Cheating at Yarn Chicken

Posted on October 30, 2025 | 10 comments

Can I just say, a yarn scale is one of the best knitting tools you can have.

I just finished knitting In Threes, one of my favorite baby knits. I can knit the smallest size with one skein of Malabrigo Rios. I don’t remember the name of this colorway; it was in my stash. Lots of pinks and oranges.

As I was approaching the bottom garter stitch edge, I started weighing my yarn. It was taking 3 grams for every two rows, or 1.5 grams per row. I figured out how many rows I would need to finish following the instructions (6 rows garter plus 2 rows stockinette, plus bind off which I always equate to two rows, so 10 rows total). That meant that I would need 15 grams to finish, whenever I left off from the stockinette body. I could see that I’d have to short the body a little, knitting 2 rows fewer than what would get me to the preferred length, in order to have 15 grams left for the finishing. No big deal.

Yarn scale and 1.8 grams of leftover yarn

After binding off, this is all I had left. Not enough for 2 rows of stockinette (the ones I skipped), which would have used 3 grams. If I had knit 2 more rows of stockinette, I would have had to rip back. Nope. I WIN! (Also, this picture is more representative of the true color of the yarn.)

speckled buttons

These are the sweet buttons I bought from Tracy at Hap Bee at Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival. I love how they’re just enough color to show up, but not take away from all the different colors in the Malabrigo yarn.

buttons on a baby sweater

Now to get this off to the sweet recipient!

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Posted in Knit, yarn

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Portland Frog Hat

Posted on October 24, 2025 | 13 comments
Woman wearing a bright green frog hat

I finished knitting my second frog hat while peacefully protesting down at the ICE facility yesterday. It’s a quick knit, but I knit it twice because the first one was a bit bigger than I wanted. I’ll ravel it and knit a second (third?) hat. Knitting it a bit smaller also means that I have enough yarn for two hats.

Do you want to knit your own super bulky weight Portland Frog Hat? I wrote up detailed instructions; you can find them here. I just updated it with notes for worsted weight yarn, too.

frog hat and two knitting bags

I doubled down on my bag game yesterday. Both discontinued, but well-loved.

words of encouragement
Words of encouragement
knitters and painters
3 needle bind off time!

I was heartened to see protesters (knitters, painters, readers), aid workers from Portland Immigrant Rights Coalition, and clergy support yesterday.

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Posted in Knit, pattern design

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Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival 2025

Posted on October 22, 2025 | 4 comments

I spent the weekend in Albany, Oregon teaching at Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival. I taught entrelac, Darn It! (mending), and log cabin knitting.

I think the mending was the most challenging for me, because it’s been a hot minute since I’ve taught it. But I was ready, and we had fun.

I didn’t have a lot of time in the market, but I managed to snag a few things.

Yarns for frog hats, and some sweet buttons for a baby sweater.

How do you start knitting a frog hat? Rib it! Rib it! 🐸 This super bulky is knitting up quickly on US 15 needles. I’m riffing off Pussy Hat for 4 gauges by Sarah Keller, pattern free on Ravelry. I’ll add buttons and felt for eyes.

Flock and fiber festival isn’t just for knitting. There are animals (I only saw the bunnies), spinning, weaving, crochet.

This wet felted hat with needle felted ornamentation was my favorite piece in the exhibition. It’s by Val Kinman, who was in my log cabin class on Sunday.

Needle felted pygora goats. I didn’t catch the name of the artist. If I find out, I’ll update here. Edit: Lester Nishimura is the artist, and he has only been needle felting since early this year!

Navajo style weaving by Bob Van Slyke

Saw lots of fiber friends over the weekend; it’s always great to catch up! You can see more of my pictures on Instagram, if you’re so inclined.

Karen’s frog hat is fabulous! I was going to use the green worsted for a brioche beanie and add eyes, but I really like the shaping on this one. We shall see…this pattern is Frog Hat by Annanitato Lolo, available on Ravelry. The eyes are crocheted.

It’s definitely knitting season!

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Posted in classes, events, Knit, yarn

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Craftivism

Posted on October 17, 2025 | 11 comments

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.

We made it into the local news!

I think I’m going to knit a frog hat for DH…

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Posted in KAL, Portland area fun

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I get a round

Posted on October 5, 2025 | 4 comments
Three knit circles

So it’s gone from this

A knit circle being stretched over an embroidery hoop

to this

Three knit circles featuring assigned pooling, and a cat

to this! Pardon my Quality Assurance Cat; she’s making sure the ends have been woven in properly.

A knit circle featuring assigned pooling motifs on an embroidery hoop

I’ve added spiral stitch markers to the circle; can you see them? They’re cats! The ears help them stay in place. The stitch markers are meant to hold my lightweight necklaces. Which I’ll show you, once I get them untangled. They’re currently in a box, all jumbled up.

Reminder: The Knit Your Own Adventure Summit is this week! This free online event will help you be a more confident knitter. Learn more about the Knit Your Own Adventure Summit, and grab your free ticket here (The links to the summit give me credit for you signing up, which is free. If you upgrade your access with an Expedition Pass, I receive a commission. Your choice!)

My presentation is Frogging Your Knitting: Getting Back On Track. And I’m participating in a Zoom panel on Tuesday October 7 at 1 pm Central. It’s called Live Fix-It Lab: Your Top Troubleshooting Questions Answered. Come join the fun!

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Posted in cat, classes, events, Knit, pattern design

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Introducing Fantasia Cowlette

Posted on September 30, 2025 | 6 comments
Woman wearing a hand knit cowl featuring assigned pooling fans

I’m so pleased to publish the Fantasia Cowlette! Fantasia is a fingering weight bandana cowl knit in the round, featuring easy assigned pooling fans on a stockinette stitch background.

Choose a single skein of fingering weight yarn that is dyed for assigned pooling. I used A Chick that Knitz Singles Fingering in Tropical Flowers for mine.

yarn dyed for assigned pooling

The pattern is available through Ravelry and Payhip. Use coupon code FANCY for 15% off the pattern through October 9, 2025. Let’s get knitting for fall!

Reminder: The Knit Your Own Adventure Summit is next week! This free online event will help you be a more confident knitter. Learn more about the Knit Your Own Adventure Summit, and grab your free ticket here (The links to the summit give me credit for you signing up, which is free. If you upgrade your access with an Expedition Pass, I receive a commission. Your choice!)

I’m presenting a segment on frogging your knitting and how to get back on track. And I’m participating in a Zoom presentation on Tuesday, too. Come join the fun!

Onward!

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Posted in events, Knit, pattern design, yarn

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Knit Your Own Adventure Summit

Posted on September 22, 2025 | 2 comments

I’m excited to be part of the Knit Your Own Adventure Summit! This is a free 4-day event where you’ll learn from 20+ top knitting designers who are ready to help you fix your knitting mistakes, tackle challenging techniques with ease, and knit with confidence.

I’m giving a presentation about frogging your knitting. As a designer, I have a lot of experience with frogging. It’s part of my design process. (Rip-it, rip-it, rip-it! Practice makes perfect.)

This summit is free! You can watch the presentations for 48 hours after they go up. You can also upgrade your access with an Expedition Pass, but basic access is totally free.

You can get all the details about the Knit Your Own Adventure Summit over here, but as a quick recap:

  • The summit will run from October 7-10, 2025
  • Each day will be packed with amazing speakers who are ready to help you learn
  • The summit is absolutely free to attend, but you can choose to get the upgraded Expedition Pass for bonus resources and an upgraded event experience

Learn more about the Knit Your Own Adventure Summit, and grab your free ticket here (The links to the summit give me credit for you signing up, which is free. If you upgrade your access with an Expedition Pass, I receive a commission. Your choice!)

Looking forward to it!

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Will it go round in circles

Posted on September 13, 2025 | 5 comments

Progress report on my jewelry storage project. I want to hang my necklaces so they don’t tangle.

This circle isn’t quite as big as the embroidery hoop, but it’s going to be stretched while wet blocked. It seems a bit ruffly, and if I fold it in half it’s slightly more than a half circle.

Wet blocking solves that. And the little yarn over holes are a good guide for centering it in the hoop.

It definitely grew when wet. Now what should I do with the excess fabric? I don’t want to keep it looking like a mob cap.

I can turn it to the back and trim it off, but it might still show. Or I could try to glue it to the inside of the hoop. Or I could take yarn and sew across the hoop to hold the extra in back, like spokes on a wheel. That might show through to the front, though. What do you think?

I’ve decided I want a brighter color for my bedroom; the gray/blue isn’t as contrasty as I thought it would be. Also, I think I don’t want it to be a single ply; it’s going to get some bumping and handling as I hang and swap out jewelry on it. So this lovely yarn is on its way to me from Sharon Spence at Garage Dyeworks. It’s a plied MCN blend (merino/cashmere/nylon), colorway April in Paris. I think it’s going to be perfect.

Let’s find out!

5 Comments

Posted in Knit, pattern design

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Plumside up, plumside down

Posted on September 5, 2025 | 4 comments

Happy birthday to me! I was going to coffee this morning at a friend’s house, and I said I would bring cake. Gotta use those plums! This is my favorite plum torte recipe; you can find it here on my blog. It’s a mash-up of NYTimes, Smitten Kitchen, and Food52. My take on it subs in cornmeal for part of the flour.

Someone mentioned to me that the plums don’t sink as much if you put them cut side up, that the plums turn into a glaze with all that sugar and cinnamon. So I tried it yesterday. (No picture, sorry.) The plums didn’t sink in as much, true. But it looked more like a cake with plums on it, rather than a plum infused cake. Would that make a difference in the taste and texture?

I wanted this morning’s torte to be perfect, so we had to taste it. For science. I knew I had enough plums for two cakes, and I would bake a second torte whichever way I liked better.

plum torte, yogurt parfait, candied bacon, coffee

Cut side down was the clear winner. All that juicy goodness goes into the torte, instead of sitting on top. I baked another one last night. Here’s this morning’s torte, with yogurt/fruit/nut parfaits, and candied bacon (on the green plate).

The things I do for science!

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Posted in foodies!, recipe

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Introducing Simply Stellar

Posted on September 1, 2025 | 5 comments

Simply Stellar is an asymmetric triangle brioche shawlette, knit on the bias from narrow end to wide end. It features assigned pooling stars. The pattern requires two skeins of fingering weight yarn, one of which should be dyed for assigned pooling.

I knit my Simply Stellar with A Chick That Knitz Deluxe sock in Wildflowers (pooling) and Sassy, a fabulous hot pink.

I designed this shawlette as a slightly simpler version of my Starstruck. Tammy Pelfrey, the dyer at A Chick that Knitz, told me that some people were intimidated by the syncopated border on Starstruck, so Simply Stellar was designed as a simpler introduction to brioche plus assigned pooling. The shaping is very simple, and the yarn tells you when it’s time to make a star.

This pattern is available through Ravelry, link here, and Payhip, link here. Use coupon code SHINE for 15% off through September 9, 2025.

Have fun!

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Posted in Knit, pattern design, yarn

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