Waiting for my first of 29 flights to film this Season.

Have you ever heard of the Pike Experiment?

Since today is the last day for Earlybird enrollment in the 2026 Knit Stars Season, I’ve been thinking a lot about why some people may not have yet signed up…

After all, I believe so wholeheartedly that we’re creating something truly powerful and valuable that every single knitter and crocheter on the planet deserves to be a part of…

💫10 of the world’s best teachers at the top of their games

✈️ Brad and I each taking 29 airplane flights across three continents…

🎥 400+ hours of filming and editing…

🧶Yarns and kits dyed artistically just for the event…

🦄 Producing something that doesn’t exist anywhere else in the yarn world (or even the whole creative world, for that matter)…

💸 So much investment of time and resources in new additions to the program…

Thousands have enrolled but still to be honest, that’s only a fraction of the folks reading this newsletter right now. I wonder, why?

And I keep coming back to this famous experiment in classic behavioral psychology that I learned about only a couple of weeks ago.

Scientists placed a pike fish in a fish tank fitted with an invisible glass barrier halfway across the tank. On the other side of the barrier were smaller fish that the pike fish typically would feed on.

So the pike fish kept trying to get to the smaller fish, but kept smashing into the barrier and hurting itself. So then what happened?

It wasn’t what you might expect.

The pike fish didn’t keep smashing into the barrier until it died. Instead, it retreated into the far corner of the tank.

After awhile, the scientists removed the glass barrier. The pike was free to reach its food.

But it didn’t.

It stayed in the corner as the smaller fish swam around it, never trying to catch them, until it eventually died of starvation.

Which made me happy for the smaller fish…but how very, very sad for the pike fish!

This can show up for us creatives as “pike syndrome.” Fear of past failures can lead us to actually starve ourselves of the very food our creative souls need to survive and thrive.

We tell ourselves a story…something like:

“My stash is too big. I don’t deserve new projects.”

“I’m no good at brioche or colorwork.”

Or even…

“I’m not allowed to buy new Seasons until I watch all the old ones.”

Dear friend, I am so deeply, thoroughly committed to enriching your creative life with this next Season of Knit Stars, to dedicating my year to making something that will touch you, inspire you and frankly, blow your knitted socks off.

If you haven’t already, it would mean so very much to me if you would join us as an Earlybird for Knit Stars: Your Season of Genius. Just click right here. Signups close at midnight tonight.

xoxo,

Shelley

P.S. I’ll be going live with Adella Colven and Gaye Glasspie tonight at 6pm Central (after flying back from filming our first two masterclasses!). Click here to register for the free Zoom event.

For this year’s Knit Stars Season, we’re trying something new…each Star will show you how to make a square using their chosen technique, and at the end you can connect them all to make a commemorative blanket, wall hanging, bag, sweater…whatever you choose!

Because the masterclasses will be released a week at a time, you’ll have more space to make a very doable square each week (and as always, you own the classes so you can watch them whenever you like).

Expression Fiber Arts has dyed to colorways for these “squares” kits.

But also…most of the Stars are also including bonus patterns as they always have (some are including more than one!) so you’ll have lots of opportunities to try out new techniques on beautiful projects exclusive to Season enrollees.

As always, indie dyers will be dying special kits for these bonus projects, which will be offered in a new Knit Stars marketplace.

Here are sneak peeks at a few of the Stars’ bonus projects…

Alice Hammer is creating a new colorwork sweater design using ladderback jacquard…

Debbie Bliss is designing a spectacular cable sweater, in both child and adult sizes…

Lesley Anne Robinson is making new hat, scarf and shawl designs in her signature “graffiti brioche” method…

And Rastus Hsu has created a new, exclusive undulating origami scarf design.

“It looks like it should be complicated, but it’s really not,” Rastus says. “It’s mostly knit and purl. A few extra, common techniques. The real shift is learning how to place those elements so the fabric starts to fold, almost like it has a life of its own. Once that clicks, you won’t just be following patterns anymore, you’ll be reading fabric, experimenting. That moment when the folds start appearing under your needles? I can’t wait for you to feel that.”

Recipe and photo: New York Times Cooking

Crispy Baked Tomato-Oregano Chicken

This is my new favorite weeknight dish. I love a jammy tomato! I used chicken breasts sliced in half horizontally because my grocery was out of the thinner filets they usually carry. It’s a nice switch-up from chicken thighs. You probably have everything in your pantry to make this tonight. I recommend adding crushed red pepper and fresh basil if you’ve got ‘em!

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons full-fat yogurt
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon dried oregano, divided
• 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 2-inch pieces, or breasts cut horizontally to form cutlets
• Salt
• 2 pints cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• ¾ cup grated Parmesan
• ¾ cup panko bread crumbs

Instructions

1. Heat the oven to 425 degrees. In a large bowl, combine the yogurt, tomato paste, soy sauce and 1 tablespoon oregano. Add the chicken; season lightly with salt and toss to coat.
2. Add the halved tomatoes to a 9-by-13-inch glass baking dish, season with salt and the olive oil, and spread out into an even layer. Nestle the chicken on top of the tomatoes. Sprinkle the Parmesan and remaining 1 teaspoon oregano over everything. Cover with a layer of panko.
3. Bake in the oven until the top crisps and the tomatoes collapse and get saucy, 20 to 25 minutes for breasts and 22 to 25 for thighs, depending on the thickness.

P.S. Here’s a fun meme I found in my phone…makes me think of the pike fish story. Don’t be a pike fish! 😂