Circular Honeycomb Brioche

Well, I was certainly pleasantly surprised by the response to my last blog. I figured about six people might want me to keep babbling about spinning, but there apparently are quite a few who enjoy the postings, so of course, I shall continue. As every blogger knows, feedback keeps us going. The last spinning post had four comments, so I figured that either (a) Harry was deleting posts just to be annoying or (b) everyone's head hit the keyboard in stupefaction when they saw Yet Another Spinning Post. Clearly, the answer is (c).

So, now that I have explained things to everyone's satisfaction, let me respond to several readers, who requested the secret to Circular Honeycomb Brioche. Here's the little neck warmer I made a using a strand of silk and a strand of cashmere:



The pattern is mildly tricky, but once you've run through one repeat, it's a no-brainer. Please swatch carefully, though. Brioche patterns are incredibly stretchy--you'll need a lot fewer stitches than you could possibly imagine.

Cast on an even number of stitches.

Row 1: Knit
Row 2: Purl
Row 3: K1, K1 below, that is, knit into the stitch of the previous row. Doing so unknits the stitch, so you will have the equivalent of a slipped stitch, thusly:



Row 4: P1, Purl the next stitch with the slipped thread of the previous row, as shown below.






Row 5: K1 below, K1
Row 6: Purl the next stitch with the slipped thread of the previous row, P1

Repeat rows 3-6.

I realize that this pattern could be done by slipping stitches instead of knitting in the stitch below. Many Brioche stitches are written using slips instead of belows. Try it both ways and see which one you prefer.

Next time, Harry will post about his exciting goat-herding class that he took in Albania, followed by a slide show of his whirlwind tour of Krasnoarmeisk, Myshkin, Putchezh, Kholui, Urupinsk, Mariinsky Posad, Kirillov, Suzdal and Gus-Krustalnyi.

Here ends my 300th post, and I want to thank all my readers from the bottom of my heart for your support and comments. Harry doesn't have a heart, but he thanks you from the bottom of his purple iPod for electing him Ruler of the Known Universe. Did you guys really do that?