Brioche

Last night I finished the Brioche Gaiter. Doesn’t it look lovely with my red coat? Now I guess I’ll need to make gloves or mittens, and maybe a hat, in some sort of tweedy charcoal to match.

Pattern: Brioche Gaiter in Camel Hair, from Interweave Knits Holiday Gifts 2006 (originally published in Interweave Knits Fall 2003)

Yarn: Classic Elite Blithe (100% baby camel), 1 skein, color 60690.

Needles: US 6. Started on 2 circular needles, but finished on DPNs because I just. couldn’t. stand. those. stupid. circs. flopping. around. It didn’t help that I had one circular needle with purple needles and a white cable, and one with silver needles with a purple cable. My brain couldn’t grasp the concept, and I kept grabbing the wrong needle to use. The pattern called for size US7, but I didn’t want it quite as large.

Finished Size: About 6.25″ high, and 16.5″ in circumference. If knitted to the pattern gauge, it’s supposed to be  6.75″ by 19.5″. But since the coat I’ll be wearing it with has a rather fitted neck, I wanted less bulk, and it doesn’t need the extra height.

Notes: This was a very easy pattern, except for when I dropped some stitches (not a good thing with Brioche stitch), and except for when I got offtrack with the pattern somewhere and had to tink back several rows to fix it. The yarn is very soft, but fragile, and it tears easily. Fortunately I had only one break, which happened when I was winding the yarn.

Many thanks to Margene, who destashed the yarn, and to Susan, who suggested I make this pattern!