Brioche Experiments

I tried to relearn brioche stitch yesterday.  This photo represents my attempt, unblocked, mistakes and all. It was a hand made light worsted weight yarn, knit on 7s, then 5s.

I decided to start with a one yarn brioche swatch to get my brain around how brioche works. (The pattern I'm working towards is in two yarns.)  My knitting paranoia immediately kicked in.  I knit a few rows, didn't see what I expected to see, and ripped back and started again.  I did this three times.  I was getting nowhere, fast. 

I still  didn't trust it, and made some mistakes, but I didn't rip again. Then I got engaged in a conversation, and voila, it was fine! (Funny that I always do better when I stop thinking.) When I looked down at the work, I liked it.  Then I decided to try it on 5s.  A few more mistakes happened ( I didn't say I  made them **looking around suspiciously**) but I liked it better a little tighter.

Now that I get the concept, on to two color.  Then on to the scarf.  Then the vest.  It's a lot of prep for one little vest, but I'm so excited to put a new skill in my toolbox I don't care!  I hope if you don't do brioche stitch yet you'll try it.  Use this link to a YouTube video tutorial.  A written plan can be found in Vogue Stitchionary One, and The Encyclopedia of Knitting. Try it!

Ripping Out the Mistakes

Last night I finished the socks for the Mr.. I put off the Kitchner stitch for as long as I could stand, but eventually got the peace and quiet to focus and do it. An hour later, they were on his feet. If he ever takes them off I'll try to get a photo. (Since he's a pro photographer I always feel silly taking my own pics. His are so much better!) Somehow shooting knitting stuff isn't on the top of his list, so I'll get to it myself.

I then knit my daughter's cabled mitts for a while. I reversed a cable by accident and had to rip out and re-knit the rows affected. It got me to thinking that this is one of the many cool things about knitting - you can fix your mistakes and make them invisible really easily (assuming the yarn quality is good enough that reworking it won't show.) It's another Karmic step, I suppose, to recognize your errors and strive to correct them, but in most of life they're still detectable in some way. I like the fact that a finished piece of knitting always represents lessons learned, and it isn't obvious how recently they were learned. If I'm feeling too cocky there's always the next pattern waiting to see if I'm paying attention, and I'll trip myself up if I'm not. I just keep trying to pay attention...