On the advice of Kathryn who posts as Backstage Knits, I am knitting a beanie as my first project using brioche stitch.
I’m using two orphan skeins. The red is a superwash wool by Lambs Pride. The grey is the natural alpaca and wool worsted leftover from Henry’s Biome hat.
So far, this seems to be a swift knit. I am making the odd mistake here and there, which slows me down as I re-knit part of a row. But surely and steadily I am getting the hang of brioche.
I’m hoping to take this project as a travel knit on an upcoming trip. But I may have it finished before we depart.
The pattern is Brioche Basic Beanie by Marilyn Bracketer and it is available for free as a download from Ravelry.
This version actually required new yarn. My daughter wanted one, and her color requirements were vastly different from her daughter’s (no surprise there.)
It is a pure coincidence that the colors my daughter chose are nearly identical to the ones used by designer Gretchen Tracy in her pattern post on Ravelry.
If you would really like to make yourself one of these cold-busting head coverings, I recommend that you knit the child’s version first. For the adult version, I made at least three modifications that will adjust the size. My number of cast-on stitches and my gauge were the same as the pattern. I lengthened the rectangular crown piece to 7 and 1/2 inches and the length before joining in the round to 10 inches, (center of head to chin.) I also made the neck section and cast-off ribbing longer, but you can try the piece on while in process to get the neck edge to your liking.
The gold yarn is Malabrigo Rios. The white is KnitPicks Hawthorne DK in bare and Swish DK in rainforest heather.
Here I am, in a new year dedicated to stash-busting. Opening my yarn closet doors, I see that there are now only two bags of stash yarn projects. That’s good. But it makes me want to get more projects queued up. I’m looking at you, cheap acrylic skeins purchased five years ago! You were rejected by my student knitters.
I pulled out all acrylics that appear to be worsted or bulky weight and assessed their total volume. Hm, looks like it’s enough to knit a lap blanket. Searching through my knitting patterns folder, I found this image plucked off the internet some time ago.
Garn Studio Drops Design offers it patterns for free on Ravelry. Unfortunately, I didn’t download the pattern or the pattern name. Conducting an advanced search on the Ravelry database using all possible combinations of search terms, I failed to find it.
My notes say that the design reminds me of a log cabin quilt block. So, I will improvise a knit pattern, using the log cabin technique of sewing strips around a center block. In this case, the starting block is in the lower corner, not the middle.
I cast on while watching All Creatures Great and Small on PBS. Here is my progress after the first session of mindless knitting. It is a good start.
This mindless project will be ideal for taking on a late winter car trip that Bill and I have planned. It’s impossible to screw it up, even while barreling down the interstate at maximum speed.
As I ponder my goals for 2024, I am reminded of one goal that has history. Looking back on annual goals for three years, one item seems to pop up every year: mastering the brioche stitch. I have tried and failed.
Gentle reader, if you are not a fan of knitting, you may wish to stop reading now and move on to a post more to your taste. If you are a knitter, you are probably at least a little sympathetic. Maybe you also have tried brioche. If not, here is a wonderful example illustrating why you may want to learn it.
In brioche, there are often two colors worked together. Each row has 2 passes – one for the light color and another for the dark. It is truly double knitting and as such, makes incredibly plush and warm garments. But it has its own language with unique chart symbols used only in brioche knitting.
Emelie’s cowl is what I lust for. But, let’s be real, my first brioche garment is more likely to be one of these:
After three false starts while watching a Craftsy tutorial that didn’t help me at all, I turned to Utube and got some help. Andrea Mowry’s tutorial on two color brioche worked flat broke me through my learning curve.
Here is the beginning of my swatch:
There are a few mistakes, but I let them be. Unknitting brioche is almost as challenging as knitting it is. For now, I’m happy to have dipped my toe in the murky brioche waters. It is a good enough start.
Last week my yarn order from Knitpicks arrived, so I cast on the balaclava requested by my daughter. But before that, I sent her photos of several color options.
She chose:
Gold Rios by Malabrigo, natural Hawthorne and RainForest Heather Stroll by Knitpicks.
It’s a bold choice but not surprising selection.
Here you see the Dice check colorwork design that Gretchen Tracey used in her pattern. It’s a simple slip-stitch – one worked in three colors over six rows.
Interesting construction – the piece starts out with an odd-looking rectangle that forms the crown. Stitches are then picked up on the two long-edges, with the live stitches carrying on down the center back.
At this point, the piece reminds me of a horse-shoe crab. Strange to think of wearing a crab on one’s head. But I have faith that it will sort itself out and look more like a helmet when finished.
I’m modifying this Kid’s Balaclava pattern to fit an adult. There will be a bit of suspense as to whether my changes will be enough to give a good fit. On the plus side, it knits up so quickly I won’t be too distressed if I have to frog it back.
Daily Fiber 