Wednesday, October 28, 2015

I spent some happy time with the Edinburgh Yarn Festival website yesterday, and finished with the same classes I had chosen on the first delighted run-through: tomofholland, Woolly Wormhead, and Nancy Marchant. The first two because I'm a t'riffic fan, the last because I'm not. I can't remember which one is on which day, nor does it matter.

I've got Marchant's books. I love brioche stitch – at any rate, I love fisherman's rib which I am sometimes told is the same thing. (=k1, k1b forever, where k1b means “knit 1 in the stitch below the next stitch on the left-hand needle”.)

Presumably the way Marchant does it is more complicated in order to extend the range. I have never had the mental energy to master “brk” and “brp”, abbreviations unique (I believe) to her. At the EYF, she is going to talk about combining brioche with lace patterns, a bold move indeed. I think I'll try to master “brk” and “brp” before the day, although I am also sure she won't assume mastery.

Registration starts this weekend. Worst case scenario, this wouldn't be the first (or even the second) knitting event I've paid for and failed to attend. I didn't even read the schedule of the afternoon classes – I am not at my sparkling best in the afternoon, and it will be much easier to get away from here in the morning anyway.

Actual knitting continues well. I am now sloping the shoulders of the front of the v-neck vest, and should therefore finish it today except for the ribbing. Ready for a try-on.

Here it is, not exactly posed for optimum photography but you get the general idea. The size looks good – and I've still got blocking up my sleeve. It is delicious to be approaching the actual end of something. The balls of yarn, upper right, are for the current homework in Franklin's Craftsy class on colour. I am not going to let myself go on with the class until I've done the swatches.


Non-knit


Alexander says he might pop over today.

10 comments:

  1. Anonymous10:54 AM

    Your vest looks exactly the way I pictured it would, including the color! I think your husband will look very handsome in it. Chloe

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  2. You may want to look at Nancy Marchant's Craftsy class. I bought it and did learn although I didn't care for her teaching style. That is of course just a personal quirk

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  3. I paid for a whole month of unlimited Craftsy for October (some sort of special offer) and have not looked at it once. I believe a have a day or two left, but don't expect to spend lots of time on it. Sigh.

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  4. The vest is lovely. What a great colour.

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  5. That vest looks handsome - as I'm sure your husband will look when he wears it.

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  6. Anonymous3:24 PM

    Echoing the compliments on the vest - looks good. I've bought Franklin's colour course but will have to wait until the snow falls - fall gardening work has damaged hand nerves too much for knitting right now. Looking forward to learning more about colour.
    - Beth in Ontario

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  7. Anonymous4:56 PM

    Joining the chorus of compliments on the vest. Handsome, indeed.
    -- stashdragon

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  8. Thank you for the vest photo, Jean! Wow! It is so handsome! I like the yarn so much and I made the picture big so I could see the stitches and the yarn color. You're a whiz.

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  9. annec in Maryland8:05 PM

    The vest is looking great, the color is aptly named. Re Nancy Marchant's method for brioche, I was a bit fuzzy on the brk/brp, too, but after taking a workshop with her, and working a couple of her patterns, I found that the technique becomes second nature, and I came up with my own way of mentally referring to the brioche knits and purls. Her BEBEB scarf is a good intro to 2-color brioche, and she's got some good videos on her site, too.

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  10. I'm going to try for a Woolly workshop too but I have an idea that we will be hitting the reload button several times on the day of booking before we have the slightest chance of success. She's the Queen of Hat Architecture in my book.

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