Spring Brioche

At the beginning of the month I was at a bit of a loose end with my WIP's and decided I needed to cast on something new - whilst I was intent on finishing all my current projects, my mojo was fading somewhat and I wanted a challenge.

I have been admiring several brioche knitted shawls on Ravelry but had never tried the technique.  Whilst browsing I found a free pattern for a brioche cowl in DK and decided it was a good opportunity to, well buy more yarn!  I have hardly any DK in my stash as I rarely use anything other than sock weight now so I brought some lovely West Yorkshire Spinners Wensleydale Gems DK in Tourmaline (Pink) and Peridot (Green) - I've been wanting to branch out of my usual fibre comfort zones but generally fail miserably!

Yarn: West Yorkshire Spinners Wensleydale Gems DK in Peridot & Tourmaline

Unfortunately, after caking and casting on, I started getting hives along my fingers and a few rows in my hands were extremely sore so I had to abandon the lovely Wensleydale.  I dithered over whether to order in some undyed yarn but didn't want to wait so found some Merino/Cashmere DK in my stash and dyed them up - pink and green, because I'm slightly predictable and I think they go so well together!

 

  
After a quick read of the fabulous instruction on the Brioche Stitch website I found the brioche incredibly easy and SO much fun!  (Please ignore the inconsistent colours - my camera hates this shade of pink!)

 

Pattern: Tistou Cowl by Nadege Dereppe

Yarn: Kingcraig Merino/Cashmere DK (dyed by me)

I find learning new techniques really satisfying and enjoyable - this literally flew off the needles and and was such a great pattern for learning two colour Brioche techniques!  I love the texture that the brioche lends to the finished fabric and have to say I found it much squishier pre-blocking so may consider soaking again and letting this dry without any blocking for a cushier feel.  I reduced the width of the cowl pattern - only casting on 176 stitches and I think if I were to remake this I would knit an extra pattern repeat to make it taller. 

Pattern: Tistou Cowl by Nadege Dereppe

Yarn: Kingcraig Merino/Cashmere DK (dyed by me)

I can't wait now to cast on the Sizzle Pop shawl that I have had on Ravelry queue for ages.  The plan is to use a skein of the Merino/Yak/Silk singles that I dyed green and another I've dyed black - because matching your shawls to your hair is totally acceptable hehe!