Tag Archives: Malabrigo Rios

Brioche Knit Love: On to 2 color brioche

Posted on October 6, 2021 | 2 comments

Continuing the tour through my new book, the next two chapters in Brioche Knit Love feature 2 color brioche, knit in the round and flat.

The Grande Brioche Cowl is an upsized version of my Petite Brioche headband, with a more interesting edge treatment. (Shown in Malabrigo Rios)

Did you know that brioche doesn’t have to be knit/purl ribbing? The Peppermint Mocha Cup Cozy and Coaster are stockinette brioche. I love the look of this fabric. (More Malabrigo Rios!)

The Italian Soda Cowl is 2 color brioche rib, knit flat. You’ll get into a rhythm with the brioche rib, and with the selvages, too. I knit this with Knit Picks Chroma Worsted. That rainbow colorway is Pegasus, one of my favorites.

And the Iced Latte Cowl is a reincarnation of my Parquetry Cowl. I love garter stitch and brioche rib together. In fact, I loved it so much, I designed a matching hat, which I’ll show you in a later post. These are knit in Hazel Knits Lively DK.

Can I just say how great it was to have my sister Sharon modeling with me for this book? We had a very fun day! She’s the perfect model. (All book photos in this post are by Angela Watts, Tekoa Rose Photography.)

Don’t forget to leave a comment on the intro post for this book, if you’d like a chance to win a copy. I’m picking a winner on Sunday October 10. Right after I finish teaching for Virtual Knitting Live!

If you’re interested, i think there’s still room in some of the classes. I’m teaching Herringbone Braids and Beyond, Log Cabin Knitting (newly revised!), Brioche Increases and Decreases, and Brioche Doctor. The registration page is here.

Onward!

2 Comments

Posted in Knit, my book project, pattern design

Tagged brioche knit love book, Brioche knitting, Hazel Knits Lively DK, Knit Picks Chroma Worsted, Malabrigo Rios

Mood board, and moody

Posted on June 20, 2021 | 9 comments

When I started my book project, I was asked to do a mood board. What reflects my vibe/ What do I want my book to look like?

Looking at recent projects, I think you can tell I like a monochromatic palette, different shades of the same hue. And blue is big! I can’t have an all blue book (and why not?), but I can definitely have a monochromatic vibe.

I just need to swatch what I’ve charted to make sure it works, and then this is off to Ann, who is sample knitting for me.

I’m funny with deadlines. I used to be a procrastinator, and somewhere along the way I’ve morphed into an all-in obsessive. Not good! There’s a lot of knitting that needs to happen, but slow and steady wins the race.

(If it’s going to be green, it will have a blue undertone!)

I need to do a better job balancing my knitting time. I didn’t listen to my body, and I have developed tendonitis in my forearms, which affects knitting *and* typing. You know, the things I need to do to get this book done! So I’m not knitting for 3 days, and minimally typing.

(Big project? No, a set of two projects.)

For now, I’m petting yarn, and sketching and charting things on paper. I’m on the last big design project for the book, and then I have three more small ones that should be easy. Should. I never know until I actually try to knit them!

Have you ever done a mood board? What would your mood board say about you?

9 Comments

Posted in Knit, my book project, pattern design, yarn

Tagged Hazel Knits Lively DK, Malabrigo Rios, mood board

Multiple WIPs, oh noes!

Posted on December 21, 2020 | 8 comments

I usually have one or two projects at a time; that’s plenty for me. I work better when I’m a bit obsessive. But my two current projects are both stranded colorwork (Dreyma and Katie’s Kep), and that means paying attention to a chart, all the time. Sometimes that’s not possible.

So here we are with brioche again, a perfect multi-tasker project for me. I decided I hadn’t had enough of this color combo yet; Malabrigo Rios in Volcan and Azul Profundo. I gave two friends the previous cowls in this color combo, and I decided I liked it so much I wanted to use it again.

Debbie Braden, one of my Leafy Origami Cowl test knitters, said she was wearing the small cowl as a hat with her ponytail coming out the top. Hmmm. I think I can actually make this close up on top, gracefully. I’ve gone so far as to chart it, and now I have to see if it works in real life. If not, I’ll rip off the top, and finish as a cowl for Mom-in-law. It’s a winner, either way.

Here’s another non-charted project from the weekend. I made a little bow with my other 32 ft strand of fairy lights. US 9 needles, again. I made a stitch holder for the live stitches, using a piece of guitar string. After that I realized that I probably have a stitch holder somewhere that would have worked! Oh well, it’s all good.

I’ve got a lot of food gifts to make in the next few days, which will be a good changeup from knitting. My forearms are still reminding me that I knit too long on Dreyma last week, so it still looks like this:

DH wore the hat over the weekend, so I guess we’ve done our gifts early! (Mine is the board in the leafy hat-to-be picture.)

Are you a mulit-WIP or monogamous knitter? Are you scrambling this week, or completely chill?

8 Comments

Posted in Knit, pattern design, yarn

Tagged Dreyma, knittedlights, Leafy Origami Cowl, Malabrigo Rios

Introducing: Leafy Origami Cowl

Posted on December 9, 2020 | 8 comments

The Leafy Origami Cowl is a 2-color brioche cowl, knit in the round from the bottom up. It features a stitch pattern that falls into mountain and valley folds, just like origami. The result is a delightfully three dimensional fabric. It’s knit with 2 colors of worsted weight yarn; I used Malabrigo Rios.

The beginning of the round moves forward and backward on several rounds to keep the center vein of the first leaf as the first stitch of the round, making this a challenging brioche pattern. The results are worth it! I’ve made several video tutorials to guide you through the increases, decreases, and moving the markers. The stitch pattern is adapted from the Under Dutch Skies stitch pattern in Nancy Marchant’s book, Knitting Fresh Brioche.

This pattern is available through Ravelry and through Payhip for 10% off through December 16, 2020 with coupon code FOLDS. Newsletter subscribers, see your special offer in your inbox.

Thanks to tech editor Meaghan Schmaltz, and test knitters Ann Berg, Debbie Braden, Elizabeth Forester, and Wendy Sakai.

I hope you enjoy knitting this as much as I did! Four cowls later, I’m still smitten. You know I love leaves, and you know I love brioche. This is a perfect combo for me.

This is my last pattern release for the year. 2020 has been strange, but ultimately productive. Hunkering down and knitting has had some benefits. I hope you’re making the best of 2020, too. Carry on…

8 Comments

Posted in Knit, pattern design, yarn

Tagged Leafy Origami Cowl, Malabrigo Rios

Introducing: Cannon Beach Accessories Collection

Posted on December 7, 2017 | 3 comments

I’m so pleased with my newest design, the Cannon Beach Cowl. It just rolled off my needles because the yarn knew what it wanted to be. I love it when that happens!

And then there were fingerless mitts too, because why not?

Both the cowl and mitts are knit in the round from the top down in worsted to Aran weight yarn. The patterns are available individually, or as an e-book collection that includes both patterns. The pieces feature two slip stitch patterns, one resembling seagulls, the other resembling waves. Cannon Beach, Oregon, is one of my favorite places on earth, and the cozy cowl and mitts are just right for a stroll on a breezy beach.

The cowl was inspired by the loveliness of a yarn, Woolfolk Får. This is a beautiful merino wool chainette yarn. When I saw it I knew it wanted to be a very soft cowl featuring a stitch pattern with long floats to show off the construction of the yarn.

The pattern is also pretty but very different in more conventional yarns like single ply Malabrigo Merino Worsted, or a plyed yarn like Malabrigo Rios.

The cowl instructions include three sizes, from a cozy 22″ neck warmer to a larger 24″ cowl. The circumference and height of the cowl are easily adjusted.

Small cowl shown in Malabrigo Merino Worsted

Medium cowl shown in Woolfolk Får

Large cowl shown in Malabrigo Merino Worsted

The mitts are written for one size, 7.5″ in circumference, and will stretch to fit an 8″ palm. Because of the large number of stitches in the seagull and wave stitch pattern, sizing should be altered by changing needle size.

The patterns are available for $6 for a single pattern, or as an e-book of both patterns for $10. Ravelry page link is live!

Subscribers to my newsletter will receive a coupon code for 20% off the single patterns or the e-book. Not a subscriber? Subscribe by clicking this link, or letting me know in the comments below.

Thanks to tech editor Amanda Woodruff, test knitter Ann Berg, and model Erin Hocraffer.