HUGE in the knitting world now…Brioche! Not to be confused with the bread! Brioche knitting is not new, but it certainly has had a great resurgence. I believe in large part, it’s popularity could be due to designs by Stephen West, and his way with color.
Now, yarn shops are jumping in with classes to support this popularity. I have even seen some retreats surrounding this technique accompanied with some notable knitterati teaching. These retreats go for big money.
To be honest, when I first saw Brioche knitting, it sort of scared me. I thought, no thank you, I’ll just sit here and finish what I’m working on. But, as more patterns were introduced, my interest peaked. I wasn’t in a position to spend big money on a retreat weekend for this, but Pinchknitter yarns advertised a class on Facebook for $30, and I said “SOLD”!
I thought it would be a fun team activity, so I signed myself, Diana and Carmel up to take the class. It’s winter here in the pacific northwest, and that translates into gray skies, chilly temps and rain. Carmel drove — we got there early and all had lunch together. We arrived for our class, and met our instructor Sarah.
The class wasn’t project based, it was swatch based. Now, I know why. There was a lot to unpack for this new technique. There were four of us in the class which I think was perfect. Anything larger may have required a second teacher. We got handouts and great instruction, and I believe we all ripped out and started again. Carmel was the advanced student, as she was able to proceed to increases and decreases. I learned a lot and am just working my rows for practice. It may turn into a scarf, I just don’t know for sure.
After class, I took some pictures of the store, because, you know me. I’m all about the yarn shop and I am sure you want to see the store. Pinchknitter yarns is located in Stanwood, Washington and owner Sirkku Bingham is a lover of baseball, hence the name Pinchknitter. The store used to be a clock store/repair business and there are clocks around the store including a cuckoo clock that sounds off on the hour. There is also a nearby train track with trains bustling through town not far away. It’s like a step back in time. And these days, a slow down is lovely and soothing, right along with our yarn and knitting….brioche knitting! …you may click on any photo to see it’s larger version…
Pinchknitter owner Sirkku Bingham with America’s Knitting owner Mary Neill