I’m thrilled to announce you this news : my new shawl pattern, Brioche for Teatime, is now available! Further sweetening the deal, this new shawl has been developed in partnership with Le Chat qui Tricote for the Winter Box! I’ll get into the details of what’s included in the box in Wednesday’s article, so stay tuned (hint: I LOVE it!).
Me loving brioche stitch has been quite a long journey. I actually worked with it quite a few years ago as a testknit for Hiroko Payne and even if I found it quite pleasing to work with, I did get a little exhausted by all the new brioche pattern coming live this past couple of years.
I started to fall in love with it when I was working on samples for my brioche class. The rhythm of slipping and knitting stitch is really both relaxing and amazingly close to what you can have on some heel flaps. That’s no wonder, I got hooked as soon as I realised it! Moreover, the brioche stitch can be used to create some stunning motifs and as such is a real delight to design with.
Last fall, when I was at Le Chat qui Tricote shop for our first brioche workshop, I lobbied to throw some brioche stitch into the next box. To be honest, I did not have to make such great effort to convince Camille and Mathilde, the job was halfway done by the stitch itself actually! We agreed on the colours and I started working on some sketches. I’m no good at drawing but I enjoy to sketch my designs anyways!
How it’s Made
Worked from the top centre down with i-cord selvedges, its body alternates between brioche stitch patterns and garter stitch sections to form its semi-circular.
The shawl starts with an i-cord cast-on and a simple brioche section, making it perfect for a beginner-brioche project. The shawl grows then at a steady pace, switching between colours in plain or striped garter stitch sections. The second brioche section features both brioche increases and decreases and is worked in reversed colours compared to the first one. A good occasion to showcase two of your most loved skeins of yarns! After a few rows of garter stitch, you’ll start the laterally worked brioche border. Even if this kind of border is quite time consuming, I have a soft spot for this traditional construction which allow for all kind of craziness (and which was the first type of border I worked when I started to knit shawls).
If the making process interest you, I’ve talked about it around here before (like here, or here) .
The Yarn
In this new box, we decided to mix yarn brands as the shawl uses two skeins of yarns from two different companies. I used Le Chat qui Tricote Féline in Coquelicot as the main (light) colour. I spoke about Le Chat qui Tricote so much on the blog already (what can I say, I love them and I love their yarn!). We paired up this light orange with a skein of Uncommon Everyday in a gorgeous burgundy red from The Uncommon Thread called Lust.
The Uncommon Thread was founded in 2010 in Brighton, UK. It’s still a relatively small artisan company which dyes all their yarn by hand in their studio, and their colours are stunning! Simple but so deep, with amazing shades. So pretty! It has the same yardage and weight as the Féline so it was a perfect match. Both yarns are made with 100% merino wool and have approx 400 m (440 yds) in a 100 g skein which make them a perfect fingering yarn.
Even if I’m a hard-core fan of single yarns, I preferred to use plied yarns for this shawl as it does need quite a drastic block at the end to take its shape. It’s still however possible to knit and block it in single yarns, as one of the Sneak-Peekers did. It will likely un-block quicker but it works gracefully too.
Upcoming Tutorials
Even if the shawl itself only uses common brioche stitches and techniques, some increases and decreases can be confusing. That’s why I’ll publish tutorials over the next two weeks to help you master the shawl set-up and the more challenging brioche stitches it uses without any pain. Be sure to come around in a few days to discover them.
Get Knitting
The Brioche for Teatime pattern is available from my Ravelry shop and my own e-shop, as always both in English and French. It has been professionally tech-edited by James Bartley and reviewed by some skillful Sneak-Peekers (thanks so much ladies!) who knitted stunning shawls. If you don’t want to knit your shawl alone, you can join the Tisserin Coquet Ravelry group or the Tisserin Brood Facebook group anytime and I’ll be happy to answer your questions.
What you’ll need to knit your own Brioche for Teatime shawl:
- The Brioche for Teatime pattern (obviously!) – available in Ravelry or my e-shop.
- Main Colour (MC): 340-350 m / 372-383 yds – I used 1 skein of Le Chat qui Tricote Féline, col. Coquelicot.
- Contrasting Colour (CC) : 340-350 m / 372-383 yds – I used 1 skein of The Uncommon Thread Uncommon Everyday, col. Lust.
- 4 mm / US #6 – at least 100 cm / 40” circular needles to work the shawl body.
- 3.5 mm / US #4 double-pointed needles to work the shawl border.
- 1 cable needle (or progress marker) to work the decreases.
- 3 progress markers (removable stitch markers, only needed in the written instruction version).
- 1 tapestry needle to weave in ends.
As I was saying at the beginning of this post, the Brioche for Teatime shawl is included in Le Chat qui Tricote Winter Box! And let me tell you, this one more filled with warmth and love than ever. Each box contains the Brioche for Teatime printed patterns, a code for you to add the pattern to your Ravelry librairie, one skein of Le Chat qui Tricote Féline, one skein of The Uncommon Thread Uncommon Everyday in matching colours, and a few more extras that you’ll discover in Wednesday’s article.
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p style=”text-align: justify;”>The Winter box is available on Le Chat qui Tricote shop in seven (!) different colours! Don’t hesitate too long before choosing yours, some colours stocks are really limited and selling fast!
