Category Archives: pattern design

Buggiflooer musings

Posted on August 31, 2023 | 3 comments

I started the Buggiflooer Beanie a few days ago, adjusting the stitch count based on my known gauge with this yarn.

Katie’s Kep, da Crofter’s Kep, Bonnie Isle

I’ve knit 3 previous Shetland Wool Week hats with Jamieson’s Spindrift, which means I have 3 existing gauge swatches!

I did some math so I could reduce the main stitch count by one flower motif (which would make it an inch smaller than the previous hats), but I goofed up my math between the ribbing and the pink zigzag sections. I only realized it when I got to the next motif (flower), and was off by 4 stitches. Math, blech. I could go back and fudge it, but I I took it as a sign that I should knit a cowl instead of a beanie, anyway. I don’t wear hats very often.

You can see that I shortened the corrugated ribbing a bit when I restarted; I took out one row of each of the colors (white/gray/white) because the ribbing will repeat at the top of the cowl (symmetry!), and I don’t want it to overpower the lovely buggiflooer.

It’s going swimmingly. Look at all those pretty heathered colors in the background color, Mirry Dancer! So much more interesting than flat black. And I made a little braid with my yarn ends, so I don’t accidentally knit with a tail. I know I could weave in ends as I go, but I’m still not completely committed to the project yet.

I recently bought myself a little present…a knitting light. It’s helpful with the black yarn if I’m tinking (I don’t have to see to knit) in bed; the lamp on my nightstand isn’t quite enough. It will also be a hands-free camping light. I tried a different one earlier this month, but it was heavier and clunkier, and prone to accidentally turning on in my bag. I like this one much better!

I need to start packing for the Vogue Knitting Alaska cruise. And of course that means deciding what knitting project will come with me! I’m enjoying Buggiflooer, but I don’t want it to be my main cruise knitting next week. Cruise knitting is social knitting, and counting charted colorwork isn’t conducive to chatting.

My little DK brioche project from the schooner trip isn’t panning out the way I hoped. It was great social knitting, though. I have about 4 inches done, and it’s lovely, but my yarn scale and math are telling me that two skeins won’t get me across the finish line. It won’t be a cost-effective cowl design if it requires 4 skeins of sparkly luxury yarn, so I’ll use this beautiful yarn for a something else later.

I do have an experimental version of this shape under way in fingering weight yarn, and I think that can be completed with two skeins. But I’m not completely committed to it yet, either. I need a backup plan.

Malabrigo Rios in Solis andLiquidambar

Ever since MDK Summer Camp, I’ve been thinking of the elegant knit-in i-cord edging that we put on our mini washcloths (thank you Lorilee Bateman). So tidy! I’m planning to re-knit my Slip Away Cowl before upcoming classes, and play with that i-cord edging. If I like it, I’ll update the pattern to include it. This should be a reasonable social knitting project. Except that I’m monkeying with it a bit…

When you go on trips, what do you pack first? Knitting? Or clothing? I think you can see my priorities all over this page!

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Posted in Knit, pattern design, travel, yarn

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Coming soon: Star Flower Shawl

Posted on August 29, 2023 | 4 comments

This one has been cooking for a while! I wanted to combine assigned pooling with something in a second color to make things even more enticing, and I think it does. I began building this on ideas from my Aloha Shawl, but it was supposed to be flowers upon flowers upon flowers in the assigned pooling section, and the same flower but smaller in the flower band stripe. (That flower band took the focus away from the assigned pooling, so away it went.)

I worked really hard to make this low tonal contrast assigned pooling yarn sing on my first sample.

And so it did! The bi-colored rings around some of the flowers were fine in this orange/pink combo.

(Pre-blocking)

I knit it once more in another color while double-checking my math for the edging. I then realized that I didn’t love the all of the assigned pooling flowers in a contrastier yarn. I only liked the starry ones! See the bi-colored rings around the flowers? No thank you.

Team star flower all the way. Post-blocking

So I adjusted my directions, and now the pooling flowers are more like stars. And because I just can’t get enough of this colorway, Bali Wood, this shawl is a kissing cousin of my Starfall Cowl.

The pattern is currently being tech edited, and I’m looking for some test knitters. Is that you? You’d need 2 contrasting skeins of fingering weight yarn, one of which is dyed for assigned pooling. I’m hoping that test knitting is finished by September 30.

The pattern features assigned pooling on a garter stitch background, and some fun and fancy stitches in the contrast color. I’ve made video tutorials for the pooling stars and the flower bands.

If you look at it just right, these are shooting stars amid the Milky Way! I knit part of this during our Perseid meteor shower camping trip earlier this month. If you want to emphasize the shooting star look, you could let the extra bit of pooling color extend on just one side of the star flower. I balanced my star flowers between the extra color, only realizing while knitting the last section that I could make it look more like meteors. That’s not something I’d frog and re-knit for, but I love the idea.

Sooo, are they stars or are they flowers? I think it’s knitter’s choice!

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Posted in Knit, pattern design, yarn

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Tonal contrast in knitting

Posted on August 18, 2023 | 5 comments

I’m on the second knit of an upcoming assigned pooling shawl design; I won’t show you the whole thing until I’m ready to ask for test knitters. First I need to knit through again to confirm some numbers.

I started with this color combo back in March or April. So pretty!

There’s not a lot of tonal contrast between the orange and the pink…

Which meant it didn’t make much difference if I had garter bumps on the edges of the star/flower stitches.

In fact, it added a little something-something that I kind of liked.

But in my second knit, I really didn’t like those contrasty garter bumps. They looked kind of like toothy maws, waiting to bite. No thank you!

So I’m editing the draft pattern to make all of the stars/flowers smooth on the top and bottom edges. (Looks like I may have missed one up there, oops.) This will look good in both the less contrasty and more contrasty yarns.

This design has been through a lot of fussing since I began it; I really wanted to make the assigned pooling sing as the star of the show. I think all the do-overs will be worth it in the end. The orange/pink version blocked out beautifully. I’m so glad, because I didn’t know if I would like the finished shawl until I blocked it. That was a leap of faith to keep knitting til the bitter end.

I’m looking forward to sharing this with you soon!

If you like thinking about tonal contrast, check out this previous post and this post about picking colors for my Soldotna Crop sweater in 2019.

5 Comments

Posted in Knit, pattern design, yarn

Squirrel! I should be packing, but…

Posted on July 28, 2023 | 3 comments

I’m supposed to be packing for my teaching gig in Bellingham, on the Zodiac schooner, and Ellensburg. I’m leaving tomorrow morning. But I was daydreaming in my aqua-fit class at the gym (I do a lot of designing in my head during class), and I had an idea.

So of course I had to come home and cast on. It’s brioche, my true love. This beautiful yarn is Anzula Lucero, a DK weight yarn that’s 80% Superwash Merino, 10% Cashmere, and 10% Stellina (sparkle!). The colors are Storm (blue) and Hippo (gray). It’s so bouncy and fun to knit with!

It was so tempting that I now have TWO projects on the needles, which is pretty wild for this monogamous (monomaniacal?) knitter.

My other project is an assigned pooling shawl, the second knitting of this design. I need to check some numbers along the way so I’m knitting it again before putting out a call for test knitters. The first colorway turned out gorgeously, although low contrast tonally, so I’m going for high contrast this round. More about that later.

Right now? I’m still supposed to be packing (7 classes packed for next week, but no clothes yet) something besides my knitting projects, but I need to announce a winner!

The winner of the Nature Walk ebook from Knit Picks is Lynne. Congratulations! I’ll be in touch via email to work this out with you.

I’m thrilled that Honey Bee Mine is part of this collection.

Have a great weekend; have a great week! I’m leaving DH home in charge of the cats. Or the cats at home in charge of DH. It’s a mutual aid society.

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Posted in giveaways, Knit, pattern design, yarn

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Introducing: Honey Bee Mine

Posted on July 26, 2023 | 20 comments
Honey Bee Mine in Spark Speckle, Slate Kettle, and Compass Kettle

Honey Bee Mine is a cozy three-color bandana cowl that features sweet honey bees flitting among the honeycombs. The cowl looks like a triangular shawl when worn, but it needs no fussing or pinning to remain stylishly in place.

Honey Bee Mine is worked in the round from the bottom up, so the bees are flying upwards. Multiple yarnovers over several rounds are dropped and scooped up to form the wings of the honey bees, and double yarnovers create bold eyelets for the honeycomb. The pattern uses 3 colors of fingering weight yarn. The edging can be knit in either Brioche Rib or 1×1 Ribbing. (I’m always sneaking in brioche!)

Honey Bee Mine in Panettone Speckle, Slate Kettle, and Gold Hill Tonal

I designed this for Knit Picks using Hawthorne Fingering. I love this workhorse of a yarn! The pattern is available from Knit Picks too, as an individual pattern download, or as part of the Nature Walk Lace Patterns ebook.

Thanks to Sharon Hsu for modeling for me (top picture)!

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Brioche Pastiche, cowl and hat

Posted on June 29, 2023 | Comments Off on Brioche Pastiche, cowl and hat
Brioche Pastiche, cowl and hat

I’ve completely revamped my Brioche Pastiche pattern to use in some upcoming brioche classes. The pattern now includes instructions for both a cowl and hat, in either plain 2 color brioche rib, or in the leafy pattern you see here. I’ve also added the swirling 6 section crown shown above.

Original Brioche Pastiche hat

The original 4 section swirl crown is still in the pattern, too. So many options to keep a new brioche knitter engaged! You can purchase Brioche Pastiche from Ravelry or Payhip. Use coupon code LEAFY for 15% off through July 6.

It is also included in an ebook on Ravelry.

I’ll be using Brioche Pastiche in my intro to brioche class on the Vogue Knitting Cruise to Alaska in September, and for Virtual VK Live in October. Come knit with me!

Comments Off on Brioche Pastiche, cowl and hat

Posted in classes, Knit, pattern design

A very knitterly weekend

Posted on June 13, 2023 | 2 comments

I had a fabulous weekend! It began on Friday with Romi Hill’s Embrace Your Lace class, which went deep into adapting lace patterns into repeatable blocks that fit into the shaping of your designed piece. Her lace work is next level up, always gorgeous. Check out her work on Instagram, @romidesigns

Saturday morning I sat in on Julie Rosvall’s First Impressions class, which was about printmaking, including printing from knits. I only watched, because it was at 7 am my time (11 am her time in Canada!). You know I love block printing, and you know I’ll be trying this! @julierosvall on Instagram.

Both of these classes were through Virtual Knitting Live from Vogue Knitting. I also taught during this event on Sunday, Next Steps in Brioche: Increases and Decreases, using my Deep End hat, cowl, and Madrona cowl patterns.

I also had a fun chat with Josh Bennett and Amy Snell on Sunday before teaching my class. So much fun! But this was only the VKL portion of the weekend.

Saturday was Worldwide Knit in Public Day, and Knit Picks knows how to throw a party!

Video
Come on in!
Free books, needles, yarn

I didn’t knit a stitch at WWKIP Day, but I *talked* about knitting, non-stop!

With trunk show designers MKNance and Emily Kintigh

Yes, I have the t-shirt too, but I really wanted to wear this preview of an upcoming piece for Knit Picks. Honey Bee Mine will be in a book coming this summer.

They gave me this tote (thanks for the grafting reminder!) stuffed with yarn

including these yarn samples, and several skeins of a new yarn that I don’t think I can show you yet. Stay tuned! I love that the above samples fit my 2 skein attention span rule. That purple Luminance could be a spectacular shawl.

I also snagged 3 sets of interchangeable wooden needles: Caspian, Rainbow, and Rosewood (inside the silver case), and this notions bag and pin. Swag is fun, yes?

The venue was lovely, Hidden House in Vancouver, Washington. It was great to have indoor and outdoor space. Lots of snacks, and a no-host bar for coffee or adult beverages.

Now I’m back to finishing up hat crowns for the Brioche Pastiche revamp! Knit knit knit…

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Posted in events, Knit, pattern design, Portland area fun, yarn

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Upcoming Brioche Pastiche update

Posted on May 31, 2023 | 1 comment
Brioche Pastiche

This is the original Brioche Pastiche (Ravelry link); I designed it to be a quick start introduction to brioche in the round for a 3 hour class back in 2018. It begins with a bit of 2 color brioche rib to learn and get comfortable with the technique. Increases and decreases happen next, to form the leafy pattern.

Alternate crown

Last year I added a different crown shaping to the pattern, just for fun.

And now I’m planning to add a cowl to the pattern. This one is pretty short; I’m hedging my bets to make sure that two 100g skeins of worsted weight yarn can make a cowl and hat set. I’m keeping careful track with my handy yarn scale! (Some would call it a kitchen scale, but I know better.)

So I’m re-knitting the hat with the alternate crown, too. I want the pattern to look more cohesive, so I want new pictures for hat and cowl in the same color set, with the same yarn as the original (Malabrigo Worsted). Three color sets and two yarns is too jangly in one pattern.

While I’m at it, I’m making the pattern “choose your own adventure” style. I like offering both hat and cowl in a class, because not everyone wears hats, and not everyone wears cowls, either. Also, in class, a student can choose to complete a project in plain brioche rib, if they’re not ready to tackle increases and decreases. Lots of options! Those options are also good for knitting at home.

That’s a lot of updating! So I’m going to make these all these changes to the pattern, and make it stand alone. It will no longer be part of the Brioche Hat Trick (Ravelry link) collection when the updated pattern is released. If you already purchased Brioche Pastiche (Ravelry link), or the Brioche Hat Trick collection, you’ll get this updated pattern for no additional charge. If you want the updated Brioche Pastiche pattern, buy it now at the current price (pattern or collection), and you’ll get the update without paying the new price.

This pattern will be my teaching pattern on the Vogue Knitting Cruise to Alaska in September. That’s what’s driving this update! We had thought about using Whale Watch Cap and Cowl, but we have some repeat cruisers and wanted to do a different brioche project. We’ll pretend that those leaves are sea kelp, and stay on theme. I’m really looking forward to this cruise; I haven’t been to Alaska since working at a salmon cannery to pay for college.

No salmon roe packing for me this time!

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Posted in events, Knit, pattern design, travel

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Introducing Starfall

Posted on May 8, 2023 | 2 comments

Starfall is a fingering weight bandana cowl featuring a cascade of assigned pooling stars on a stockinette stitch background. Knitting begins in the round at the neck with a reverse stockinette rolled edge. Simple shaping at the center front creates the look of a triangle shawl, and Old Shale Lace adds a beautiful, scalloped edging.

Choose a yarn that is dyed for assigned pooling, with an accent color run of about 8 – 10” long. Hand-dyed yarns vary, and the pooling color length can vary from skein to skein! You may have a longer pooling color run, which you can address by having color streaming on each side of your stars. Suggestions are given in the pattern for managing your color.

Blocking is magic! You’ll want to wet block this piece to make it the star of your dreams. Pattern includes a blocking tutorial.

The pattern is now available from Ravelry, link here.

And also from Payhip, link here.

Use coupon code METEOR for 15% off through May 15. If you’re taking my Zoom class through For Yarn’s Sake on June 4, the pattern is already included in your class fee; don’t buy it twice!

Thanks to tech editor Jen Lucas, test knitters Carmen Adkins, Peggy Baker, Ann Berg, Shelly Dinh, Angela Gronewold, Desta Packan, Jamie Waclawik, and model Sharon Hsu. It takes a village and we had fun!

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On and off the needles

Posted on April 27, 2023 | 10 comments

Knitting goes a lot faster if you’re not second guessing with every stitch whether you should rip it out. After deciding to make my mini skein color changes at the garter ridges, this was a breeze of a multitasking project. Three bands of the first two colors, two bands of the next three colors, and one band of the last color for the lacy edging. I spent a couple afternoons finishing my Ebb and Flow while reading in the sunny backyard. (Spring has finally sprung!) I’ll be blocking it today.

I’m also playing with this yarn combo. It’s Dream in Color Smooshy in Tip Top Tangerine and Sonoran Magic. Yes, a little more assigned pooling!

Getting the yarn to cooperate for assigned pooling is tricky when you don’t have many stitches on the needles yet. I ripped it out and started again after cutting off about 18” of yarn at the beginning of the orange. Much better. The orange and hot pink are pretty fun together. We’ll see if it fulfills my vision for this piece. Wish me luck!

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Posted in Knit, pattern design, yarn

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