I’m making a paper chain with the yarn labels from this year’s projects; it’s a tidy and visual way to remember what I’ve done. Ten projects by the first week of April feels pretty good.
So far, from the top: Fierce Fibers and Moss Fibers (for Ebb and Flow), Knit Picks Chroma (Aspen Leaf scarf and Athena Cowl), Yarn Snob (Pooling is a Cinch and Firefly Trails), Anzula Luxury Yarn (Aspen Leaf Coasters), Dream in Color Classy (Fanfare Cowl/Hat (2 of them) and the current project which isn’t named yet).
Also pictured: Yarn chicken mug by JaMPDX, and our ancient Darth Vader bank, which still works when you put coins in. Some heavy breathing, light saber waving, and a message: “Impressive. Most impressive. But you are not a Jedi yet!”
Do you save your yarn labels? If yes, how? I used to just throw them in a basket, but the chain is much more fun.
I love Knit Picks Chroma Worsted; the long smooth color changes are fun to work with. My favorite colorway is Pegasus; I’ve used it many times. I like pairing it with Chroma Worsted in Bare for brioche.
This is my Aspen Leaf scarf, re-worked in Chroma Worsted for the Knit Picks Independent Design Partnership (IDP) program. It’s a little shorter than the DK weight version, and very squishy. It’s featured this month in the Knit Picks IDP Showcase, which is all about their Chroma yarns. All Chroma yarns are on sale 20% off this month. That means Chroma Worsted, Chroma Fingering, Chroma Twist Worsted, and Chroma Twist Bulky.
April is starting off chilly and wet here, so wool is still a big part of the wardrobe!
Yesterday was the debut class for my Fanfare Assigned Pooling Cowl/Hat, and we had fun! We talked about many ways you can adjust your knitting for assigned pooling, and a little bit about other planned pooling as well. This is a one skein quick knit in worsted weight yarn, and the coziness is still welcome this month.
What are you knitting in April? I’m finishing a fingering weight assigned pooling piece, and then I need to decide what’s coming next…
Fanfare is a convertible cowl/hat knit with worsted weight yarn, designed for my assigned pooling class at For Yarn’s Sake next month. It can be worn as a cowl
or as a hat. It’s knit with yarn that is dyed especially for assigned color pooling, with a color pop of 10 to 16 inches. This yarn is Dream in Color Classy with Cashmere, in the Violet Fields colorway. It feels so plush!
The yarn comes in 12 pooling colorways. I knit a second version to confirm my instructions (and avoid yarn chicken this time), using Dream in Color Classy with Cashmere in the Storm Berry colorway.
The color pop was longer in this skein of yarn, so I adapted my fan stitch to accommodate the difference. Instructions for the fan stitch are given in a video tutorial and in written instructions, too. There are also instructions on adapting the size of the fan stitch to suit your yarn.
The pattern is available through Ravelry and Payhip. It’s 15% off through March 14 with coupon code FAFF. If you’re signing up for my online class through For Yarn’s Sake, the pattern is already included in your class fee. Don’t buy it twice! The class is on April 2.
I have one or two more pooling patterns in the works. It’s kind of addictive!
How much can we pack into February? A LOT. I’ll never get to completely blog VKLive NYC and Red Alder Fiber Arts Retreat in Tacoma, but here are some highlights.
Fun classes with great students, both at VKLive
And at Red Alder. why am I showing both Sheepy Steeky Coasters classes? Because the joy of scissors makes a great photo op!
So happy to meet up with Keith Leonard and Shaina Bilow again after Knit Maine. And new friend Dario Tubiana, too. (Check out the sheep on the door of La Pecora Bianca.)
The Empire State Building makes a great tiara…or unicorn horn. You decide.
I didn’t have a full length mirror in NYC, but I did in Tacoma, so I could do my traditional what did I wear collage. Coffee Breakers Shawl (from Brioche Knit Love), Camellia Wrap, Ebb and Flow cowl.
Ebb and Flow looks good on everyone! New Beginnings statue outside the Federal Courthouse in Tacoma. It was the train station a long time ago.
Hanging out with Alasdair Post-Quinn (double knitting king), Michael Kelson (Spinpossible), and Xandy Peters.
We had fabulous markets on both coasts. What did I buy, since you know I don’t stash yarn?
Super fun yarn and NYC-themed project bag from Maker’s Mercantile. And it comes with a notions box that fits in the pocket, too. Look closely to see all the fiber-related pictures!
Also from NYC, Jūl’s new toolkit. Choose your shape: round, square, or triangle.
You can make the shape into a shawl pin with the stick pin, or a shawl cuff with the leather band. You can use the stick pin by itself. The other two leather pieces are to close a cardigan front. And the buttons have a round ball at the end of the shank, and a leather back to pop over the ball. You can move your buttons from one piece of knitwear to the next. So far I’ve only used the cuff, but I’ve used it a lot.
From Tacoma: a silly cats in hats project bag, also from Maker’s Mercantile. Did I need it? Yes. It will help corral supplies for a class.
Oh look, yarn! I bought this peacock green to teal gradient from Schmutzerella to knit one more Ebb and Flow. I love how smoothly the colors melt into each other. I can have both the taller neck and the longer triangle with this much yardage. It’s not stash if I have a plan to cast on soon! Right now I’m trying to decide if I want the blue on top or bottom. The piece gets wider towards the bottom, so the stripe down there will be narrower, but more visible. What do you think?
Always nice to see Mt. Rainier from my hotel room window.
So very different from my hotel room view the week before!
Currently on the needles: I’m finishing an Embellishment Cowl sample. I used it in class last week at VKL, and now I need it to display at For Yarn’s Sake as a sample for my class on May 7. It’s almost done. I need to have it bound off and steam blocked by Thursday morning, just in time for my trunk show. Wish me luck!
Pooling is a Cinch is a convertible piece that will please both hat and cowl lovers. The stockinette stitch body is a perfect canvas for playing with assigned pooling. Worsted weight yarn knits up quickly for a fun introduction to this technique. Choose a yarn that is meant to pool; you’ll want 6 to 8 inch (15-20 cm) runs of your pooling color.
Knitting begins and ends with a reverse stockinette rolled edge. A knit cord is threaded through a round of eyelets near the top. The cord is tied in a decorative knot on the cowl. The cord can also be cinched to convert the cowl to a hat.
The pattern is now available through Ravelry here, and through Payhip here. It’s 15% off through February 14, no coupon code needed. If you’re in my Pooling class at Red Alder Fiber Arts Retreat, the yarn and pattern is included in your class packet. (I think there are 2 spots left; come knit with me!)
Ebb and Flow is a bandanna cowl, a scarf-ish cowl, a cowlish scarf, but definitely not a scowl. Waves of lace and stockinette alternate from the neck down to a triangular point. You can knit the cowl to be taller and the triangle shorter, as in this version.
Or you can knit the cowl to be shorter and the triangle longer, as in this pink version. As one ebbs, the other flows, keeping it within the limits of a single skein of fingering weight yarn. If you have extra yardage, you can have both the taller cowl and the longer triangle. I suppose if you’re impatient or short on yarn, you could also knit a shorter cowl and a shorter triangle. You do you!
This design was inspired by a glorious weekend teaching at Haystack School of Arts and Crafts for Knit Maine last September. Gabriela of Moss Fibers made this beautiful souvenir yarn for us in The Maine Event colorway. I knew it would be a water-inspired design of some sort!
The pattern is now available through Ravelry here, and also through Payhip here. It’s 15% off through February 6, no coupon code needed.
Thank you to tech editor Jen Lucas, model Sharon Hsu, and test knitters Ann Berg, Debbie Braden, Jody Brostrom, Rowan Frost, Iris Mondri-Kish, Melissa A. Rowe, and Nan Wagner. It was a fun and lively test knit group!
What’s in a name? You may recall that I asked for help naming this pattern. There were a lot of suggestions on the blog and Facebook and Instagram! I didn’t want the name to be color specific, because the piece is meant to work with many color pooling yarns. And the color may or may not spiral, depending on the individual knitter’s stitch count and gauge.
Sue suggested Pooling’s a Cinch, which honored both the pooling and the cinch detail from cowl to hat. Winner! I ultimately decided that “Pooling Is A Cinch” would work better on the internet, and here we are. Congratulations to Sue; I’m sending her a pattern when it’s published next week.
I had so much fun with this yarn from Yarn Snob/Knits All Done. I wasn’t ready to stop, so I’m designing one more piece with it. I absconded with one of the skeins meant for my pooling class at Red Alder, which means there are only 2 spots left. Come knit with me and this amazing yarn! Register here, class is Friday February 15.
You’ll note from the yarn wrapped around the yarn in the yarn bra (do you use these? I love them) that there has been some frogging and re-knitting as I decide how I want this to look. I think I’m on track now, but I thought that the first three times, too. That’s how I design…try it, frog it, try it, frog it, BINGO!
I love a small project for teaching new techniques. These Aspen Leaf Coasters are a perfect lesson in brioche increases and decreases.
They even include an optional syncopated edge for a pop of accent color. They’re knit in worsted weight wool, so they’re quick, too. These were knit with Malabrigo Worsted in Sunset and Malambo.
And these were knit with Anzula For Better or Worsted in Herb and Blueberry.
I’m looking forward to teaching increases and decreases with these. (Pint tumblers by JaMPDX)
The pattern is available through Ravelry and also through Payhip. The pattern is 15% off through January 30, no coupon code needed.
Or a hat. It’s both! I’ve designed this for my assigned/planned pooling class at Red Alder Fiber Arts Retreat next month. There are a couple spots left in class. Yarn is included in the materials fee. It’s A Wondrous Worsted from Yarn Snob, in the Times Square colorway. I’m in LOVE. Better pictures on a human soon; it’s finally stopped raining here.
In the meantime, please help me name this cowl/hat! I’ve been calling it Bossy Cowl Hat, in a nod to the yarn telling you when it’s time to do the exciting stitch, and the idea of Bossy the Cow(l). Ha! But it doesn’t sound very inviting, or very pretty. What should I call it?
If I pick the name you suggest, you’ll get a free copy of the pattern, which should work with any worsted weight color pooling yarn. Fire away!
Have you tried planned pooling or assigned pooling? What did you think of it?
Unrelated PS: The Nautical Knitting cruise on the schooner Zodiac is sold out! But if you’re interested, sign up for the waiting list; there can be changes between now and the end of July. Ahoy!
Calvin was very interested in this box, even before I opened it. Did it smell like freshly dyed yarn? Or did it smell like Teddy, Keith Leonard’s orange tabby cat? (Keith AKA Yarn Snob)
Inside the box: 16 skeins of A Wondrous Worsted in the Times Square colorway. Keith usually dyes his pooling colors on fingering weight, but I like worsted for teaching. The knitting goes more quickly, so we can cover more in class. I find this worsted to be a little lighter in weight than the worsteds I usually knit with, more like a DK, which is great.
This yarn is meant to pool! I bought it for my Jump Into the Pool! Planned and Assigned Pooling class at Red Alder Fiber Arts Retreat next month. All students will begin a skein of this yarn, so we can have a successful pooling experience together. I’m about to knit up a sample cowl using assigned pooling, and then write up a pattern that will work with any color pooling yarn.
Cabana Boy yarn
I had Keith dye Cabana Boy with a longer center color for my Knit Maine class last September. I wrote up instructions specifically for this hat and headband and this yarn, but I want to write more general instructions for a central colorburst of varying lengths.
There are a few spots left in my class. Red Alder Fiber Arts Retreat is in Tacoma, Washington February 16-19, and this class is on Friday afternoon. Come knit with me!
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 