FO report: shawlette
Last month I showed the start of a “mindless” project: a shawlette with half the yarn knit in garter stitch, and half in Feather and Fan. Well, that project was so fun, it got finished in a hurry.
I love, love, love the way the Feather and Fan waves meet at the shawl’s tip!
If I were do a similar project someday, the only thing I’d change would be the increases running up the center of the garter-stitch section. Instead of the usual “yo, k1, yo,” I’d try “(k1, yo, k1) in next st,” just to achieve an effect slightly different than the usual.
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Thanksgiving weekend, I was hit with a nasty case of startitis. (It’s worse for everybody on the weekends, right? Not just me?) And so now I have another brioche scarf on the needles.
The cool thing about this scarf is... well, actually, there are a couple cool things. One is that a gradient yarn (sadly, sans label) in my stash matched perfectly with a ball of black Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool that had been in my stash forever. Oh, the joy of finding just the right yarns when stash diving! The justification that it gives to said stash!
The other is the scarf’s simple syncopation pattern. Switching a couple stitch columns between knit and purl, once every four rows, is creating diagonal stripes with a “shadow” effect. It’s very similar to garter-based shadow knitting, except this scarf will have the shadow effect on both sides of the fabric.
So, so satisfying. Except for not knowing the identity of that gradient yarn. Do you recognize it? If so, please let me know!
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Years ago, I found my favorite selvedge treatment for single-color brioche in Nancy Marchant’s Knitting Brioche: a simple, clean, I-cord edge whose row gauge and “heft” perfectly match the rest of the brioche fabric.
And since then? I’ve been searching for an equally perfect selvedge treatment for two-color brioche. Nancy’s Knitting Fresh Brioche offers good options, but none with the same squishy fullness as the brioche fabric itself.
My first attempts at using an I-cord selvedge with two-color brioche were disappointing. Working the I-cord stitches only half as often as the rest of the fabric meant that the row gauge was off, and the I-cord was clearly the wrong length.
 
Isn’t that just perfect? Smooth, clean, and with just the right fullness to match the rest of the fabric. Try it for yourself with this swatch:
With A, using dpns or a circular needle, CO 17 sts.
Row 1 (side A): With A, sl1 wyif, k1, sl1 wyif, w&t, k1, sl1 wyif, k1, turn; sl1 wyif, k1, sl1 wyif, brSl, [k1, brSl] 5 times, k1, sl1 wyif, k1, turn; sl1 wyif, k1, sl1 wyif, w&t; k1, sl1 wyif, k1; slide stitches to other end of needle.
Row 2 (side A): With B, sl3 wyib, p1, [brSl, p1] 5 times, sl3 wyib; turn.
Row 3 (side B): With A, sl1 wyif, k1, sl1 wyif, brSl, [p1, brSl] 5 times, k1, sl1 wyif, k1; slide.
Row 4 (side B): With B, sl3 wyif, brSl, [k1, brSl] 5 times, sl3 wyif; turn.
Note that the bolded sections highlight the I-cord selvedge, and that most of the I-cord stuff – the short rows – occurs on row 1 of the pattern. Also: brSl is short for “brioche slip” and it means “slip one purlwise with yarn in front and bring yarn over right needle to back.” This will create a “paired” stitch consisting of two loops of yarn. On the following row, knit or purl these two loops together.
No surprise here: I’m using this I-cord selvedge in my syncopated brioche scarf. With the black Silky Wool, it’s kind of hard to see. But, hey, I know it’s there.
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Speaking of brioche, I’ve been thinking of updating my class offerings and creating new classes that build on Beginning Brioche. What do you think of these options?
Patterned Brioche: creating patterning through increases that turn a single stitch into three or five stitches, and decreases that join three or five stitches into a single stitch
Syncopated Brioche: syncopation by switching columns from knit to purl, or by switching the roles of colors A and B, or both
Unlike Beginning Brioche, these classes would have prerequisites. You’d need to be comfortable with basic single-color brioche before taking Patterned Brioche, and you’d need to be comfotable with two-color brioche before taking Syncopated Brioche. With that thought in mind... which of these classes would you sign up for? Or are there other brioche classes you’d like to take?
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And, as usual, the Minnesota Knitters’ Guild has put together an amazing list of teachers and classes. I’m thrilled to be teaching for them for the fourth time – in this case, Charts Made Simple and Slick Set-in Sleeves. |
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It’s come to my attention that some of you aren’t seeing these newsletters in your inbox, even though you’ve subscribed. (To all my subscribers, thank you!) If you’re running into this problem, you may need to check your spam folder. Or – here’s the kicker – if you have a Gmail account, the newsletters might be showing up in your “Promotions” folder. Did you know Gmail accounts came with “Promotions” folders? I sure didn’t, until I started looking into this problem!
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