Now Completely Reversible

Just when I thought brioche couldn't get any better, it has. Introducing:

Reversible Increases and Decreases for One-Pass Brioche.

This is magic. This is groundbreaking. This actually has me excited to rip out a month's work.
This is so much harder to explain than regular increases and decreases that I made videos. I know I've been saying I would for a while. Now you have them.

I'll start with why I'm so stupidly excited (other than that I get like that pretty easy.).
With regular brioche, the increase or decrease is made with both knit and purl columns in the same stitch. While this gives a nice branching effect on the right side, on the wrong side, the columns suddenly stop and start, and the true pattern isn't shown.

Half-made Interweave hat, showing both right and wrong sides.
Regular increases and decreases start and stop abruptly on the wrong side (top).

With the reversible increases and decreases, the stitches are rearranged and each column is worked separately, to give the exact same effect on both sides. So the pattern shows true on both sides on the piece making it truly a reversible fabric. Magic!

Half-made Interweave hat showing both sides.
Reversible increases and decreases are the same on both sides of the fabric.

Then we're on to the exciting stuff. Increases. You'll need a cable needle or a crochet hook, just something to stash a stitch safely while you knit just one other.

Here's the complicated version:
Knit, do not drop the old stitch, transfer it to the cable needle and keep in front.
Move yarns as normal to prep for a purl. Purl the next stitch, again don't drop the old stitch. Draw out the new stitch and drop it to the back. Slip the original purl stitch to the left needle.
Move knit yarn to back, slip stitch off the cable needle to the left needle.
Move knit yarn to front, place loose purl stitch back on left needle. Check it's mounted correctly with the loos tail to the back of the needle, and tighten it up.
Your yarns should both be in front, a knit and a purl column have been worked and the next stitch is a knit.

And finally decreases. The process is slightly different for each, but pretty obvious when you look at which way you want it to go. It is possible to work these with ssk, k2tog etc, but I find it absurdly hard with four pieces of yarn involved. Working the stitches individually makes it less likely I'm going to drop something and easier to remember which way the decrease will lean. Bonus for righties: easier to mirror if you want to!

Again, complicated version, Decrease Left:
Knit, slip the purl stitch to the cable needle and keep at the back.
Slip the new knit stitch back to the right needle and pass the next knit stitch over.
Slip new stitch back to left needle.
Place the cabled stitch back on to the right needle. Make sure your yarns are set up for a purl stitch and purl.
Reverse the mount of the next purl stitch by slipping knit wise, then back to the right needle purl wise. Slip the new stitch back to the right needle as well, then pass the reversed stitch over.
Slip new stitch back to left needle.
Your yarns should both be in front, two knit and two purl columns have been worked and the next stitch is a knit.

Decrease Right:
Slip knit stitch knit wise, slip the purl stitch to the cable needle and keep at the back. 
Knit next knit stitch and pass slipped stitch over. 
Move yarns as normal to prep for a purl.
Slip cabled stitch to the left needle, purl the next stitch then pass cabled stitch over. 
Your yarns should both be in front, two knit and two purl columns have been worked and the next stitch is a knit.

I hope you enjoy these techniques as much as I do, and please get back to me with any feedback or questions.

Cheers!

One-Pass Brioche

Now with Videos!

Seems I'm making videos, I'll start at the beginning. I still haven't found a good video for my favourite cast on, so here's the Chinese Waitress Cast On, Left Handed.
I use this for everything, including brioche, I just start working with the contrast yarn then tie and weave it in later.

And here is the One-Pass Brioche. It gets such a nice swinging zen to it. While this is based on the Sockmtician's One-Pass Brioche method, I found that holding the purl yarn at the front consistently simplifies things significantly.

It's my absolute favourite thing at the moment. And it will just keep getting better... watch this space...

Back to Brioche

Yes, it turns out I do get distracted easily. Pretty colours, luscious textures, challenging new techniques and gorgeous patterns just keep popping up everywhere and taking me off on tangents.
This time it’s a combination of all of these that have me obsessed.

Interweave hat in teeny sock yarn

We have the beautiful Misti Alpaca Hand Paint Sock that my husband only wanted ankle length socks out of. I’m not one to argue when it leaves me half the skein to play with! I did love making them and he does love to wear them, so it’s certainly up there on my list of successful projects. This yarn is just gorgeous knit up normally, I was stupidly excited by the idea of trying it in brioche. It's just the most amazing combination of colour and texture.
I picked this one up on a weekend trip to Launceston, a lovely yarn store called Knits Needles and Wool.

Misti Alpaca Hand Paint Sock

On my next adventure, I picked up the contrast, also Misti Alpaca Sock in a gradient dye at the Woolshed in Canberra. It’s now my mission to visit these little shops everywhere I go, they are all so wonderful!

I’ve had the Interweave Hat in my Ravelry queue since my last affair with brioche early last year. I think there are another two or three pairs of yarn in my stash that are also slated for making this hat. It's so pretty and a very sensible pattern, once you get the hang of it. Of course sock yarn was probably not the ideal thing to try it out for the first time but I’m a deep end kinda girl. Same goes for my first attempt at one-pass brioche.

I found the Sockmatician’s One-Pass Brioche technique as I was learning early last year and immediately put in the Too Hard basket. As it turns out, it’s not much more complicated than regular brioche knitting per stitch, keeps things simpler with all the yarn at the same spot in the project, and really does get a beautiful rhythm to it.

It also turns out that the increase and decrease instructions I left for myself on my intro brioche post were terrifying, so I'll work on putting something much better together.

For now I keep my fingers crossed that I will have enough variegated yarn to get through this quite ambitious project, and in the meantime just really, really enjoy myself!