Re-introducing: Brioche Knit Love!

Posted on May 17, 2023 | 1 comment

It’s back! I’ve just re-published my book, Brioche Knit Love, through Kindle Direct Publishing (Amazon’s print on demand service). You can order your copy here. The book is also available through For Yarn’s Sake, the LYS where I teach. Support a local business!

Brioche Knit Love is also available as an ebook. Some of you have asked me for an ebook version, and here it is! You can view it on the Kindle app for phones, tablets, computers, and on the Kindle Fire tablet. It’s a print replica (works like a pdf), so it’s not for the Kindle e-reader. Here’s the ebook link.

The book is also available in other countries through other Amazon marketplaces, like amazon.uk. Search for it if you aren’t in the US.

If you’ve previously purchased Brioche Knit Love and enjoyed it, I’d love it if you’d leave a review on the Amazon page.

I’m really pleased to be able to offer this book again. It’s been a long journey figuring out how to make it happen, and I’ve learned all sorts of things along the way. Many many thanks to Carlee Wright, the designer of the original book, for working with me to get everything formatted to republish.

And I’m so glad that I don’t have to warehouse books and ship them out. I’d rather be knitting and designing and teaching.

Now I can get back to my knitting…on a plane! I’m headed to Buffalo, NY to teach for the guild this weekend. Happy spring!

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Wildflower hike

Posted on May 12, 2023 | 4 comments
Balsamroot blossoms

It’s wildflower season on the other side of the Cascade Mountains. The balsamroot and lupines are at peak bloom, a little late this year after a colder than usual spring.

Looking west down the Columbia River

The kids and I went to hike the Mosier Plateau Trail, and it did not disappoint. (Mosier is a small town in the Columbia River Gorge, on the other side of the Cascade Mountains just past Hood River. That’s the dry side of the mountains; we live on the wet side.)

There’s even a waterfall, Mosier Creek Falls, along the way. It’s just 3.5 miles, which is about what I like.

So nice to be out on a gorgeous day!

I’m adding a few pictures from May 2019 when I hiked with friends across the river at Catherine Creek. I went looking for them, and found that I never posted them.

Balsamroot, and Mt. Hood
Bitterroot blossoms
Big headed clover

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Posted in Portland area fun

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WWKIP 2023

Posted on May 11, 2023 | 2 comments

WWKIP is World Wide Knit in Public Day! Will you be knitting with maximum visibility?

I’ve been participating in Knit Picks’ WWKIP festivities since 2017. They stopped in 2020 (hello pandemic) but are starting up again this year. Their events always have raffle prizes, free yarn, free books…and snacks!

This year’s event will be on June 10, from noon to 3 pm. The venue has both indoor and outdoor possibilities, so we’re covered in case of rain! Here’s a link to their post.

See you there, local-ish peeps?

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Posted in events, Knit, Portland area fun

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Classes! Virtual VKLive in June, and more

Posted on May 11, 2023 | Comments Off on Classes! Virtual VKLive in June, and more

Just added to the calendar: Petite Brioche and Next Steps in Brioche: Increases and Decreases! New this time: Classes will be recorded and you’ll have access for 2 weeks after the event. You can preview the class offerings now, here.

Where else am I teaching this summer/fall?

Petite Brioche (beginning 2 color brioche in the round), Zoom class via For Yarn’s Sake, June 3, 10:30 am


Starfall Assigned Pooling Cowl, Zoom class via For Yarn’s Sake, June 4, 1:30 pm

Brioche workshops at Sitka Center (Oregon Coast) July 15-16


Nautical Knitting cruise on Zodiac Schooner, July 31-Aug. 2


Vogue Knitting Cruise to Alaska, Sept. 2-9


Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival, Oct. 13-15 (website not up yet…)

Planning ahead…come knit with me!

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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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Posted in Knit, pattern design

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Almost there! So close…

Posted on May 8, 2023 | 4 comments

I’ll be re-publishing Brioche Knit Love through Kindle Direct Publishing (Amazon). This way makes the most sense for me. The prospect of ordering 750 – 1000 copies, warehousing them, and being the distributor for them was overwhelming.

I uploaded my files, and we’re soooo close! The cover needs a little adjustment (it’s riding high; that white stripe at the bottom doesn’t belong there).

That’s especially true on the back, where our heads are floating out of the frame. But it’s all been sorted, and I just ordered a final proof copy to make sure everything looks right. Soon!

I’m not quite as far along on the e-book. I uploaded a file for that, and it’s not doing what I want. We’re working on it…

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Darn it! Hook it? Mend it!

Posted on May 3, 2023 | 7 comments

My sister asked if it’s possible to mend a hole in a shawl. Well, anything is possible, but I hadn’t done that before.

It looked like it was just one stitch, so I thought I could just duplicate stitch over it. Unfortunately, a closer look revealed that the edge stitches were also frayed, so I’d have to make a patch about 4 stitches wide by 3 stitches high to attach it to stable fabric.

I didn’t have the exact same yarn any more, but this red was pretty close. The back isn’t nearly as pretty, but it’s the back! You can definitely see the frayed hole on the back side, plus the patch covering the front.

I ran yarn back and forth across the hole, leaving a loop twice as long on the left edge as the yarn covering the hole, each time I passed there. Then I used that yarn and hooked up a column from an existing stitch below the hole, beginning with the stitch on the furthest right. At the top of the column, graft to the existing stitch above using the yarn that’s still in the yarn needle. Then hook up the next column and do the same. Lather rinse repeat until the hole is covered. Hooking up uses up the extra loops that were on the left.

It’s similar to the patch I knit over this hole (blog post here) but it’s hooked up instead of knitted back and forth (and also much smaller than that blown out heel). It’s tidier because instead of using k2tog and ssk at the sides of the patch to attach it to the fabric, which creates bulk, the yarn is just put into position to be hooked up, so it lies flatter at the bottom and sides of the patch. The only place it’s bulky is at the top of the patch, where it’s grafted to the existing fabric. I couldn’t get it flat. But it’s still better than a hole that’s going to get bigger!

I decided to re-block it, because blocking is magic, and it had been a while. And that’s when I discovered…

another hole. This one happened right next to an eyelet, which means the same kind of fix wouldn’t be appropriate here.

I played with it a little. I think I can work with these two ends, bringing them to the back and tying them off. The edges here aren’t frayed, so it should be pretty secure. I’ll see what happens after it’s dry; I can’t do anything yet.

Whew! That was a lot of words to describe the fix. Should I make a video tutorial?

Do you mend your knits? I always mean to, and drop them on the mending pile, but it’s not a high priority for me. You?

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Ebb and Flow encore

Posted on April 30, 2023 | 8 comments

My third Ebb and Flow cowl. It’s my favorite of the three, and it’s everything I dreamed for it to be. I’m so glad I ripped back to put the color changes at the garter ridges. And the yarn blocks out so crisply, it’s an absolute joy. I sewed in the ends this morning so I could wear it today.

Blocking is magic! A reminder of how it looked, just off the needles. Now it’s airy and perfect.

Schmutzerella mini skeins. So much yardage, I could have both the taller cowl neck, and the longer triangle point. There’s yarn left over, because of the color changes at the garter ridges. I love it when a plan works out perfectly!

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Posted in Knit, yarn

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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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Upcoming Zoom knitting classes

Posted on April 27, 2023 | Comments Off on Upcoming Zoom knitting classes

I’m teaching several Zoom knitting classes via For Yarn’s Sake in May and June.

I’m scheduled to teach my Embellishment Cowl class on Sunday, May 7, from 1 to 3 pm Pacific. The class (and cowl) features slip stitch quilted lattice, a fancy fan stitch, and beads! I’d love for you to join me; I need a few more people to sign up before the class is a go. If you’re interested, you can sign up via For Yarn’s Sake here.

Saturday June 3 I’m teaching Petite Brioche, beginning 2 color brioche in the round. Sign up here.

Sunday June 4 I’m teaching another assigned pooling class. I’ll be using my new Starfall Cowl pattern, which is included in the class fee. The pattern isn’t out yet; my test knitters are having fun with it. It should be out the first week of May. You can sign up for class here.

That’s all I have on the Zoom schedule for now; I’ll start Zoom classes again in the fall. Carpe diem; let’s knit!

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