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!
Holy cats, it’s almost September! My favorite month: birthday, anniversary, back to school, back to knitting classes.
I’m teaching on the Vogue Knitting Alaska Cruise September 2-9; I’m teaching Brioche Pastiche, hat or cowl. Ana Campos is also teaching on the cruise; she’s teaching Portuguese knitting. I’m looking forward to this! I haven’t been to Alaska since I was working in a cannery on Kodiak Island to pay for college.
I’m teaching a Zoom class on stranded colorwork for For Yarn’s Sake using the Shetland Wool Week Buggiflooer Beanie as a jumping off point. I have the feeling that I’m going to go rogue with my sample and knit a cowl instead; I haven’t worn any of the previous beanies (they mess up my hair!).
We’ll talk about yarn color dominance, ways to manage your yarns, and more.
I’m teaching Petite Briocheon Saturday September 30 in a new venue! I’ll be in-person at Hook and Needle, a new shop in downtown Vancouver WA, right across the river. Register here.
Virtual Vogue Knitting Live is the weekend of October 27. I’m teaching Brioche Pastiche, Slip Away Cowl (slip stitch knitting), and Syncopation (syncopated brioche). And I’m giving a lecture on blocking, too. Come knit with us, virtually! Registration isn’t open yet (there’s a virtual event at the end of September currently on the site), but you can sign up for their newsletter and you’ll be the first to know when classes are available.
Posted onAugust 21, 2023|Comments Off on Register now for Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival
It’s time to register for classes at Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival! I know it seems early for October classes, but it really helps us plan for you. The festival is October 13-15.
sheepy steeky coasters
This year I’m teaching Sheepy Steeky Coasters on Friday morning. (Your first steek? totally non-threatening!)
Pooling is a Cinch (hat or cowl)
Assigned pooling on Friday afternoon, using Pooling is a Cinch as a jumping off point to explore several pooling stitches. I’ve ordered this yarn (my favorite, A Wondrous Worsted in Times Square colorway from Knits All Done) for class. I have a limited number of skeins, so sign up soon!
Minerva entrelac cowl or scarf
I’m also teaching entrelac on Saturday morning. This technique looks woven, but it’s knit a square at a time and is simpler than it looks! You get to look clever while taking it easy.
The new venue in Albany, Oregon is pretty spiffy; the tradeoff from the closer Clackamas site of previous years is worth it. It’s just about an hour down the road from Portland. Come knit with me, or one of the other fine teachers at OFFF. And the shopping at the marketplace is pretty wonderful, too. I’m looking forward to teaching AND shopping!
Comments Off on Register now for Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival
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.
Back from a weekend camping trip with the Gal Pals. We went over to central Oregon for clear dark skies, anticipating water fun by day, and the Perseid meteor showers by night.
Mt Hood, a bit bare
We live on the west side of the Cascade Range, so we drove over to the east side going around Mt. Hood. It’s pretty bare in the summer.
Random dust devil
It’s drier on the east side of the mountains. The views of the mountains in the Cascade Range are stunning from that side.
Sunset behind Mt Jefferson
The setting sun cast a shadow of the mountaintop against the slight haze in the air…
followed by an allover orange glow. That’s Haystack Reservoir in the foreground, where we were camping. Unfortunately, it had a toxic algae bloom going on, so we couldn’t play in the water. Pivot and adapt!
We went to Sisters (the town) on Saturday, shopped at a couple favorite stores (Bedouin and the Stitchin’ Post), had an impromptu visit with friends there (hi Becky & Lisa) and swam at their community pool, and then went for music and wine at Faith Hope and Charity Vineyards.
Three Sisters: South, Middle, and North, or Faith, Hope, and Charity
What a beautiful setting! It wasn’t quite the day we had planned, but it was lovely.
The next day we set up at Tumalo State Park to play in the water, either floating down a short stretch of the Deschutes River, or just wading. Delightful! No pictures; we were having too much fun.
Smith Rock State Park
We stopped at Smith Rock State Park on the way back to camp. I had always imagined that Smith Rock is a single monolith that rock climbers love, but I guess not!
It’s an austerely beautiful place in the summer.
Bev’s big tent houses three comfortably
We enjoyed the starry skies, the Milky Way, and the streaking meteors each night. On the last night we took off the tent’s rain fly so we could skywatch through the mesh roof. Perfect!
I’m guest posting on the Rough and Rede blog. This is my fourth guest post there, and I’m honored to be asked! This is George’s 12th, and last year of organizing his Voices of August series. My topic this year is Silver Linings, and it’s about how my work life has changed since 2020. Here’s a link to the post.
My previous posts: What happens when DH decides to go vegetarian/pescatarian? Check out last year’s guest post for Voices of August on the Rough and Rede blog. Here’s the picture from that one!
My other guest posts are on the previous Rough and Rede blog (blogspot instead of the current wordpress site). Here are the links to those posts: Because I Can in 2013 about snorkeling and my relationship with swimming, and The Empty Nest in 2012.
I’m home from the nautical knitting cruise on the Schooner Zodiac. That was a ton of fun! But just before that, I taught a steeking class at Northwest Yarns in Bellingham.
I love teaching knitters to cut up their knitting.
It’s low stakes cutting; they’re coasters!
Easy-peasy.
The next morning we boarded the beautiful 99 year old schooner Zodiac, and set off on our adventure in the Puget Sound. The Zodiac is a sail-training vessel; you can choose to help sail and be assigned to a crew (based on which sail you’re operating), and also to a rotation of watch duty: chart house/navigation, bow watch, helm/steering, and messenger (between the bow watch and the wheel). Well why not try it all? How often does this kind of opportunity arise? And I taught 4 knitting classes, too. Busy busy!
“Who’s feeling burly?”
That was the question, and my answer was “Not me!” Mainsail crew was the first to volunteer.
“Who’s feeling agile?”
Well, I’m more agile than burly. The jib crew hops over the bow onto the stays to untie the jib sail. I was glad there’s a net under it, just in case.
And then we raised the jib. Haul that line!
Once we were sailing, we could knit until it was time to tack (turn the bow through the wind so the wind changes from one side of the sails to the other). When it’s time, it’s time. You can’t say “Just let me finish this row!”
Tacking! I’m on the wheel pulling hard to port, and the people behind me are turning the mainsail.
Diane at the aforementioned bow watch. There’s a bow watch because the person back at the wheel can’t see what’s directly in front of the 160 foot long ship. (Oh, and that’s a good look at the stay and netting under the jib, too.)
Abby the cat lives on board, and she likes to nap in the chart house.
Hoist that sail, Abby!
Zodiac schooner, image copyright Taylor Hodges, borrowed from Zodiac website
I couldn’t take a picture of the sailing schooner while sailing on it, so here’s the Zodiac in full glory.
The wind died down that afternoon, and we were becalmed. What goes up must come down. We took the sails down and stowed and tied them back up. (I climbed up on the booms to help stow the other sails, too.) We then motored to Clark Island to explore a bit. Shells, beach glass, cool rocks..
Vickie and I have been friends since college. The perfect roomie!
The sunset that night was reflected in the water through the trees.
And the moonrise was even more spectacular.
Nearly full Sturgeon Moon.
The second morning was foggy and a bit chilly.
Whale Watch Cap and Cowl
It was a great opportunity to break out the knitwear. I’d never actually worn this sample set before. It was perfectly cozy.
Crew member Sarah’s double knit compass rose hat was inspiring! She improvised off a pattern. We still had no wind, so we motored to Friday Harbor on San Juan Island to shop at Island Wools and see the town.
Our classes on board were in the salon, which is also the bunkroom. See the curtained bunks around the edges? Some people sleep here, and some sleep in small staterooms. Vickie was on sunset/moonrise watch during the evening classes, to alert us when it was time to peek.
Another lovely sunsetMoonrise; full moon was earlier that day.I see some brioche…and a nicely stowed sail!
After our last class on the third morning, I was a bit sad that we didn’t have enough wind to sail back to Bellingham. But that also meant we could just relax and knit. Mixed feelings, indeed.
There’s all sorts of craftiness on a boat. I wish I had a picture of some of the thump mats on board. They’re like small rugs made of rope, meant to protect the deck from dropped rigging blocks.
NOAA (Ironic Noah?) used 3 fathoms of rope for this mini project; a fathom is 6 feet or 2 yards. A fathom was originally based on the span of a man’s outstretched arms. Your best measuring tools are the ones you have with you!
It turned out well. A mini version of the heavier rope thump mats on deck.
I don’t know what these weighted knots are called, but they remind me of the little Lantern Moon stitch markers. (Googling tells me they’re called monkey’s fists. They’re worked around a sandbag or other weight, and help when tossing the lines.)
Baggywrinkles! These are made from frayed rope to protect the sail from the rigging.
Red lentil patties, roasted cauliflower, rice pilaf, tahini dressing
Every meal felt like a work of art. That’s craftiness, too! Vegetable forward, interesting seasonings, delicious. Caz Ludtke (@seasonedatsea on Instagram) does amazing things in a small galley kitchen.
I had a great time! Thanks to the Cephalopod Sisters Echo (right) and Heather (center) at Northwest Yarns for inviting me to teach on this adventure.
And thanks to Abby for endorsing my book! Or at least the cardboard box they came in…
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.
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
Virtual knitting summer camp? Sign me up! Mitered square dishcloth class with Lorilee Beltman via Modern Daily Knitting was too tempting to pass up.
I completely forgot about the Zoom until midnight the night before, so Bisquee supervised my homework this morning. Knitting in bed with cats is the best.
The box came with yarn, needles, yarn needle, pattern, camp patch, and a cool kitchen tool. I knit the first homework i-cord with the enclosed needles (US 7 Clover straights). While I love the needles, I don’t like straight needles for i-cord because you have to keep moving the knitting back to the left needle. That was cumbersome, and the sliding back to the left needle made my knitting much looser and messier than just sliding to the other end of a dpn. I pulled out some Brittany birch dpns for the other three i-cords, and whoa! You know what they say about swatching on the needles you’re planning to use for your project? Check out the difference between the first i-cord and the other three. Seeing is believing! I eventually frogged that first i-cord so it would match the rest.
That patch!
Here are the three mini dishcloths I knit during camp/class this morning. Mitered square, 2 color intarsia, and a slip stitch pattern. All the dishcloths are started by picking up in an i-cord, so we had lots of practice with that. And they all have knit in i-cord edges, like the ones I used on my Thrumbelina slippers.
I really liked the i-cord edges on the 2 color slip stitch pattern. It was hard to see the edge pattern emerging until the 6th row…kind of like brioche! Just keep knitting, trust, and believe. Now that I see it, I may have to try it on my Slip Away Cowl pattern. If I like it better than my garter stitch edges, you may see a pattern update!
I also enjoyed the intarsia dishcloth. Intarsia is fun when it’s geometric shapes. I don’t love picture intarsia that keeps you tied to a chart, but straight lines are my happy place. I knit 2 Vogue Knitting Grumpy Cat sweaters for my kids a very long time ago. I started a third one for me, and I never finished it. That was the end of my intarsia knitting, until now.
Box o’ joy
All in all, this was a very fun way to spend a morning in the company of other knitters. Lorilee Beltman is an excellent teacher, very organized and well prepared.
If you have a hankering to knit mitered dishcloths with hanging loops, you can purchase the Sinkmates Dishcloth pattern (full size dishcloths with lots of skill building variations) on Ravelry. Use code FRIEND for $3 off; I think the coupon is valid through the end of July. And if you want to knit with this dreamy Rowan Handknit Cotton, you can find it on the Modern Daily Knitting site in a ton of beautiful colors. There’s a coupon for 10% off in the pattern, and that one is definitely good through July.
Now it’s back to the neverending bind off on my assigned pooling shawl. Not even halfway there yet…
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 