Just a Little Something

Just a little something I have been working on that turned into a lot more.  I made these fingerless gloves one weekend in an attempt to find a home for a single skein of really cool yarn I have.  I decided brioche stitch would be a simple enough stitch to highlight the yarn, but a little more interesting than stockinette or ribbing.  I just winged it, casting on my best guess number of stitches and ended up with this cute glove.  It was so cute and easy I thought it might make a good knitting pattern to offer on Ravelry for free.  Not to bore you with the details, here I am about two weeks later with a stable of terrific test knitters who have given me great feedback, a tech editor with the pattern in hand, and a publication date of February 20. 

The pattern is targeted towards experienced knitters trying brioche for the first time.  I say experienced knitter because I almost ended up with a "hater" on Ravelry after a beginning knitter misinterpreted the "beginner" part and really couldn't get started on the gloves.  Knit in the round on dpns and learning brioche at the same time would be too much for a new knitter.

It is such a perfect pattern for using up that single skein of hand painted, self-striping, or tweed yarn that you just love but can't find a home for.  The ribbed nature of this brioche stitch (also called fisherman's rib) allows for variability in gauge so that you don't really need to swatch.  I give the gauge in the pattern, but I never swatched it myself.  Only one of my test knitters swatched because she wanted to up size them for her father.

Another key point to this project is that it is a quick lesson in brioche that results in a useful accessory.  For me everything has to have a purpose.  I have a hard time knitting a swatch just to learn a stitch, or knitting a shawl because it has a beautiful stitch pattern.  By the time you finish this glove you will know whether you love brioche, and it doesn't take long to complete your pair.

BTW - The yarn in these mitts have been discontinued, but if you really have to know what it is wait for the release of the pattern which has all the details.  Sorry, but I'm too lazy to look up the info for a hyperlink.