Brioche knits are drop-dead gorgeous. But even though I'm a fairly skilled knitter, I just have never really been able to wrap my head around the technique.
Sometimes it is possible to substitute the fisherman's rib stitch in place of brioche rib. This lovely hooded scarf, by little quail handcraft, designed in a simple brioche rib, seems to be a suitable candidate for that substitution, so I'm going to give it a try that way. 😊 Using the fisherman's rib stitch makes this pattern accessible for me. If you are able to knit in brioche, go for it!
It has been a few years since the last time I worked in fisherman's rib, so I used the video and blog tutorials by Davina Choy of Sheep & Stitch to refresh my memory for how to work this easy, squishy stitch.
For the yarn, I am cannibalizing this poncho project that I crocheted in 2022. It weighs about 512 grams, which, by weight, works out to approximately the equivalent of 4 skeins of this yarn. Those 4 skeins weren't quite enough to finish the poncho to my satisfaction, even though I really liked the way the project was coming along (and I believe the Eggplant/Taupe colorway had already been discontinued, and I didn't feel like searching around online to try to buy more), so my poncho sat in purgatory for about four years while I figured out what else I wanted to make with this fiber.
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| From poncho to Sno Cap Hood |
Fair warning: There is enough of a wool halo in this yarn to frequently make it difficult to rip back. Also, there is a lot of variability in the thickness of this yarn from the way it's spun, which almost gives it a homespun character.
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| Variable thickness in the fiber |
I don't have the labels anymore, but from what I can see online, each of these skeins is supposed to be about 312 yards, so I should have more than enough on hand to knit a Sno Cap Hood, even with my mods to increase the size.
I deviated from the pattern by starting off with a scarf width of 25 stitches, because I prefer my scarves to be on the wider side. At this gauge, that is giving me a scarf that's about 6 inches wide, which is a fairly standard scarf width.
After knitting a couple of inches, I realized that I was not happy with the way the selvedge stitches were sitting, so I ripped back to the beginning and switched from working the slipped-stitch selvedges (as per the pattern) to working them in garter stitch. At least for the fiber that I'm working with here, having garter stitch selvedges looks better, so I'm glad I noticed early on how I felt about the edges and was able to make the change before I got so far along that ripping back would have been more painful. Sometimes you just have to go with what the personality of your fiber is saying. 😂
Before starting the hood increases, I knitted the length of the first scarf tail to about 36 inches, which was about 162 rows at the gauge I'm working with this fiber.
To work the fisherman's rib double increases/decreases for the hood portion, this video tutorial by Carolina of So Wooly is the perfect guide for executing that technique. She also provides a written tutorial of the technique on her blog.
At first the hood increases seem counterintuitive because they alternate between being worked on the right side and the wrong side (and the center stitch "moves" each time, but I really can't explain it; you just have to do it and trust the pattern), but if you follow the pattern as written (because it's correct, of course!) and also "read" your knitting as you go, you'll soon be able to tell the rows where you need to increase. Once you start knitting the increases section, and you're able to see how it comes together, you will see how the instructions make sense and keep you making the increases on the knit side of the center stitch.
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| Increases |
I did make some mistakes as I was working the increase section. If you look closely at my photo of the increases, you can see where I increased on the wrong stitch a few times. But since I was able to stay in the ribbing pattern, those mistakes are not super obvious, thank goodness. Whew! 😅 The ribbing is somewhat forgiving of a few small mistakes. Using a couple of removable markers to mark the center section (and moving them after each increase/decrease) can help a lot.
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| Love the phasing of the colors |
I increased to a total of 57 stitches for the hood (or 11 increases). Not only do I prefer my scarves to be on the wider and longer side, but I also prefer my hoods to be amply sized to fit over my hair, which I usually wear up in a messy bun style. Plus, the extra depth will keep the back of my neck extra cozy when the hood is down, so win-win!
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| Another foot to go |
As a natural English-style knitter, I am always Majestically Awkward 🦩 while knitting in any type of rib stitch, so I won't often take on an entire project in rib stitch, but this hooded scarf is definitely worth it. 💜 I love to watch videos of continental-style knitters working; it's hypnotically beautiful to me. And I have tried multiple times to retrain my hands to knit continental style (I comprehend how they're doing it), but my hands just simply refuse to cooperate because they know that they can already knit just fine in English style, thank you very much. 🤦 Oh well, I'll probably keep trying from time to time to learn continental style, and maybe someday it will stick for me. 😂
In addition to this Sno Cap Hood, I was able to knit two other coordinating projects using the yarn from the poncho project: a Freja cowl and a messy-bun hat based on the Endless Texture Brim Hat design.
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| Matching accessories |