Brioche Intersections Scarf

I love two-colour brioche - it is a gorgeous technique because it creates a lovely, squishy texture that is comfortable to wear. Plus, it can be used to create quite intricate patterns.

This pattern is for a beautiful wide scarf – and uses a stitch where two brk-columns cross to create a pattern of Xs.

The knitting pattern is available via

• Ravelry
• Loveknitting 
• Payhip

The pattern PDF is 16 pages long and contains

• row-by-row pattern instructions
• photo tutorials for the following brioche stitches
• brk2inc (two-stitch increase in brioche)
• brkLdec (left leaning two-stitch decrease in brioche) 
• brkRdec (right leaning two-stitch decrease in brioche) 
• brkX (combination of a two-stitch decrease and two-stitch increase in brioche - to create Xs)
• a schematic of the construction and the increase/decrease stitches

To knit a similar scarf you need the following materials

• a total of 310 grams of fingering weight yarn (i.e. about 155 grams of each color)– in two colours: I used two semi-solid yarns
• Wollmeise Pure (dark blue) 
• madelinetosh Tosh, Merino light, Frosty 470-O (very light mint)
• 3.25 mm knitting needles – straight with double points or circulars
• 2 stitch markers
• a tapestry needle for weaving in ends
  

The finished piece measures 155 cm in length and 42 cm in width (blocked).

As for gauge: in pattern 21 sts measured about 10 cm in width and 23 rows about 10 in height.

Railroad Crossing Fingerless Gloves

I love knitting fingerless gloves. They usually are a relatively small project, but they can have quite fun and interesting constructions. These ones are designed in triangles around the thumb. The design makes use of the garter stitch feature that one ridge has about the same width and height. The knitting directions changes a few times, so it is a great way to display some self striping sock yarn.

I called them Railroad Crossing Fingerless Gloves because the flat piece reminded me of the traffic sign.

 

The knitting pattern is available via

• Ravelry 
• Lovecrafts
• Payhip

The pattern PDF is 20 pages long and contains 

• written row-by-row instructions for knitting this piece in one size only – including 19 in-process photos
• an explanation (plus schematic) of the construction,
• short photo tutorials for the following techniques
• crochet CO (at the edge of a knitted piece)
• kbf – knit through back and front of a stitch, a stitch that is symmetrical to a kfb
• german short rows (with double-stitches) and how to work the resulting double-stitches 
• pick up and knit 
• pick up and connect, i.e. picking up a stitch and connecting it in a 90 degree angle to your knitting

This is NOT a beginner pattern.

Size and Gauge

To get a certain variation in size I knitted not only in 3mm needles (see picture on the right, top pair of mitts), but also one pair with 2.5 mm needles (see picture on the right, bottom pair of mitts):

• With 3 mm needles 26 ridges (53 garter stitch rows) gave me 10 cm in height and 23 sts gave 10 cm in width (with an unblocked swatch, since I didn't block the mitts). The finished piece measures 19 cm in height, with a circumference of 15.5 cm at the top and 19 cm at the bottom.
• With 2.5 mm needles  28 ridges (56 garter stitch rows) gave me 10 cm in height and 25 sts gave 10 cm in width (also with  unblocked swatch). The finished piece measures 16.5 cm in height, with a circumference of 14.5 cm at the top and 17 cm at the bottom.

To knit these fingerless gloves you need the following materials

• 150 meters of fingering weight yarn weight yarn 
• the pink-yellow ones (title picture) are knitted in Sockenwolle 4-fach Citron by Daniela's Wolltopf (colorway Neolino) - here's a link to the yarn's Ravelry page
• the green/brown/azure blue ones (smaller ones in picture displaying the different sizes) are knitted in Regia 4-ply (Regia Spring Fling Color, colorway 3812) 
• the sky blue/light green ones with a bit of red and purple (see picture showing different views below) in knitted with Zwerger Opal Gutenachtgeschichten 4-ply (colorway Das Mädchen und der Blumendrache) - here's a link to the yarn's Ravelry page
• 3 mm knitting needles – I used 80 cm circulars as main needles to knit the thumb
• two additional 3mm knitting needles – I used dpns to knit the panels around the thumb
• a crochet hook that is a bit bigger than the knitting needles (I used a 4 mm hook) 
• a tapestry needle – for grafting and to weave in ends

Different views (left: before sewing up, middle: back of hand, right: palm)

Rail Fence Fingerless Gloves

The inspiration for these mitts comes from a quilt pattern I saw on social media. I asked myself whether it would be possible to arrange similar panels around the thumb to created a pair of fingerless gloves. After a few tries, it worked. In fact, you could actually view it as one big entrelac piece around a thumb.

The name of quilt pattern that first inspired me is Rail Fence. However, the similarity is only visible if you look at the an unseamed mitt laid out flat. Because of the changes in knitting direction, this is a great way to showcase your self-striping yarn. 

This knitting pattern is available via

• Ravelry 
• Payhip
• Loveknitting 

The pattern PDF is 14 pages long and contains

• written row-by-row instructions for knitting this piece in one size only – including 15 in-process photos
• an explanation (plus schematic) of the construction, and explanations how to make them bigger or smaller
• short photo tutorials for the following techniques
• crochet CO (at the edge of a knitted piece)
• kbf – knit through back and front of a stitch, a stitch that is symmetrical to a kfb
• short rows with wrap and turn and picking up the wraps
• pick up and knit, pick up and purl
• pick up and connect, i.e. picking up a stitch and connecting it in a 90 degree angle to your knitting

The finished piece measures 17 cm in height and about 17 cm in circumference (top and bottom and about a cm more at its widest point. The picture on the right shows one finished mitt and one just before sewing up the side seams.

As to gauge, in garter stitch 12 stitches gave 5 cm in width, and 12 ridges (24 rows) 5 cm in height – this was measured on an unblocked piece.

To knit these mitts you need the following materials:

• 130 meters of fingering weight yarn weight yarn - I used self-striping:
• for the ones in the title picture I used Zwerger Opal Rainforest, Colorway 9902
• the pair on the pictures below was knitted with Zwerger Opal Blütenpracht, Colorway 54, Mohn Poppy
• 3 mm knitting needles – I used 80 cm circulars as main needles
• two additional 3mm knitting needles – I used dpns
• a crochet hook that is a bit bigger than the knitting needles (I used a 4 mm hook)  
• a tapestry needle – for grafting and to weave in ends