It’s been a hot minute since I last checked in! I finished the Portland Frog Hat and sent it off to Sheryl, and donated her $100 to Northeast Emergency Food Program. And I started swatching a new project.
So far I’ve established that yes, you can do entrelac in the round on magic loop or 2 circulars or Flexi-Flips, but no, it would be terrible to try to write that pattern. If it’s confusing for ME, it would only be more confusing for someone trying to learn from it!
Athena
My Athena Entrelac Neck Warmer is knit in the round, and knit flat for the split at the bottom (top, really). It works because it’s on an appropriate circular needle with no extra cable to fiddle with. For a small circumference item like my current project, I’d need a 9 inch circular, and I don’t like working with those.
So the project is flat, and that means a lot more ends to weave in later. I could use a color changing yarn so I don’t have to work in different colors for each tier, but it’s supposed to be a stashbuster. Well, I have color changing yarns in my stash! But I’ll figure that out later. I have a couple other things I need to puzzle out with this swatch first.
Since I last checked in, I’ve had two Thanksgiving celebrations, one in St. Louis and one in Portland. I get around!
When in St. Louis, we have to acknowledge one of DH’s favorite things growing up. We actually had a box of 30, not 20, for a group of 9.
Calvin the Christmas CATcus sends you the greetings of the season.
It’s December, and I already have the lights on my house…because I didn’t take them down last spring! I just didn’t turn them on until now. Winning!
July was a jam packed month. Besides San Diego, I also visited Sisters, Oregon and Seattle, Washington. All fun!
I visited friends in Sisters. They took me to the Dee Wright Observatory, a structure built from lava rock. It’s at the summit of the McKenzie Pass in the Willamette National Forest.
Each window in the observatory looks out at a different mountain peak, and there are signs that tell you what you’re looking at.
They also make good photo ops! I don’t remember which Sisters these are. July was a long time ago.
Apparently it’s the North and Middle Sisters! This bronze was cast by students at Benson Polytechnic High School in Portland, Oregon in 1937, before my dad was a student there.
It was also a music weekend. Becky and I played in church. The other musical group was the Renaissance Sisters, who played baroque and renaissance music on soprano, alto, tenor, and bass recorders. Very fine work.
The church has a stunning view behind the altar. Is that Middle Sister, maybe?
Banjo welcomes you to happy hour…
On to Seattle!
Four of the five Adagio Babes met for a reunion. We all met through Sonata Piano Camp from 2000 to 2003, I think. We’re not playing a lot of piano these days, but the friendships last a lifetime.
We played tourists on a beautiful day in Seattle.
Mt. Rainier even put in an appearance.
It was a fabulous weekend. I’m so lucky to have met friends through music!
It’s been a little quiet around here, but I’m still knitting. More on that in the next post. How’s your summer? Or winter, down under?
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!
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!
My sisters and I took a quick trip to Los Angeles to celebrate our cousin Stephen’s marriage to Lauren.
the happy couple!Sisters and cousins (and cousin-in-law)
It was so nice to get together for a happy occasion. Lots of laughing and remembering, too.
Griffith Observatory
I wanted to do one super-touristy thing while we were there, so we went to Griffith Observatory on Sunday afternoon. Very cool. If we had many hours, I would have read more of the exhibits. This was just a quick buzz through.
HOLLYWOOD
You can see the iconic Hollywood sign from there.
Which means of course you need to try to get it into your picture.
My sister Janelle took this picture of me taking a selfie, sign included.
Sister Sharon knows all the best places for food. We had hand pulled noodles (just a snack!) at Lan Noodle, and then ice cream at Fosselman’s. This was before dinner…
My first boba tea! (that’s enough for two people, honestly)
I thought I was going to have time to knit during the weekend, but there was just a lot of chitchat, revelry, and food the whole time. I’d say I didn’t knit a single stitch, but I did give my cousin Sandra a mini brioche lesson. She’s a quick study!
We were in a restaurant, so I cut out the busy unrelated background. Do you know how to do this in the Apple photos app? Long tap the subject, and it it makes a cutout. Save the cutout, and use it elsewhere. Okay!
We were planning a trip to Japan for this month, but our plans fell through. You can read about that on DH’s blog here, if you’re curious. I had blocked out the back half of May for this trip, so we went to Plan B. Oregon Coast!
We stayed at a friend’s house near Pacific City. You can see Chief Kiawanda Rock from there. I know this rock as Haystack Rock, but there are three Haystack Rocks on the Oregon Coast. The most famous is in Cannon Beach up north from here. So calling this Chief Kiawanda Rock, at the end of Cape Kiwanda, makes sense!
I like the little sea arch kickstand on the north side.
I love beach walking; there are so many interesting things to see.
Look at all the colors in this sea foam.
This jellyfish is waiting for its ride home.
This Velella Velella (by the wind sailor) is too dried up to make it back to sea.
A couple steps can totally change your perspective.
Just like real life.
This area is known as the Three Capes Loop: Cape Kiwanda, Cape Lookout, and Cape Meares. We went to Cape Lookout on Wednesday and explored the South Trail (shorter, but lots of tree roots and challenging footing) and the Cape Trail (goes out to the end of the cape, longer but mostly easier footing). We didn’t have hiking poles with us, so we just did some of each. Lots of interesting flora! (This is the wet side of the Cascades and Coast Range, unlike last week’s dry side wildflower walk.)
Fairy BellsSalmonberry blossomsferns
We saw lots of trilliums that were past bloom, but there was one with just a bit left.
Trilliums are white when they bloom, purple after pollination, and this one was translucent, ready to disappear.
The views from the cape are spectacular.
looking south to Cape Kiwandalooking north to Cape Meares
On Thursday we went to Cape Meares to visit the lighthouse, a perfect rainy day activity. This lighthouse was in service from 1890 to 1963. It’s the shortest lighthouse on the Oregon Coast (on a tall cliff). We had a great tour of the light with a park volunteer; he loves lighthouses and it shows! He and his wife are living in an RV, traveling and volunteering when they’re not home in Boise.
Cape Meares lighthouseThree Arch Rocks, south of Cape Meares
And we even had one nice sunset.
We’re home again, and I’m knitting and designing and writing and…everything! It was nice to get away.
Oh! I did some knitting on this, but I’m not sure I love it. I think it needs more tonal and color contrast between the two yarns. What do you think? The pattern is all written and tech edited; I just need to knit a sample.
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!
We had quite the time at the first ever Nash Yarn Fest, and it sounds like it will happen again next year. Sweet!
I had such a fabulous time chatting with so many knitters, listening to speakers and musicians, and shopping of course.
I succumbed to the lure of the Julia Hilbrandt’s felted wool bags, and bought this tote bag. The sheep is an exterior pocket, and there are two interior pockets. I chose this shade of gray because it won’t show cat hair (such is my life). Julia customized the bag with the blue tiara for my sheep, perfect.
I was so pleased to meet Tammy Pelfrey from A Chick that Knitz in person. She’s the dyer that dyed the yarn for my Starstruck Shawlette that I’m wearing in this picture. If you look between us, there’s a Starstruck WIP hanging above a Starfall cowl.
A little more yarn came home with me; I guess I’m not quite done with assigned pooling yet.
I posted a lot of pictures on Instagram; you can find them here.
With Kevin Martin of the Cowpokes at Acme Feed & Seed
DH came with me on this trip, so we saw some music and knocked around town a bit.
Muriel Anderson and her harp guitarJohn Lewis mural
I had a great time at Red Alder last weekend. I taught 4 classes, took a class, shopped the market, and enjoyed the company of many fiber artists. There are a ton of pictures on my Instagram; pop over there to see them because they won’t all fit here!
I taught 3 brioche classes and one assigned pooling class. No class pictures, because I was too busy.
Nancy Marchant gave the keynote address, talking about her knitting career. She is deep into woven knitting now. She referenced an article about brioche that she wrote in 1992 for Vogue Knitting magazine.
Slides from the keynote
Later that evening, a passerby in the lobby asked us if there was a bread convention because they saw the brioche sign. Ha!
When I came home, I wondered if I still have that magazine, and yes I do.
It was interesting to read the article; brioche terminology has come a long way. BRK didn’t exist yet; Nancy called it k2tog, but noting that it was just one stitch. Nancy Marchant did so much work with the brioche stitch, her terminology is pretty much the standard for brioche knitting. I think I breezed right past the article in 1992; I was more interested in the recipe for knitting hats at that time.
Brioche plus pooling, and woven knitting
Always fun to express appreciation in person!
I took a class with Xandy Peters on center-out knitting. This is the kind of class where I know I could figure it out myself, but need a class to make me sit down and actually do it. We looked at three cast ons.
The first was a circular cast on that is much tidier than the one I’ve been using. Xandy affectionately called it the cat butt cast on; you can see why!
The second was Judy’s Magic Cast On (JMCO), done so the stitches on the second needle aren’t twisted. I use this infrequently, so it was nice to refresh my memory. The trick for remembering this is to think of swimming the forward crawl, so that the yarn is going over the needle each time. No twist!
The third cast on you don’t need to know if you can do JMCO, so I just kept knitting my rectangle (on which I probably messed up the increase corners, whoops).
We also talked about increase rates for knitting to lie flat, 4 increases every round on average, but you can arrange them/space them out as you like. Four increases per round, 8 increases every other round, etc. The sample pictured above is to remind me of that.
Starstruck and Peekaboo shawlettes
I wore my two new brioche plus pooling/algorithmic knitting shawlettes, among other things.
And test knitter Anne-Marie wore her Trailing Leaves cowl.
from Red Alder’s Instagram story
I sang a song about gauge one evening: Don’t Knit Twice, It’s Alright. I also sang with Amy Snell: Teach Your Knitters Well. Fun!
Maker’s Mercantile hosted my books, so we sold and signed a bunch of them. Anna from my class bought this one.
I visited my favorite window at the federal courthouse, which is in the old train station. The glass art is by Dale Chihuly.
We had a spectacular sunrise on Saturday,
with Mt. Rainier casting a shadow on the clouds. Stunning!
And it’s the end of an era and the beginning of a new one. This was the last Red Alder for John and Becky; they are handing over the reins to my singing buddy Amy and her business parter Karen. Look for more Red Alder next year, February 12-15, same location at the beautiful Hotel Murano in Tacoma, Washington.
Now I’m home, and I need to prepare a presentation for the Tigard Knitting Guild for Thursday evening. Aaaaaand, GO!
When I finished re-knitting the end of my shawlette, I also re-named it. It’s Starstruck, which is a punchier, easier to remember name. Also, there aren’t a million Starstrucks on Ravelry, so it will be easier to search, too. Test knitters are sending me gorgeous pictures of their projects, so we are on track to publish at the end of February. Can’t wait!
Brioche Pastiche
I was at loose ends for my next project, so I am knitting a second Brioche Pastiche cowl, just like this one, while I wait for some yarn to come in the mail. This set is knit in MDK Atlas Rambouillet Worsted. It’s beautifully wooly.
I’m packing up to head to Tacoma, Washington for Red Alder Fiber Arts Festival, where I’ll be teaching Brioche Pastiche (beginning brioche, choose your own adventure), as well as Brioche Doctor, Whale Conga Line, and assigned pooling. It will be a fun weekend!
I’m also preparing to teach a brioche plus assigned pooling class for Virtual Knitting Live, online on Sunday March 2. A mashup of two of my favorite things!
I’m also giving a lecture, Blocking: It’s Magic on that Sunday as part of the same event.
Gotta run! Time to pack and hit the road…see you on the flip side!
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 