusting your leftover yarn from previous projects! I knit all of my samples with Malabrigo Rios.

I designed this set as a quick start project for a helix knitting class. We had class on Saturday, and it was fun!

The Hi Ho Helix pattern is available on Ravelry, link here.

And it’s also available on Payhip, link here.

Use code STRIPED for 15% off the pattern through June 30, 2026.

Stripe it up!

Introducing Effervescent

Posted on June 12, 2026 | 2 comments

woman wearing brioche knit shawl with assigned pooling motifs

Effervescent is an asymmetric triangle brioche shawlette, knit from narrow end to wide end. It features a syncopated brioche edging, and assigned pooling bubbles on the body of the shawlette.

The pattern requires two skeins of fingering weight yarn, one of which should be dyed for assigned pooling. You’ll need a 24″ circular needle for working 2-color brioche flat.

Don’t be intimidated by brioche plus pooling! Assigned pooling works well on many backgrounds such as stockinette stitch, garter stitch, and brioche rib. If you can knit brioche rib, assigned pooling is a fun way to play with it.

This pattern is available on Ravelry and Payhip. Use coupon code FIZZY for 15% off through June 19, 2026. Newsletter subscribers, check your email for your special code.

Thanks to tech editor Meaghan Schmaltz, and test knitters Ann Berg, Micaela Langevin, Ashely Meshioye, Lillyvette Montalvo Ostenson, and model Sharon Hsu.

Special thanks to Tammy Pelfrey/A Chick that Knitz, for the beautiful yarn for this design!

2 Comments

Posted in Knit, pattern design, yarn

Tagged A Chick That Knitz, brioche plus pooling, Effervescent shawlette, embellished brioche

Blocking is magic, redux

Posted on June 5, 2026 | 5 comments

I finished the second version of my upcoming Trillium Path. This version has optional eyelets, which I highly recommend.

collage of assigned pooling shawl, fabric, and yarn

I’m in love.

I blocked it much more assertively than the green version. The fabric is floatier, more diaphanous. Both fabrics are lovely, but I prefer the airier version. Also, eyelets really love blocking.

The green version is now soaking for a reblock! Both yarns are A Chick that Knitz Single Fingering.

Trillium Path is currently being test knit. I’ll publish the pattern in July; stay tuned!

5 Comments

Posted in Knit, pattern design, yarn

Tagged a chick that knits yarn, assigned pooling, blocking, blocking is magic, knitting

Yarn Gator: never say never

Posted on June 4, 2026 | 5 comments

This is Gator. He’s just here to look good. (Kid1’s cat)

This is a Yarn Gator. It was a gift from Twice Sheared Sheep in my VKLive NYC teacher’s bag last January. When I first saw it, I thought I’d never need it.

When I knit stranded colorwork, brioche, or slip stitch knitting, it’s usually just two colors at a time. If the knitting is in the round, they never tangle. The two yarns behave themselves sitting in my project bag.

When I knit brioche or slip stitch flat, I automatically turn the work one direction, then the other. It’s easy to tell which way to turn: the direction where the yarns won’t twist.

My current projects are helix knitting. Jogless stripes, knit in the round. When it’s just jogless garter stitch or two color color stripes, I don’t have a problem.

When I knit this three color helix cowl, I set the yarn balls on the table in front of me, and moved each ball to the end of the line when I finished its section. Easy peasy. But what if I don’t have a table in front of me?

I’m working on this three color helix hat while I finish writing a pattern. I want to knit on the go, and don’t always have a table in front of me.

Enter the Yarn Gator. It clips across my project bag. It can fully open so the yarns can be removed without cutting them. And it keeps my yarn balls in order. When I’m knitting with the first or third yarn, it’s easy to tell which way to turn my work to keep them from tangling. (Somehow the middle yarn is always fine.) Without the gator, it’s hard to tell when I’m twisting my yarns until I have a frustrating tangle.

So I guess this was a good idea after all. Never say never!

If you want a Yarn Gator, you can find it here. This is an affiliate link; if you make a purchase I get a small commission. But I only tell you about products that I find useful!

Are you intrigued by helix knitting/jogless stripes? I’m teaching an in-person class at For Yarn’s Sake on June 20. We’ll cover garter stitch, single row stripes, blending dye lots…all in the round. You can sign up here. You don’t need a yarn gator for class; we’ll use the tabletop method to start you off.

5 Comments

Posted in cat, classes, Knit, pattern design, Product review

Tagged Cats, helix knitting, jogless stripes, Twice Sheared Sheep, yarn gator

Playing in the pool

Posted on May 22, 2026 | 6 comments

a green shawlette with assigned pooling motifs

I’ve been craving a simple knit, and here it is. Working title, Trillium Path. It’s simple stockinette with assigned pooling fields.

I love the fields of flowers. I’m adding optional eyelet bands for texture to this second knit. Why? Because the first one ended with eyelets to discourage the bind off from curling, and I’d like to incorporate them in the body, too.

I’m looking for a few test knitters for this single skein piece. This is meant to be simple knitting, perfect for travel or social knitting. It’s knit with fingering weight yarn, 100g. I used A Chick that Knitz Singles Fingering in From Paris with Love (green) and Wildflowers (blue). Let me know if you’re interested!

6 Comments

Posted in Knit, pattern design, yarn

Tagged assigned pooling, knitting, test knitting, Trillium Path

Introducing Staghorn Cowl Hat

Posted on May 20, 2026 | 1 comment

I collaborated with Sweet Paprika Designs for their Skill Building Yarn Club this spring. My design for the yarn box featured…brioche, of course!

This is the Staghorn Cowl Hat. I love convertible cowl/hats as teaching pieces, because not everyone loves a cowl…or a hat. So you get to choose!

You can also choose to knit the whole piece in 2 color brioche rib, without the decorative increases and decreases that make the Staghorn motif. This is a great way to practice brioche knitting before getting into the more challenging parts.

If you know you don’t want a hat, you can make the cowl a bit wider because it doesn’t need to fit a head. Choices!

Staghorn Cowl Hat is knit with 2 colors of worsted weight yarn. The cowl/hat is knit with 140 yards/128 meters dark color, 66 yards/60 meters light color heavy worsted weight yarn. Shown in Sweet Paprika Andante (100% superwash merino wool, 4oz/110g/195 yards/178m), Jacaranda (LC) and Deep Purple (DC). If you’d like to buy the Sweet Paprika Designs kit, you can do so here.

If you’re a newsletter subscriber, you’ll get a code for 25% off this pattern. I’m a little behind in getting my newsletter written, so it’s not too late to subscribe before the newsletter comes out on Saturday (I hope!). Subscribe here.

This pattern is available through my Ravelry store, link here.

This pattern is also available from my Payhip shop, link here.

1 Comment

Posted in Knit, pattern design, yarn

Tagged Brioche knitting, staghorn cowl hat, sweet paprika designs

Stripes! Knit with me…

Posted on May 19, 2026 | 3 comments

I’ve got my teacher hat on. Last week I was trying to come up with a new class or two. I’ve been thinking about colorwork, but only one strand at a time. Strandless colorwork? The easiest of which is stripes.

The easiest of which is stripes. Garter stitch or stockinette stitch, I love them both. Then we get into textured and fancy stripes. And slip stitch knitting, which are just interrupted stripes. And even brioche rib is a kind of slip stitch stripe, right?

But if you’re working in the round, you might want jogless stripes.

And you might want more than two colors. I really went down the rabbit hole with helix knitting this past week.

This striped hat has no jogs in the stripes or the garter stitch edge.

And this cowl’s three color stripes have no jogs, either. Magic!

I think these are actually two classes, one in unstranded colorwork with a touch of helix knitting, and one specifically in helix knitting. I’m teaching the helix knitting class at For Yarn’s Sake on Saturday June 20, 11:30 to 1:30. It’s not on the website yet, but should be up soon.

It’s been really strange for me to have three projects on the needles at the same time, but now I’ve finished the hat and cowl. They’ll have a pattern to go with them; it’s not quite done yet.

The third project is now the only project! This is a single skein bias triangle shawlette. The yarn is from A Chick That Knitz; it’s her Singles Fingering in From Paris with Love.

I love this sweet little assigned pooling stitch. It’s easy! Pattern coming soon.

How many projects are you working on?

3 Comments

Posted in classes, Knit, pattern design, yarn

Tagged a chick that knitz yarn, assigned pooling, color knitting, helical knitting, helix knitting, helix stripes

Coming soon: Effervescent

Posted on April 27, 2026 | 4 comments

What’s been in my new project bag this past week? Something that got too big for the project bag it started in.

two color brioche rib shawl featuring assigned pooling motifs — Effervescent

This is Effervescent, finished and blocked. It’s two color brioche rib, with a syncopated brioche edging and assigned pooling motifs.

This is the yarn from a previous shawl that I frogged and reconditioned. I had a better idea for it, and it came out like a dream. The yarn is a little fuzzy now; it’s a single ply and I’ve effectively knit it through three projects. But it’s soft and lovely.

I was about 70% finished with the second shawl in this yarn’s life, when I decided it needed to have bigger motifs, and be knit on a smaller needle. Ooof. Good thing I like to knit.

Then I was worried that it was going to be too small. But blocking is magic.

I didn’t block it aggressively; I just patted it out as the fabric relaxed after soaking for wet blocking. It’s airy and drapey.

The pattern has been tech edited, and I’m looking for test knitters that love brioche knitting and assigned pooling. Is that you?

4 Comments

Posted in Knit, pattern design, yarn

Tagged a chick that knitz yarn, assigned pooling, Brioche knitting, brioche plus assigned pooling, embellished brioche, recycling yarn

So much knitting, so much better

Posted on April 10, 2026 | Comments Off

I’ve finally passed the point where I frogged the whole project, Row 196. I’m on 207 of the re-knit now. Whew! I like the fabric a lot better; it won’t stretch open as much when it hangs on the bias.

This picture is from knit group at the local coffee shop; it’s our table on Friday mornings! I don’t get to go to this very often because Friday is a gym/pool day for me. But my gym buddies were both away, so I played hooky and enjoyed the company.

It’s been a busy couple of weeks, so the knitting on this has been a bit slower than I want.

knitting that reads: no kings, resist, rise up, dissent, hope

I took some time out to knit a hat band to wear to the No Kings protest on March 28. I love this Typeknitting from Rüdiger Schlömer. You can make it say whatever you want, and it’s so legible.

I met a fellow frog hat knitter on the way to the event.

I love seeing frog hats in the wild!

woman wearing a hat with a hat band that reads: no kings

The hat band works on my sun hat, too. The hat doesn’t have a crown, and is size adjustable, because I have a big head. But not as big as I thought! I was originally planning to knit a headband, but I made it a bit too long. Which made it a perfect fit over a hat!

We participated in this art installation for Mike Schneider (@blcksmth on Instagram) on the Burnside Bridge; it’s created with umbrellas. We’re the 2 white umbrellas on the top line of the second E in the word KEEP.