BRK and BRP, Pwned
Brioche got served today. It’s been taunting me for 12 years, lurking in the back corners of my brain since I was a new knitter and tried to knit this Interweave sweater pattern. It is an awesome design, but was not at all beginner-compatible. It did, however, turn out to be rage-compatible.
I tried again 7 years ago. Same sweater, same doofy issues. There was a flurry of needles and yarn, maybe an expletive, and somehow I ended up with a perfectly fitting Oatmeal sweater (by Jane Richmond) in 70’s potholder colored yarn. I got destroyed by Brioche, again. I keep meaning to dye that Oatmeal…
Then I took a Stripes class with Veera Välimäki. If anyone could heal me of my brioche skills deficiency, surely she could. I so wish I’d taken a pic of the knitted puke I created that day. All I have is this photo of the humble set-up row, which looks normal.
Trust me, though, when I say it was bad. Veera patted my shoulder and said, “It’s okay. You’ll get it.” It’s not her fault. It’s Brioche’s.
All that is to say that I have finally arrived, my knitting friends! I decided to set aside a whole morning/ afternoon/ some of the evening to figure out the Marley shawl pattern by Andrea Mowry. She’s got all these great patterns, but the hitch is that many require knowledge of this infuriating stitch.
So, I did it and I have these photos to prove it. Of course, I did have to re-knit this beginning part two times after taking these photos because I still can’t read my stitches well enough to fix mistakes. But, brioche… brioche!
I read Andrea’s directions over and over, watched a ton of tutorials and then checked this Briochestitch site, where it finally clicked. I don’t know why. It pretty much said just what my pattern did. Maybe it was a day full of stitch immersion that did it. Anyway, now I am ready for all these “Hot Right Now” brioche thingies.
Bring it, Andrea and Stephen!
By the way, don’t you love this golden snitch progress keeper from Owls on Dantes?
