Tag Archives: a chick that knitz yarn

Stripes! Knit with me…

I’ve got my teacher hat on. Last week I was trying to come up with a new class or two. I’ve been thinking about colorwork, but only one strand at a time. Strandless colorwork? The easiest of which is stripes.

colorful knitting

The easiest of which is stripes. Garter stitch or stockinette stitch, I love them both. Then we get into textured and fancy stripes. And slip stitch knitting, which are just interrupted stripes. And even brioche rib is a kind of slip stitch stripe, right?

striped stockinette stitch knitting

But if you’re working in the round, you might want jogless stripes.

colorful striped knitting

And you might want more than two colors. I really went down the rabbit hole with helix knitting this past week.

helix knit striped hat

This striped hat has no jogs in the stripes or the garter stitch edge.

helix striped knit cowl

And this cowl’s three color stripes have no jogs, either. Magic!

I think these are actually two classes, one in unstranded colorwork with a touch of helix knitting, and one specifically in helix knitting. I’m teaching the helix knitting class at For Yarn’s Sake on Saturday June 20, 11:30 to 1:30. It’s not on the website yet, but should be up soon.

It’s been really strange for me to have three projects on the needles at the same time, but now I’ve finished the hat and cowl. They’ll have a pattern to go with them; it’s not quite done yet.

Trillium Path shawlette

The third project is now the only project! This is a single skein bias triangle shawlette. The yarn is from A Chick That Knitz; it’s her Singles Fingering in From Paris with Love.

Trillium assigned pooling stitch

I love this sweet little assigned pooling stitch. It’s easy! Pattern coming soon.

How many projects are you working on?

Coming soon: Effervescent

What’s been in my new project bag this past week? Something that got too big for the project bag it started in.

two color brioche rib shawl featuring assigned pooling motifs
Effervescent

This is Effervescent, finished and blocked. It’s two color brioche rib, with a syncopated brioche edging and assigned pooling motifs.

reconditioned yarn
Frogged and reconditioned yarn

This is the yarn from a previous shawl that I frogged and reconditioned. I had a better idea for it, and it came out like a dream. The yarn is a little fuzzy now; it’s a single ply and I’ve effectively knit it through three projects. But it’s soft and lovely.

I was about 70% finished with the second shawl in this yarn’s life, when I decided it needed to have bigger motifs, and be knit on a smaller needle. Ooof. Good thing I like to knit.

Then I was worried that it was going to be too small. But blocking is magic.

I didn’t block it aggressively; I just patted it out as the fabric relaxed after soaking for wet blocking. It’s airy and drapey.

The pattern has been tech edited, and I’m looking for test knitters that love brioche knitting and assigned pooling. Is that you?

Introducing Simply Stellar

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!

Introducing Starstruck

Collage of shawlette, detail of shawlette, and the assigned pooling yarn

The Starstruck shawlette combines two of my favorite knitting techniques, brioche and assigned pooling. This asymmetric triangle is knit from the narrow end to the wide end. The syncopated edging evokes swirling nebulas, and the body of the shawlette features assigned pooling stars.

woman wearing a gray and caramel colored shawlette with white assigned pooling stars

The shawlette requires two skeins of fingering weight yarn, one of which should be dyed for assigned pooling. The assigned pooling yarn is featured in the body of the shawlette and stars, and the other yarn is featured in the syncopated edging.

detail of assigned pooling stars on brioche rib, and a syncopated brioche border

Your pooling yarn tells you when it’s time to make the stars. I knit my shawlette with A Chick That Knitz Singles Fingering, in Hibernation and Caramel.

This pattern is available on Ravelry and Payhip. Use coupon code NEBULA for 15% off through March 5, 2025.

Thanks to tech editor Meaghan Schmaltz, test knitters Ann Berg, Debbie Braden, Diane de Souza, Nancy McNally, Annette Morsing, Lynn Murphy, Brynn Riordan, Tammy Pelfrey, Anna Zeigler, and model Sharon Hsu.

Special thanks to Tammy Pelfrey/A Chick that Knitz, for the beautiful yarn for this design.

And yes, I did change the name of this design from Stardust Nebula to Starstruck. Shorter, punchier, easier to remember? I hope so!

Introducing Peekaboo Shawlette

Peekaboo shawlette featuring brioche rib and assigned/algorithmic knitting
Peekaboo Shawlette

The Peekaboo Shawlette is a 2 color brioche shawlette, knit flat. It features assigned
pooling/algorithmic knitting motifs that peek between the brioche ribs. When your pop color arrives, you begin a Peekaboo motif, which is worked over the next several rows.

Right and wrong sides of Peekaboo shawlette showing reversible motifs
Right side and wrong side, both lovely

Peekaboo is reversible, with a different motif on the “wrong side”. Choose 2 skeins of fingering weight yarn, one of which should be dyed for assigned pooling. I used A Chick that Knitz Singles Fingering.

assigned pooling yarn and peekaboo motif detail

Gauge is not critical, work to get a fabric you like. A video tutorial for the Peekaboo motif is provided in the pattern. Most of the knitting is simple 2 color brioche.

Peekaboo Cowl featuring brioche rib and assigned pooling/algorithmic knitting
Peekaboo Cowl

You know I love brioche, and you know I love assigned pooling! I’m thrilled with both the Peekaboo Cowl and this new Peekaboo Shawlette.

The Peekaboo Shawlette pattern is available on Ravelry, link here. It is also available on Payhip, link here. Use coupon code PEAKING for 15% off on either site through January 10, 2025.