Damn that Stitch

Back in November of last year I wanted a colorful, spongy scarf with pronounced ribs. Brioche is a perfect match, so I set about teaching myself how to work it.

Overconfident sot that I am, I started with the two-color brioche. In the near future you'll see the instructions for that scarf. But, as I note in that pattern, do not … DO NOT… attempt the two-color brioche until you've worked out the basics with today's one-color version.

In fact, I resorted to the one-color version after a week or so of daily cursing sessions.

The brioche is a simple two-stitch repeat that involves three actions: a slip stitch, yarn over, and knit or purl two together. For brevity, this action is shortened to something like "syo brk1/brp1". I stumbled over these abbreviations.

As I researched, I also found that instructions leave out information that can make the process easier.

Another problem is the slip stitch. I didn't find any instructions that indicated this should be purlwise. After experimenting I worked this out. Now here's the kicker: Sometimes you need to slip a stitch knitwise.

Gaaaaahhhhhhhh!

Also, end-of-row counts usually count the yarn over and slip stitch as a single stitch. What?!

So. Today's scarf instructions are detailed. Very. Detailed. I hope that you finish "Brioche for All" in record time and wonder, "Why on earth did Susan find this stitch difficult?"

Click here to download the very detailed instructions for "Brioche for All".