I ordered the green yarn to go with Black Orchid. What did I knit?
A giant swatch, apparently. Top down is easier to figure, because you choose the neck size, and then increase until you want to be done. This was knit from the bottom up because I wanted the motifs to face this way. I cast on too many stitches, and the finished cowl was too loose, too long, too…everything. Sometimes you *should* listen to that little voice that says STOP! I didn’t block this, because I didn’t want to set the yarn into ramen-style kinks. I knew it was headed for the frog pond!
I cast on with the remaining yarn to confirm my new choices. This may look the same to you, but it’s infinitely better. Not so loosey-goosey, and a more reasonable number of stitches so it won’t be so long/tall by the time I finish decreasing. With this bottom-up construction, the rounds have been getting shorter as I go. I frogged the first cowl when I ran out of yarn, and now I’m nearly done with this second one.
I made a video tutorial for the assigned pooling motif yesterday. It’s slightly different than the one for Fired Up. I’ll put up a test knit call soon, but I want an FO pic first.
I loved designing and knitting Fired Up. I knew exactly what the yarn wanted to be, as soon as it was placed in my hand. I’d been thinking about this assigned pooling motif for months. In fact, I had already been planning a brioche/assigned pooling piece with it!
I started working with this color combo back in December while in Hawaii. When I ordered it, I thought the pooling yarn was black, with a pink and yellow color pop. Gray would be great with black.
But it turns out that Black Orchid is really a very dark purple. I didn’t like it with the gray; it gave me a cold jangly feeling. I tried it with white too, just because I had some, but the white wanted to be the star of the show. Light colors pop, right? And the Black Orchid should be the real star of the show here.
This orchid color was gorgeous, and I hoped it would work.
I loved it. (It was brighter in person.) This was the edging, with the purple orchid as the featured color, and syncopated flowers from the Black Orchid. The rest of the piece would feature Black Orchid with the leaf motif. But it was confusing to knit, because the colors were so similar. If it was confusing for me as the designer to knit, it would only be worse for the knitter. Back to the drawing board.
I looked at Keith’s (the dyer’s) inspiration photo for the Black Orchid colorway…what about that vivid green? I had some leftover Bellina from my Peekaboo Cowl, so I knit up a little swatch.
Posted onApril 14, 2025|Comments Off on Log Cabin Knitting winner, classes
And the winner is Helen Brisson! I’m emailing you so you can register for class. Congratulations!
If you didn’t win, you can still come to this online class. Register at the Vogue Knitting Live website; class is Saturday April 26. Edited to add: Flash! Use coupon code APRIL20 for 20% off remaining classes for this event.
I’m teaching three classes via three venues that weekend. I’m teaching brioche + pooling in-person at For Yarn’s Sake in Beaverton on Sunday, April 27. Class is for knitters who can knit brioche rib. We’ll cover the increases and decreases, syncopation, and assigned pooling in class. Fun!
And I’m kicking off that teaching weekend with Brioche Beginnings for Modern Daily Knitting online. Class is on Friday, April 25; you can register here.
Busy busy! These are my last classes for spring. May is…unsettled. Juggling lots of stuff in real life…
But I’m still knitting! Current project on the needles in Black Orchid and an unnamed green from Yarn Snob. I love this color combo.
Comments Off on Log Cabin Knitting winner, classes
I’m designing for Sweet Paprika Designs’ Skill Building Yarn Club! This club will have six project boxes over the next year, with yarn dyed by Sweet Paprika Designs. The projects include mosaic knitting, lace, colorwork, cables, steeking, and brioche. I’ll be designing an all new accessory (hat/cowl?) for this project.
Each box includes yarn, tutorials, and a pattern. And a little extra yarn so you can sample the technique before casting on.
You can sign up for an individual box, or the whole club at a discount. Use code NEW-SKILLS for $5 off your order. Sign up at Sweet Paprika Designs website here.
Once I determined how to best make these motifs, this cowl was a hoot to knit. I made it a little longer in the front, to cover any gaps in a V-neckline.
The yarn is a worsted weight space-dyed, from Stranded By the Sea in Edmonds, Washington. I got it at Red Alder Fiber Arts Retreat in February.
Should I write up a pattern?
Someone on Instagram said it reminded them of holiday lights. i don’t want to limit ideas, but Light Bulb Moment felt like a great name. What do you think?
I taught two classes this past weekend. One was Brioche Pastiche, beginning brioche, at For Yarn’s Sake. So busy that I forgot to take a picture! So here are my samples of the various things you can knit with this pattern: Cowl or hat, plain or fancy, or somewhere in-between! Picture taken at the end of class.
I also taught an entrelac class at Hook and Needle.
Entrelac is just a series a small stockinette squares or rectangles. It’s a good opportunity to evaluate your stockinette stitch! Does yours look like this?
or like this?
In conventional Western knitting, stitches sit on the needle with the right (leading) leg in front. In Eastern knitting, stitches sit on the needle with the left (trailing) leg in front. In either case, to keep your stitches open, not twisted, you work the stitches going into the open loop, not twisting them.
What makes your stitches sit on the needle with the right or left leg in front? It’s how you made your stitches in the previous row or round. If you wrap your stitches counterclockwise, the stitches will be mounted with the leading leg in front (conventional knitting). If you wrap your stitches clockwise, your new stitches will be mounted with the trailing leg in front. Do you mix it up? In Eastern Combined knitting, knit stitches are wrapped counterclockwise, and purl stitches are wrapped clockwise, resulting in a mix of stitch mounts.
Do some of your knit stitches have a little cross at the bottom of the V shaped stitch instead of being open? Do you want that crossed stitch? It does make your knitting tighter. But if you want it, you’re set. As long as you get the result you want, you’re doing it right! If you don’t want that cross, read on.
If you’re an Eastern Combined knitter and some of your stitches are twisted, and you’d like your knit stitches to be open at the bottom instead of twisted, you have two choices. You can change the direction of your purl, which would be conventional Western knitting. Or you can continue to wrap your purls the same way, but change how you enter the stitch on the next row or round.
Here’s a little video to show you how.
One more thought: If you wrap both your knits and purls clockwise, you’re an Eastern Uncrossed knitter. The principle is the same. As long as you work into the open stitch (not making it cross when you enter it), your new stitches will be fine. You just need to know how to work them on the following row or round.
How do you knit? English, right hand carry? Continental, left hand carry? Western? Eastern? Eastern Combined? Interestingly, four of my eight entrelac students were Eastern Combined knitters, some English and some Continental. One knew how to untwist her stitches already. The other three learned a new thing, besides entrelac.
Again, as long as you get the result you want, you’re doing it right. And if you’re mid-project and want to switch, wait until you’re done because it will definitely show.
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.
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.
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!
I finished my current design project in a hurry so I could wear it at VogueKnitting Live last weekend. But I had 15 g of my pooling yarn left, and I still needed to make a video tutorial on how to make the assigned pooling stars, and the shawlette needs re-blocking anyway so I can take product photos…
so I tinked the bind off and the last couple rows, and put it back on the needles. I added 18 more rows at the wide end, about 3 inches longer and 1.5 inches wider, unblocked.
Yarn chicken is so much better when you have a scale to keep track. I won!
I had great helpers. Caturday knitting in bed is great, even when it’s work!
Video tutorial is done. Shawlette is blocking, again. Pattern has gone to tech editor and test knitters. It’s still called Stardust Nebula for now. We shall see. If you’d like to be the first to know when this pattern is published, sign up for my newsletter here!
In the meantime, here are a couple book recommendations from me. I like to read while I knit; I can control the pace, unlike television. I usually read fiction, but the last two books have been nonfiction. First off, The Wide, Wide Sea by Hampton Sides. It’s the story of Captain James Cook’s final journey from England to the South Seas to Alaska to the South Seas again. I knew he died at Kealakekua Bay on the Big Island of Hawaii, but this filled it all in for me.
We were at Kealakekua Bay last month. I didn’t want to hike 2 miles down and 2 miles back up (you can also get there by boat), so I settled for seeing it across the bay from Hikiau Heiau at Nāpo’opo’o Beach, a place that Cook had visited (and been mistaken for a god). Apparently he was mortal, after all.
The other book is The Art Thief by Michael Finkel. It’s the story of Stéphane Breitwieser, who stole more than 300 artworks from museums and churches across western Europe in the 1990’s and early 2000’s. Fascinating true crime.
What are you reading and knitting? January is flying by!
I had a quick weekend in New York City, teaching at Knitting Live by Vogue Knitting (the official name, but we mostly still call it Vogue Knitting Live). I taught five classes, saw friends old and new, checked out the market, and came home! Thursday to Sunday, bam. Some pictures to amuse you:
I left Portland at dawn Thursday, and enjoyed the view of Mount Hood. I arrived in time for the teachers’ meeting Thursday evening, and saw lots of teacher friends.
Barbara was in my Tink Drop Frog (fixing mistakes) class, but I think she really wants to fix brioche mistakes. She ordered a copy of my Brioche Knit Love book on the spot.
All ready for Minerva entrelac class, with step-outs at the ready. This is how we stay ahead of the students in class.
So many smiles!
The marketplace was hopping, with fashion shows and interviews on stage, and lots of beautiful yarn and clever products.
My favorite thing: Talisman necklaces by Birdie Parker Designs. A stockinette themed charm, semi-precious stone, crochet hook, hand-made silver darning needle, and two stitch markers.
Remember my DIY cable hook holder? This is next level.
Sweet wreath with wool locks knit in from Long Island Yarn and Farm
There are art installations outside the marketplace (which is on two floors). Here’s a taste:
Crochet art by Will ChatloshDragon by Going GnomeEllie D’Eustachio is a textile street artistBeam me up with fiber artist Sarah Divi! Loved this fun display.Sara Elizabeth Kellner’s knitted Victorian Housecats
I finished my last class at 5 pm on Sunday, and scurried to the airport. It was snowing lightly, and I was worried about my flight home. We ended up with a 3 hour delay for plowing the runways and de-icing the plane.
De-icing, us and the neighbor plane
I was relieved that we actually took off!
Hello 2 AM Portland!
I love teaching at VKLive. It’s a big vibrant show, with something for every knitter, at all levels. Definitely something to experience!
Now it’s back to work. I need to finish writing the pattern for this shawlette, which I enjoyed wearing this weekend. I think I’m going to remove the bind off and use the rest of the yarn to make it just a little bigger, now that I have time.
If you want to know when the pattern is published, sign up for my newsletter! You’ll be the first to know, and you’ll also get the subscriber discount of 25% off. Sign up here.
I’m playing with Modern Daily Knitting’s Atlas, a worsted weight 3 ply Rambouillet. It’s bouncy and round and fun. The spin and ply aren’t particularly tight, which makes this a bit fluffy! It’s described as a light worsted weight so I thought it would feel thinner while knitting, but it feels substantial and squishy at the same time. Not quite as soft as merino, but nice and wooly.
I need some new Brioche Pastiche samples, so what better way to test drive a new-to-me yarn? I’m loving it so far.
Atlas is USA grown and raised. I don’t see the words superwash anywhere, so I’m guessing it would also felt/full nicely. But I’m not about to try that with my brioche hat! Maybe something for a swatch later.
I have so much knitting and related work to do before VKLiveNYC next week! So I’ll be over here, knitting and writing and packing and…
By the way, if you’re planning to take advantage of the introductory discount for my Peekaboo Shawlette, use discount code PEAKING for 15% off through Ravelry or Payhip by January 10, 2025!
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 