Amy's Classes

Beginning Brioche: Two-Color Brioche in the Round 

Unlock the secrets of squishy, captivating brioche knitting! This class, which is suitable for first-time brioche knitters, will guide you through all the tricks for working this fun and fluffy stitch. 

We'll begin by covering the basics of working two-color brioche in the round (because working brioche in the round is easier than flat, and two colors are easier to keep track of than one!) then we'll practice working basic increases and decreases, as you begin to work the Folding Mountain Cowl in class. You will not finish the cowl in class, but will learn all the skills you need to complete the cowl on your own.

Materials: 150 yards each of a dark and a light-colored worsted-weight yarn, 16' circular needle in the size you usually use for worsted weight yarn, 2 locking stitch markers.

Using long-tail cast-on, cast on 90 stitches loosely with the dark yarn and join to work in the round. Knit one round, knitting every stitch. Knit a second round in K1 P1 ribbing. 

Intermediate: Students should know how to cast on, bind off, knit, purl, YO and slip stitches. 

Beyond Basic Brioche: Syncopated Stitches and Knitting Flat Brioche 

Squishy, captivating brioche stitch gets even more fun once you start expanding your color play. This class will unlock the secrets of knitting brioche back-and-forth in two colors, including casting on, working a selvedge, and tips for keeping track of your rows and colors. Once you’re confident with the standard two-color brioche stitch, we’ll delve into syncopated brioche, a technique that allows you to enliven your brioche knitting with fascinating color patterning. 

Level: Intermediate — Students should know how to cast on, bind off, knit, purl, slip stitches, and work Sl1YO, BRK and BRP stitches. Students who have taken my Intro to Brioche class will be well-prepared for this class.

Materials: Approximately 20 yards each of a dark and light-colored worsted-weight yarn; double-pointed or circular needles at least 6” long in the size you usually use for worsted weight yarn (for example, #7 US); several index cards; magic markers or colored pencils in colors similar to your yarn colors.

Brioche Without Breakdowns: How to Recognize and Fix Brioche Mistakes

Mistakes in brioche can feel overwhelming, but there's no need to give up! In this class we'll examine different types of mistakes that happen in brioche knitting and practice recognizing and fixing them. We'll work from simple fixes to lifelines to complicated brioche "party tricks," learning the secrets to brioche tinking, frogging, dropping down, and more.

Level: Intermediate — Students should know how to cast on, bind off, knit, purl, slip stitches, and work Sl1YO, BRK and BRP stitches. Students who have taken my Intro to Brioche class will be well-prepared for this class.

Homework: In advance of class, knit a two-color brioche swatch that is at least 4" by 4", this can be knit either circularly or flat, whichever you are most comfortable with. 

Materials: A practice two-color brioche swatch at least 4" by 4 as described above, at least 10 additional yards of each of the two colors of yarn used in your swatch, the needles you used to create your swatch, cable needle or spare dpns.  Yarn not provided.

Tips and Tricks for Next-Level Knitting 

Do you always bind off too tightly? Do your socks have funny points at the toes or holes in the gussets? Ever twisted your cast-on row when you were joining in the round? Does your knitting "row out?" Do your decreases not quite match? In this class, we'll explore solutions for all of these problems and many more of the common issues that plague knitters. Come prepared with your stickiest knitting-related issues and we’ll see if I can’t find a better way for you to get the results you want.

Level: This class is suitable for knitters at all levels.

Materials: None required, although students may prefer to have yarn and needles handy to practice some of the techniques that will be demonstrated.