Brioche and double knitting

Camel cardigan in progress, a photo by Asplund on Flickr.

Unexpectedly, I haven't bought any yarn so far this year - nothing related to knitting, actually. Instead, I'm making - enjoyable - efforts to decide how to make use of what I've already got.

2013 was a brioche and double knitting year for me. I learnt the basics of brioche knitting as a child and always liked how it feels, but it was only after seeing Nancy Marchant's projects and reading her book Knitting Brioche that I began to understand its enormous potential. Last year I also decided to learn double knitting at long last, which took my knitting mind in new directions.

What I'm making now (among many other things) is a cardigan combining the two techniques: a brioche cardigan with double-knitted edges for buttons and buttonholes. Nancy Marchant's "The Book Exchange Cardigan" (Ravelry link) is my inspiration, but with some modifications.

This wool is 90% camel: wonderfully soft and incredibly warm. I live in an old building, which is incredibly charming but cooold. I love the colour, but I will probably look like my dear old teddy bear Åsanalle.

Last, some great advice which I forgot to bring up when I wrote about finishing my "Alba" cardigan recently.

Right before I started cutting the steeks I mercifully remembered the scissors needed to be cleaned carefully as I had been cutting fins off herrings earlier in the evening! So, don't forget to clean your herring-and-steeks scissors - unless you want your fishermen's sweaters as authentic as possible, of course.

Kitchener stitch and horror cowl

First of all, thanks for all the nice comments on my previous posts!

I've returned to my double-knitted jacket to take care of the shoulder joins. Kitchener stitch is the ideal technique in this case, I think, but I do it so seldom I always have to look it up. There's a great description at Knitty. For this project I will get a lot of practice since there are four seams to take care of (2 for each shoulder) but I still don't expect I'll remember how to get started next time I chose this method.

Almost three weeks of January have passed and I still haven't bought any new yarn! Mind you, I'm lucky enough to work extra hours in my favourite yarn store, so I'm often subject to temptations of the third degree. (I'm planning what to get in the future, though.)







Instead of adding to my stash, I recently made a remarkably ugly brioche cowl with yarn from it. Combining Rowan Felted Tweed 145 ("Treacle") and Kidsilk Haze Stripe seemed like a good idea - and in a way it is, but certainly not this particular combination. The lovely tweediness disappeared completely, smothered in Kidsilk fuzz, and the unfortunate distribution of green and purple which I thought would look wonderful with the brown wool - well, it makes me think of wine spilled on mouldy bear skin.

mouldy bear with wine stains

However, it actually turned out to be at least as comfortable as hideous, so it will be spared and even worn. A bonus is that I can't see it when I'm wearing it! Otherwise I'd wear sunglasses, but that would look rather strange in the middle of winter...

imprint on snow: more pleasing to look at, but less comfortable

A promising start

"Alba" jacket (Starmore), a photo by Asplund on Flickr.

The "Alba" jacket is finished, which I think was a great way to start a new year! There wasn't much point in trying to take photos of it until today, though, since the sun seems to have been on vacation for a few weeks.

Speaking of promising, I never bothered much about resolutions, but on 1 Jan I decided to try not to buy more yarn but use what I already have in my stash. Not for a whole year - but maybe for a month at a time?

What happened was that I was looking for a circular needle to pick up stitches along the fronts. Nowhere to be found - but I kept finding more and more yarn that I apparently have bought. And I didn't even look in the two suitcases that I know are bursting with wool!

Not buying more yarn for the time being is worth a try at least - and I'm actually eager to work with what I already have since I only buy yarn I really want.

The needle I was looking for? It was already in the project!

shoulder join

More knitting than blogging in December

Cowl and hat, a photo by Asplund on Flickr.

The double-knitted cowl has been finished for a couple of weeks, but it hasn't befen cold enough to wear it. Not that I really mind. Spring, please! There was enough yarn left to make a new "Sigge" hat, a pattern (in English) I published as a free pattern on Ravelry.

I'm making progress with different projects instead of simply casting on new ones. However, I haven't decided where to go next with my double-knitted jacket.

The back and fronts are done, and I've tested a couple of pattern ideas tor the collar but I'm not satisfied. I might simply make it blue on one side and green on the other. I also have to make sleeve decisions: how to knit them (probably top-down, first back and forth and then in the round) and what patterns to use.

Alice Starmore's Henry VIII sweater

It's nice to have a pattern to follow while thinking about other projects - and Alice Starmore's Henry VIII is pure joy to knit! I've modified it slightly, though, letting the centre of the side pattern run along the sleeve. I think it looks nice, and a pattern between the decreases also helps me keep track of what rows are decrease rows.

Tudor armpit

Happy new knitting year!

Inga from Sweeden

Double-knitted cowl, a photo by Asplund on Flickr.

A big stranded cowl by Born to knit inspired me to cast on to make something similar, in shape if not pattern and colours.

Hers is folded but I decided to use the double-knitting technique as I've quickly become addicted to it and want to take advantage of it in different ways. The jacket I'm making (see previous post) will be reversible but the two sides look different thanks to the use of colours and pattern shapes. For this cowl I want the two sides identical, though, which called for a different kind of pattern.

I don't normally choose variegated yarns, but fell in love with this black wool with its hints of grey and red - which makes it look like a Christmas project, to my immense surprise! Signs of a midlife crisis? If I have ever knitted for Christmas I stopped years ago - there are so many deadlines in life I do my best to keep them away from my knitting. Well, at least it doesn't have to be finished by Christmas.

Swedish Inga

Many of the colourways from Östergötlands ullspinneri have human names, and this particular one is called Inga. (Black for Swedish sin, red for passion?)

To make the cowl easier to wrap I twisted it on purpose. Isn't it strange how difficult it is to do that on purpose when it happens so easily by mistake?

My copy of Alice Starmore's Tudor Roses arrived a couple of days ago. I'm completely overwhelmed by it - and my expectations were extremely high. Lavish, splendid, gorgeous, intelligent... Words defy me!

Double-knitted jacked in progress

Double-knitted jacked in progress, a photo by Asplund on Flickr.

Sweet and slow: I like the way this jacket is turning out, but it does take a lot of time since double knitting (logically) involves twice as many stitches. This technique is just as addictive as brioche knitting and I have quite a few ideas I want to try. But when? Retiring at 40 is a tempting idea but not really realistic...

I couldn't resist adding an A for Asplund (or Armpit) before dividing the jacket into a back and two front sections. Suddenly knitting only one of the fronts is so much quicker I find myself making mistakes quite often as I mix up rows (knitting the same row again).

also right side

Knitting in style

Knitting in style, a photo by Asplund on Flickr.

Old and new knitter friends at Kristinehovs malmgård in Stockholm. The more, the merrier!

Statues are extremely useful when you want photos of your knitting! They don't get tired of posing and they don't care if people stare. This is a brioche shawl I knitted a couple of months ago.

"Nili" shawl

"Nili" shawl, a photo by Asplund on Flickr.

I've surprised myself by actually writing up a pattern for a shawl! It is available for sale at Litet nystan in Stockholm, but I'm working on a translation into English and plan to make it available on Ravelry (in both Swedish and English) provided I understand how to. It would be easier to get how computers, Paypal etc work if they were made of yarn!

The shawl is called Nili after a friend's daughter. She's an incredibly crafty girl who sees endless possibilities in all kinds of material. I owe my best knitting memory to her too: when she was four years old and saw me working on the yoke of my top-down twined sweater her comment was that I might be knitting men's underwear!

"Kanske det ska bli kalsonger?"

Learning new tricks

Double knitting, a photo by Asplund on Flickr.

On my way home from the knitting event in Denmark a few weeks ago I had a couple of hours to kill waiting for a bus to go to the airport. What better way than to learn something new? Meeting Chrissie Day was inspiring: she was there to teach double knitting, a technique I've been thinking about trying for quite a few years, and I had a book with instructions in my bag. By the time I was back home in Stockholm I had knitted a few swatches testing different patterns and ways to cast on, not to mention discovering different mistakes hopefully not to make again.

It is such a thrill suddenly knowing exactly how to use yarn that has been waiting in my stash! I simply couldn't resist these two colours when I came across them a couple of years ago. The wool is Dansk pelsuld from Hjelholts. My plan was actually not to combine them, but I think they enhance the beauty of each other.

I use Marianne Isager's "Circles" jacket as a starting point but with two major modifications: there will only be two colours and I'm adding a pattern to the big emply squares for variation. It looks like Noughts and crosses!

Autumn is my favourite season, especially days like today - and it is cool enough to wear a sweater I finished about half a year ago. Here is an old post where you can see the sides and gussets. The yarn is Cascade 220 and I used a design in Uuve Snidare's book "Fiskartröjor" for inspiration.

Aranish sweater

En av alla saker som är allra roligast med stickning är att det finns så mycket nytt att lära sig och testa! I flera år har jag tänkt pröva dubbelstickning, men det är först nu som bitarna har fallit på plats: ett inspirerande möte, tid att pröva mig fram, rätt garn i gömmorna och ett mönster att utgå från. Det här garnet hittade jag när GarnGalleriet hade öppet hus i Uppsala för ett par år sedan och nu får det äntligen komma ut ur garderoben.

Det fanns så mycket vackert garn där och jag minns att en god vän som var med mig ställde diagnosen garnsting och sade att jag borde gå ut och svalka mig en stund innan jag bestämde mig! (Faktiskt tror jag att jag lider av kroniskt garnsting men kanske i galopperande grader. Förresten är det nog så att jag snarare njuter än lider av den åkomman.)

Originalmönstret har cirklar och tomma rutor; jag har bestämt mig för att fylla de senare med mindre fyrkanter, så jag får nog kalla min version för Luffarschack.

Brioche shawl finished

Brioche shawl, a photo by Asplund on Flickr.

Here's the brioche shawl I made based on Nancy Marchant's "Alex" scarf (Ravelry link here). I decreased and cast off each leaf separately, so there were quite a few loose ends to take care of. However, I made it easy for myself by using a crochet hook and simply pulling them through a number of brioche yarnovers.

Inishmore in progress

A Starmore addict I've cast on to make yet another of her designs, namely "Inishmore" from Fishermen's Sweaters. The yarn is Cascade 220, and I think this light colour works well with this kind of cable pattern.

Fanø Strikkefestival

Lene Maries hus, a photo by Asplund on Flickr.

Last weekend I went to Denmark to teach twined knitting at Fanø Strikkefestival. Fortunately, the participants understood my homemade Danish! I stayed at Lene Maries hus in a charming village called Sønderho. I had a great time and met lots of lovely people, and was especially happy to meet Ann - it was thanks to her that I was invited there.

brioche experiment

I'm happily experimenting with brioche knitting, right now working on a hat knitted from the centre. My first attempt to the left was not a success. I got the shape right, but it was not a very good idea starting with yellow: it looks like a gigantic pimple! ("The Plague Hat"?) So, I started with blue instead and changed the background colour just for fun and I think it looks a lot better.

And this is where I held my workshops:

Sønderho skole

 Hold kæft, hvad flot!

A finishing touch

finishing an unfinished object, a photo by Asplund on Flickr.

A knitter friend and I have been joking about setting fire to projects we're unhappy with, and last night I had an irresistible urge to try it. Lo and behold: this improvised hat project never looked better than it did ablaze - and I must confess there was something deliciously pagan about this little purgatorial rite in the garden!

The very same friend (Entill) gave me this notebook from her trip to Shetland. Love it!

Cabbage cowl

Cowl in progress, a photo by Asplund on Flickr.

I hardy ever buy self-striping yarn (too much of a control freak) but couldn't resist this wool from Östergötlands ullspinneri, thinking it would be fun to brioche knit. (I've had a crush on the greyish brown wool for quite a while, and am happy with the combination.) I wanted to make a cowl similar to the Camel cowl I made recently but with two colours. It suddenly reminded me of cabbage leaves, so I'll call it Cabbage cowl. Can you tell I'm addicted to brioche knitting?

Edited to add
I do like it when things match, so this was a nice (but slightly uncanny) discovery:

matchmaking

It reminds me of three sweaters I've made that matched different walls at work.

Bubble, bubble, toil and trouble...

Brioche shawl: casting off, a photo by Asplund on Flickr.

Actually, I like the bubbly effect, so I'll try not to block it too hard once it's finished. (Unless I change my mind, that is.) Two thirds done!

It is rather monotonous work, though, so I add a few rows to Alice Starmore's Henry VIII for variation now and then. I love everything about this design!

Brioche shawl: casting off

Brioche shawl: casting off, a photo by Asplund on Flickr.

One third done - and then all the loose ends to take care of... Still, it's worth the trouble to make it look the way I have in mind. Hopefully, there is enough yarn left, but I think so!