Knitting

Free Patterns, Tutorials and Project Ideas

Choose Your Own Brioche Knitting Adventure with this Shawl Knitting Pattern

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If you’re looking for a fun project to play with brioche knitting, check out the My Buddy knitting pattern/recipe from Casuarinagirl on Ravelry. 

This project doesn’t include a brioche tutorial, so it’s good to know the basics, including how to increase and decrease, but you can always practice on a swatch before you start the project if you want. 

The design is meant to be flexible for the yarn you have and what size and shape of project you want to make, from a skinny neck scarf to a asymmetrical triangle or a more classic triangular shape. 

The shape you end up with will depend on how often you increase (and then decrease on the other side). The pattern mentions increasing every fourth, fifth or six row (and the one shown increases and decreases every sixth row) but you can do it even more or less often depending on the shape you’re looking for an how much yarn you want to use. 

You can work to whatever depth you would like, or use almost half of the yarn you have set aside for the project and begin decreasing. 

When it comes to yarn, she used three strands of yarn held together to make a super fluffy shawl, but you can work it with whatever yarn and needles you like to make a wrap that’s all your own. 

If you are new to brioche (or to increasing and decreasing in brioche) it might be a good idea to make a little scarf or head wrap first before diving in to the bigger pattern, just so you’re more comfortable with the technique. Or just give it a go; nothing about brioche knitting is that difficult. (But you might want to use a lifeline because I find brioche hard to rip out or fix mistakes in properly.)

You can grab the free pattern for the Buddy Wrap on Ravelry. 

[Photo: Casuarinagirl]

Have you read?

Knit a Hammock for Your Fruit

This free knitting pattern falls in the category of cute but maybe not essential, as well as a nice way to use some yarn left over from another project. 

The Briggs St. Fruit Hammock from Mycah Knits is beginner friendly because it’s a big rectangle worked in stockinette stitch on larger needles than the yarn would usually call for (size 11 US/8 mm for DK weight/weight 3 yarn) to provide more air flow around the fruit. 

The idea behind a fruit hammock like this is both that it saves you counter space since it’s meant to be mounted under a cabinet and that air flow around the fruit helps prevent moisture from getting trapped below the fruit, which should keep it fresh longer. They’re also just cute and keep your fruits or veg accessible so hopefully you will eat more of them. 

This pattern also includes I-cord handles, which is how you hang the hammock, and you’ll need to be able to pick up stitches for them, but that’s the only beyond beginner skill required in this project. 

It only uses about 25 grams of yarn, so this is a perfect project for using a little something left over from another project. It would also be cute with stripes, so you can use odd balls from several projects. Or make the I-cord with a contrasting color to add a bit more fun if you like.

The designer does recommend using acrylic yarn for this project because it shouldn’t stretch out of shape with use and is easy to wash should your aspirations for eating fruit outstrip your reality. But they also provide tips for testing the stretch in a yarn you want to use and adjusting the pattern to account for that. 

I don’t have a space in my place for this but it is super cute and a fun way to add knitting to the home, which I’m always a fan of. 

You can grab the free pattern on Ravelry. 

[Photo: Mycah Knits]