Challenging

There for a while, I just could not get excited about knitting anything that was not primarily garter or stockinette. I still wanted to knit, I just didn't want to have to follow a chart or count stitches or do anything but mindlessly knit.  That feeling recently gave way to a desire to try something new.  So it was serendipitous that Knitting Brioche popped up on the new books shelf at my local library branch.

Simply put, brioche knitting is a method for double knitting that produces a deeply textured fabric.  Even the simplest stitch yields dramatic results.

Side A:

Side B:

I'm starting with the Zandloper scarf which incorporates regular double knit blocks to give the item some shape.  Unfortunately, I have been making enough mistakes that I am tempted to start over, or at least rip back to where I was in the photos above.  The mistakes are not eye-popping, but they are all I see when I look at the scarf.

I thought the button loops for the hooded carrying bag would be a challenge, but these instructions were easy to follow.

Buttons will go on today, then all that remains is seaming the bottom.

Belinda is still crawling along, still at about fifteen minutes per two rows.

I am trying to knit at least two rows a day, to keep my hand in, at which rate it will take me about a year to finish this.  I would do more but two at a time is about all I can stand.  And thanks to my aging eyes, they must be knit in daylight.  Maybe I will try to knit two rows a quarter while watching football today.  Surely I can tolerate that.