This Portland Frog Hat is a little too big. I have a big head, and it’s big on me. So I started knitting another one, 4 stitches smaller. It turns out I don’t have enough yarn to finish the smaller one, so…I’m frogging this one! The hat will be going to Sheryl in Spokane (proceeds going to Northeast Emergency Food Program), and she’d prefer the smaller size, too.
I had steam blocked the hat shown above, so the yarn was pretty kinky. I didn’t want to soak it, in case there’d be any color change. Steaming is my best option. But first, I’d have to wind it into a hank. You can’t steam a ball of yarn!
new hat WIP, and previous hat yarn on niddy noddy
I wound the yarn on my Kromski niddy noddy. I don’t spin, but this thing comes in handy sometimes, anyway!
I had to look up how to wind on a niddy noddy; it’s been a while.
I steamed it on my ironing board with my steam iron, and it went from curly to smooth.
I’ll be done re-knitting tonight. And then I’ll weigh the FO, and see if there’s enough for a second hat in the smaller size.
Portland is not war-ravaged, nor is it burning to the ground, despite what you may have heard. I went with a group to knit in peaceful protest outside the ICE facility on Thursday. The hippo was the first inflatable costume I saw that day.
I resurrected my favorite tote, even though the corners are wearing out. Before you ask, no you can’t get one of these any more; the maker has closed her shop.
Artists (Artifa!) were painting on the other side of the street.
Inflatable costumes are available if you’re so inclined!
Although you can donate to the cause, too.
I chatted with people as they came by. Many were visiting from away, and wanted to see what was really happening in Portland. I spoke with people from New York City, Nebraska, Colorado, Florida. It was nice to connect with people on a beautiful autumn day.
Last week (May 7), I went on a wildflower walk in the Columbia River Gorge, on the other side of the Cascade Mountains. That’s the dry side. I was enticed by the pictures of balsamroot in my Facebook feed.
I wanted a view of Mount Hood, so we crossed the river to Washington. This was one of the only clumps of balsamroot left this spring. I don’t know if it’s warmer/dryer this year, but last year there were a lot more! I’m going to have to put a note in my calendar to go in April next year.
There were a lot of poppies, though! I didn’t see any of those last year.
I love how luminous bitterroot flowers are.
The bachelor’s buttons were also out in force.
Catherine Creek Falls
So good to have friends that I can talk into excursions! I promised that it was a walk, not a hike. With views of Mount Hood and the Columbia River! We stopped in Hood River, Oregon on the way home.
We saw wing foilers, which seem to be the next interatiion after the windsailers. Pretty cool!
The Rose City Yarn Crawl is coming right up, Thursday March 6 – Sunday March 9. Lots of shops to visit, lots of prizes to win! The theme this year is “Our Sky Full of Stars.”
I’m having a trunk show on Thursday at For Yarn’s Sake, come say howdy! I’ll have lots of knits to squish, including my latest design, Starstruck. Way to fit the theme!
It’s busy season around here. This morning I gave a lecture on blocking and taught a class on brioche + assigned pooling for Vogue Knitting Online.
Trunk show is this week, and next week I’m heading to Nashville for NashYarnFest. This is the first NashYarnFest; it’s being put on by Modern Daily Knitting. I’m looking forward to knitting…and some music!
Speaking of Modern Daily Knitting, I have news! I’ll share in the next post…
A hot dry weekend is always better under the trees!
It was our very timely ladies’ camping weekend. We went to Panther Creek Campground in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest, just north of Carson, Washington.
Rocks in Panther Creek
The water in the creek is clear and cold, perfect for a bracing dip on a hot day. The rocks are such pretty colors, too.
Panther Creek Falls
Panther Creek Falls is a twisty drive of 4.7 miles up the road, and then a very short hike. You can go down to the bottom of the falls. Stunning!
Panther Creek Falls, from the bottom
What a gorgeous beetle.
Tai chi
The tent pad at the vacant site next to ours made a great tai chi space.
I played with beads (ankle bracelets)
and I almost finished this project. We’ll see if blocking makes the brioche patterning show up better in the green section. Super fun to knit.
We also played games and just had a great time hanging out. It was a perfect weekend with friends.
How was your weekend? Hot? Do you knit when it’s hot? I always knit!
I’ve been playing with some ideas, zeroing in on what to keep, and what to toss. This first version (Knit Picks Chroma Fingering) was my attempt to spare my pooling yarn from the tenth frog/restart. It’s pretty good, just a bit longer than I wanted. I’ve got it figured out, and I’ll be looking for test knitters soon.
Trailing Leaves cowl, Take Two
This pooled version (Yarn Snob Fingering) is the right length, and I changed the increase rate to get to the number of stitches I wanted for the edging. But you can’t really see the pooling, because it’s on the sides and back of the green brioche section. Why do all that extra work, if you’re not going to see it when you wear the finished object? The leaves are really the star of the show. So I don’t plan to release a pooled version as a pattern; it’s a unicorn.
That doesn’t mean I want to give up the idea of combining brioche with pooling/algorithmic knitting.
Places you can knit: Bon Bon Vivant sound check!
There’s enough yarn left over for me to design another piece. It features that lovely syncopated edging, too. I’m halfway done…
Places you can knit: Margo Price at the Blues Fest
We had a great time at the Waterfront Blues Festival this weekend. It was HOT, so we were mostly there during the evenings. Of course I brought my knitting.
And my Lantern Moon fan, which I’ve had since 2009 (Sock Summit!). Make your own breeze!
Local great Curtis Salgado and 11 more fabulous musiciansHawthorne Bridge lift for the fireworks barge to get throughDoing our part! (We take this picture every year)
Bisquee hopes you’re keeping cool! We have central air conditioning, so she’s not as hot as she looks. She’s enjoying her bit of sunshine.
Do you knit when it’s hot? It’s always nice indoors here! But I did knit outdoors at the festival, too. At least it was a small, not very woolly project!
Well, I didn’t manage to knit in public on Worldwide Knit/Craft in Public Day, but I did knit at a baseball game last Thursday. I’ll knit anywhere, on MY schedule. That piece of knitting has since been frogged; I decided I wanted it to be narrower. Each cast on is a swatch, until it’s not!
The previous cast on went along for quite a while until I realized that I made a math error on the decrease shaping. Along the way I decided to flip it from bottom up to top down because increases are prettier than decreases, and I’d start with fewer stitches. Bonus! That’s what I was experimenting with at the baseball game.
Marine Drive, Columbia River
No knitting while bicycling! DH and I went on a bike ride along the Columbia River. We had great views of the river, birds, Mount Hood (see it at the top of the picture?). This is an urban ride on a path alongside Marine Drive, which is very busy! I’m glad we could be off the road for most of it.
Fundraiser for Parkinson’s support
We’re participating in a fundraiser for Parkinson’s Resources of Oregon this month. DH was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease last year (early, mild symptoms, doing great). Parkinson’s Resources of Oregon has very helpful programs including informational seminars, activities, and support groups. If you’d like to donate, here’s my link. Thanks for considering it! And here’s a link to DH’s Parkinson’s blog, if you’re interested.
We’re making the most of a string of perfect summer days. Not too hot, not too cool. I hope your weather and knitting are…perfect!
She’s coming along nicely! I’m about to start the breast. More short rows! In garter stitch, short rows are no big deal. I don’t use them a lot in my knitting life; I tend to think in straight lines. I also spent a ridiculous amount of time looking at safety eyes on Amazon; she’s going to need some peepers!
We had a great weekend. Yesterday the kids came over to make dinner for Mother’s Day. My pick? Oxtails. We used this Instant Pot recipe. Yummmm. I think next time I’d sub apple cider vinegar for the balsamic. It didn’t need a deeper flavor, but the brightness was nice. And we added more fish sauce for perfect umami. It’s super fun to hang out with these guys and play with food!
Friday night my Facebook feed blew up with pictures of the aurora borealis, seen from here in Portland and points further south, too. I went out at midnight to find a bit of dark sky. I ended up on Marine Drive on the Columbia River, looking across to Government Island by the I-205 bridge.
Glenn Jackson I-205 Bridge, waxing moonset
I couldn’t see the aurora with my naked eye, but my iPhone XS picked up some color.
If you can’t see it with your eye, can you say you’ve seen the aurora? My eyes didn’t see the sky as green; it was black with a little bit of white-ish haze.
Aurora Borealis
I edited the previous picture to pop a bit more, and to match the background of what my eye was seeing (the blackness of trees on the island). This pinkness matches more what friends with newer phone cameras were seeing. I invited DH out the next night to see, so I could try his newer phone.
No aurora Saturday night, but night mode on his camera works great! (No flash, and the red is from the neighboring car’s tail lights). Our kids went out to Powell Butte to try to see, but there was’t anything to see. The lesson here: Wait until your Facebook feed blows up with pictures, and then you know it’s time to go!
So I’ve “seen” the aurora, and I haven’t! But it was fun trying. It’s still on my bucket list. Did you see it?
We did it! We sped right past our goal and raised $379,010 to fight hunger both here in the United States and abroad. This was our biggest year yet. In 2021 we raised $265,810, in 2022 we raised $271,761, in 2023 we raised $340,000. That means knitters have raised over $1.25 million with our knitting needles!
Thank you so much for your support. I’ve sent coupon codes for a free pattern to everyone who donated to my campaign. Everybody wins!
Hat cranking station
We had a great time at the Puddletown Knitters Guild Knit for Food party, too. We worked on our own projects, and we also knit hats for Rose Haven day shelter here in Portland. We had 3 hat cranking machines; they are quick and efficient! It was my first time using a knitting machine.
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 