Knitters are always coming up with new ways of doing things. Case in point: “bunny ears” decreases. They’re symmetrical single decreases: Just like k2tog and ssk, two stitches are reduced to one. But unlike k2tog and ssk, the result doesn't lean right or left – making them perfect for use in patterns like Little hearts.
Stitch-Maps.com now has symbols for two kinds of bunny ears decreases: the standard bunny ears decrease  , and the “bunny ears back” decrease  . You can read more about them in this news article. Details on how to work them are in the key, in this video, and this blog post.
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Some of you may remember the triangular wrap that I mentioned in my December newsletter. Well, I’m pleased to report it’s finished!
As I’d hoped, the brioche rib fabric is super cushy, and the wrap is toasty warm. And it’s fun to wear... hmm, gray side out, or purple side out?
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Naturally, while working on my brioche wrap, I wanted to use every last bit of yarn to make the wrap as big as possible. With just one skein of the gray yarn, I knew it would be the limiting factor. Since it didn’t really matter on which row I ended the wrap, since I was planning to bind off in purple, and since I didn’t want to get halfway across a gray row and have to tink back, towards the end the question became: do I have enough gray yarn for one more row?
Normally, I’d answer this question by using the “three times” rule: Each row requires about three times its width in yarn. If the remaining yarn is at least three times the width of the piece, you have enough for one more row. (Unless it’s a bind-off row. Then I err on the side of caution and make sure my remaining yarn is four times the width of the piece.)
But brioche is... well, funky. I doubt it plays by the “three times” rule. So I took a different approach: When I had just a few yards of gray yarn left, I paused before each gray row to divide the gray yarn in half. I just folded the remaining yarn in half, then marked the midpoint with a simple slip knot. If I could complete the next row without reaching the slip knot, then I was fairly certain I could work yet another gray row.
You can use this approach too. Anytime you want to use up all of your yarn in a project, pause before each vertical repeat. Mark the midpoint of your yarn supply with a slip knot as I did, or simply weigh the remaining yarn and note what half of it weighs. If you complete the next vertical repeat before using up half your remaining yarn, you have enough for another repeat – but pause before that one too, to mark the new midpoint!
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My fascination with brioche continues! For the Beginning Brioche class that I’m teaching at a number of upcoming events, I wanted an example of patterned brioche rib done in a single color. What better yarn to use than some leftover Blue Moon Fiber Arts Luscious Single Silk in my stash? Made of 50% merino and 50% silk, the yarn truly lives up to its name: it’s luscious!
A quick swatch revealed that my leftover ball would only be sufficient for a 24" scarf. That’s hardly worthwhile! But I figured it would be plenty for a hat.
Now that I’m a couple inches into the project, though, I wonder: Is it a hat, or does it really want to be a cowl instead? Upside to the hat option: with the right decreases, I bet the patterning on the crown would be delightful. Upside to the cowl option: the merino/silk would feel lovely worn against the neck.
Decisions, decisions! Fortunately, I have a few more inches of luscious knitting ahead of me before I need to decide.
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The secret is out! I’ve known for months, but now I can finally spread the news: I’m going to be teaching at the Houston Fiber Fest this June.
It’s a relatively new event – this’ll be just its third year – but by all accounts it’s a good event, with a nice market floor. I’m looking forward to it! Lucy Neatby is the other “headline” teacher, so it’ll be fun to see Lucy again.
Other upcoming events on my teaching schedule include the Madrona Winter Retreat, Yarnover, and Stitches West, United, and Midwest. And I’m giving a talk to the Snohomish Knitters Guild the Wednesday before Madrona, and stitch maps demos in the Rotunda on Thursday at Madrona – I hope to see some of you there!
Want to know which classes I’m teaching at these events? As always, you can find out on my website.
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Techie and knitter Kris Howard gave a talk at linux.conf.au titled “Knit One, Compute One” – and I’m thrilled to say that Stitch-Maps.com got a mention! Kris drew insightful parallels between knitting instructions and code, pointed out how knitting instructions have improved over time, and summarized current knit-related geekery. Knitter nerds will want to check it out on YouTube. Skip ahead to 13:40 if you want to focus on the bit on Stitch-Maps.com!
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