I was tickled to see my Both Sides Now Shawl peeking out under a pile of yarn in an email from Knit Picks.
A green version of Both Sides Now is on the website.
I received another email this morning. It’s like seeing your kids out in the world. Sweet!
I’m not sure how long the sale lasts, but if you want to buy some Hawthorne, here’s the link.
Here’s Both Sides Now, available for purchase on the Knit Picks website. It was on the cover of their brioche book several years ago. So pleased to see it again!
The Peekaboo Shawlette is a 2 color brioche shawlette, knit flat. It features assigned pooling/algorithmic knitting motifs that peek between the brioche ribs. When your pop color arrives, you begin a Peekaboo motif, which is worked over the next several rows.
Right side and wrong side, both lovely
Peekaboo is reversible, with a different motif on the “wrong side”. Choose 2 skeins of fingering weight yarn, one of which should be dyed for assigned pooling. I used A Chick that Knitz Singles Fingering.
Gauge is not critical, work to get a fabric you like. A video tutorial for the Peekaboo motif is provided in the pattern. Most of the knitting is simple 2 color brioche.
Peekaboo Cowl
You know I love brioche, and you know I love assigned pooling! I’m thrilled with both the Peekaboo Cowl and this new Peekaboo Shawlette.
The Peekaboo Shawlette pattern is available on Ravelry, link here. It is also available on Payhip, link here. Use coupon code PEAKING for 15% off on either site through January 10, 2025.
We spent a week in Kona on the Big Island of Hawaii earlier this month. This is a favorite place of ours. The west coast is on the dry side of the island, and we see more rocky lava than beach. We stayed in a different condo complex this year, the Keauhou Kona Surf and Racquet Club. Still oceanfront overlooking lava rock and the ocean.
We made it in time for sunset. I woke the next morning at 5 am, after moonset and before sunrise, so I had the joy of watching the Geminid meteor shower around the setting Orion constellation. I saw 12 meteors in the 45 minutes before the sky began to lighten. This was the only morning the Geminids were visible; on subsequent days there was too much light from either the setting moon or the rising sun.
I love hanging out on the lanai. I saw kayakers, canoers, dolphins, waves, and this beautiful rainbow.
Our complex was just south of Mākole’ā Beach. It has tide pools, black and tan sand, and Ke’eku Heiau, a restored temple.
West end of Ke’eku HeiauStatues at the east end of Ke’eku HeiauLooking north past Ke’eku Heiau towards Kahalu’uSpiny sea urchins
One morning I saw schools of yellow tang in the waves!
Sunset over tidepools at Mākole’ā Beach
It was a great place to watch the sunset, but I think I like sunset on the lanai even more.
Aloha Costco!
We explored more of Kaloko Honokōhau National Historic Park. The park ranger advised starting the loop with the lava field and ending with the more pleasant beach and petroglyphs. Good advice; a mile over lava rock trail wasn’t very pleasant. Glad to have my hiking poles.
The next feature was Kaloko Fish Pond. This was built by native Hawaiians for raising fish. The ocean is to your left. The rock wall has been rebuilt; it’s impressively level.
The trail continues along part of the Ala Kahakai National Historic Trail, which follows the coast. It eventually comes to Honokōhau Beach, which is my favorite place to look for honu (green turtles).
I wasn’t that close; this is zoomed *and* cropped!
The trail continues on to Ai’opio Beach, which has a fish trap and heiau, another favorite place for turtle spotting. The trail then heads back up towards the welcome center and lava fields, while passing a petroglyph field.
I see people, a long gun, a fish hook…what do you see?
Of course there was knitting on the lanai. Heres a sneak peek at my latest design project.
It was a lovely relaxing week, and we came back ready to tackle Christmas and Hanukkah prep. Which was good, because I hadn’t done any beforehand!
I hope your holidays are merry and bright. Looking forward to new adventures in 2025!
I’ve enjoyed playing with this new-to-me yarn. This is Berroco Wizard, 85/15 Superwash Wool/Nylon. It’s a very light and lofty chainette, classified as bulky. Recommended needle size is 10-10 1/2 (6-6.5 mm), but I’m using a US9 because I like the fabric better. I knit til nearly the end of the ball, and the result is a short scarf, but long enough to cross over my chest. Based on the light and lofty fabric, I decided that this version would be a great Minerva scarf instead of a cowl. You get to see more of the entrelac fabric if it’s not doubled up around your neck.
I’m planning an entrelac class at Hook and Needle in Vancouver, WA on March 29, and I wanted to see if this yarn they carry is appropriate. Why yes, it is. If you’d like to learn to knit entrelac with me, you can do so in person at Hook and Needle, and also at Vogue Knitting Live in New York City on Sunday, January 19. Minerva is bi-coastal! You can use this lovely yarn for a scarf, or you can use a gradient yarn for a different effect. The pattern gives instructions for both scarf and cowl.
Or a different color changing yarn for a short or long cowl. Knitter’s choice!
About the Berroco Wizard: I loved knitting with it. It’s very airy, so the fabric is pretty fluffy in hand. That’s the other reason I wanted it as a scarf rather than a cowl; it wants to drape itself artfully. Sometimes you have to let the yarn tell you what it wants to do! I highly recommend it; it’s fun to knit.
Are you looking forward to learning new things in 2025? I know I am!
I finished the knitting on this entrelac piece, but I haven’t decided if I want to seam the ends for a loop cowl, or keep it as a shortish scarf. The light and airy fabric doesn’t want to be a single loop, so I’d have to make sure it’s long enough to be a double loop. Or I could leave it as a shortish scarf, held with a shawl/scarf pin. I think that would show more of the little squares, which is the whole point of this piece! So I may have just talked myself into a scarf. Onward!
I’m still on my brioche + pooling kick. Yarn Snob’s Black Orchid is so pretty! I chose Silver Fox to go with it, but after I started knitting the two together, I’m not so sure about the combo. The black is really more like a deep dark purple, and the gray feels “cold” next to it. It doesn’t help that I haven’t actually seen my knitting in daylight! But I think I’d like it better with Winter (cream) to warm it up a little. I’ll have to take one more look in the morning before frogging. I do have Winter waiting in the wings.
In the meantime, I also have this yarn from A Chick That Knitz; it’s Hibernation, with a choice of either Caramel or Silver Fox (yes, another Silver Fox!) to go with it. I’m starting with Caramel, but as you can see, everything is up in the air until the swatching is done.
Are you gift knitting for the holidays? I’m shopping my samples; that takes a lot of pressure off!
You know I love assigned pooling. And I love brioche. Test knitting is under way for my new shawlette.
I’m designing another shawlette using brioche and assigned pooling, and the pooling was starting to…pool! At the ends of the row, over and over again. This left a big center with no stars.
Highly annoying.
So I frogged back to where there were just two stars at each end, and then I skipped a bunch of yarn so that the next star would be in the middle of the row.
It took me two tries to get it right, so I’m glad I didn’t cut the yarn first. I’ll leave this big loop on the back until I’m fully committed.
I think of assigned pooling as a dance between the yarn’s suggestions and what I want. But ultimately I’m the boss. If we have a disagreement, I WIN. I make the rules for this game!
Have you tried assigned pooling? Who’s the boss of YOUR knitting?
Oh, one more thing!
I’m teaching Thrill of the Thrum, my Thrumbelina thrummed slippers, this Sunday at 2 pm at For Yarn’s Sake in Beaverton. Come learn how to make and knit fluffy thrums into your knitting! This is an in-person class, the better to get a feel for those squishy thrums. Register here.
I love my little peekaboo motif so much. I couldn’t let it go yet. Brioche plus assigned pooling is my current obsession. (Did you see my Peekaboo Cowl?)
With a little fiddling, I can work it from the right side *and* the wrong side. Again, reversible, and different yet attractive from either side. This shawlette is knit with two skeins of fingering weight yarn, one of which is dyed for assigned pooling. I used Singles Fingering from A Chick That Knitz in Forget Me Not (pooling) and Glenhaven. It’s light and cozy at the same time.
I’m looking for a few test knitters for this shawlette. Are you interested? Let me know!
The Peekaboo Cowl is a 2 color brioche cowl, knit in the round. It features assigned pooling/algorithmic knitting motifs that peek between the brioche ribs. The pattern includes a video tutorial for the Peekaboo motif.
Peekaboo is reversible; the motif looks completely different on the inside. You can wear it with a bit of both sides showing, for maximum fun. I do!
Choose 2 skeins of fingering weight yarn, one of which should be dyed for assigned pooling. You can make the cowl close to the neck, longer for double looping, or anywhere in between. I knit a short cowl because I wanted a quick project!
The Peekaboo Cowl pattern is on sale 15% off through October 29, 2024 with coupon code PEEKING. The pattern is available through Ravelry, link here. This pattern is also available through Payhip, link here. You can use the coupon code on either site.
This pattern has been professionally tech edited. Thanks also to test knitters Ann Berg, Carolyn Crisp, Diane Kay Gelder, Rhea Kohlman, and Diane O’Brien. Thanks to Keith Leonard/Yarn Snob for the beautiful yarn for the design.
I’m working on more brioche plus pooling…can’t stop, won’t stop!
Who says you can’t have it all? I’ve been dreaming of combining brioche knitting and assigned color pooling since January. After working through many design ideas, I’ve finally found one that lets both of these techniques shine.
Peekaboo Cowl, WS
This is my new Peekaboo Cowl. It’s 2 color brioche rib, knit in the round with fingering weight yarn. It features assigned pooling peeking out between the ribs. The Peekaboo stitch is reversible, and the inside of the cowl looks completely different! You get two looks with one knit.
I knit this with yarn left over from one of my Trailing Leaves cowls. The small cowl only uses 165 yards/38 grams of each color. You can easily adjust the pattern for length and height if you like longer/taller cowls.
The pattern is back from my tech editor and is ready for test knitters. Let me know if you’re interested in test knitting this lovely little cowl! (Or bigger cowl, if that’s your jam.)
Well, last week was super hot, 100 degrees F here in Portland. Definitely not dreaming-of-wool weather! So I’m extending the discount for Trailing Leaves to September 15, 2024. Use coupon code WILLOW for 15% off the Trailing Leaves pattern on Ravelry or Payhip.
Trailing Leaves
It’s going to be a lovely 74 degrees here in Portland today, with rain coming in tonight. Perfect.
I made a new video tutorial! Trailing Leaves uses a brioche purl increase along the border edging, brpyobrp. Which is just what it sounds like, but here’s the video. There’s also a link to it from my tutorials page, should you ever need it.
Time for me to get back to my knitting! I’m on a brioche plus assigned pooling tear…
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 