I decided to make a big squishy sweater for winter, but it was too good at its job. After finishing the front and back pieces and beginning the arms, I tried it on for fit and realized it’s less of a sweater and more of a woolly cocoon x gravity blanket. As great as squishy brioche ribs are, they’ll relax and stretch with washing and I’ll start to drown in a sweater I’m already swimming in. Ultimately I’m going to frog this so I can use the yarn to make something I’m more excited about wearing.
Pattern: Big Brioche Turtleneck, size 54 in Knitpicks Wool of the Andes Superwash in Dove Heather
New skills: Flat-worked brioche, brioche increases & decreases
Lessons: On one of the edges of the pattern (I can’t actually remember which one) I got confused because the stitches on my needles didn’t seem to match the instructions. I eventually realized that the yarn over pulls the edge stitch in such a way that it appears there are 2 stitches on the needle, when in actuality it’s just 1 rotated stitch. Not sure if this shows up in other flat brioche patterns, but good to keep in mind regardless.
When counting brioche rows, the number of knit loops on one side of the fabric is actually only 1/2 of the total number of rows. This also means that a piece of brioche fabric 1 foot long will be twice as heavy as a piece of knit fabric the same length.
When choosing a size in brioche make sure to account for how much the finished object will stretch. I also encountered this on the Skipp Hat, which loosened a lot and lightly felted in its stretched form. I chose a size that would accommodate my hip measurement but the entire garment ended up being too big.
I tried a couple different styles of yarn changes: spit grafting and knitting with 2 strands of yarn held together for a few stitches. I think I actually prefer the latter on this project, which seems to integrate into the brioche ribbing more cleanly.
What I’d do differently: I’d definitely pick a different size if I made this again, but honestly I think I’ll steer away from oversized brioche sweaters in the future. I like the idea of an oversized sweater in theory, but the practicality of that style of garment (particularly in brioche) actually seems limited due to the weight and size/stretch. Even when I tried it on, the turtleneck was pulled down by the weight of the rest of the sweater.
