For a long time now, a couple of years, in fact, I have been looking for the solution to this stitch. My husband had a sweater that he loved. Eventually a hole formed right in front and rendered it unwearable. I thought I could repair it, but I couldn't figure out how the stitches were formed. So I decided to remake the sweater and of course I had to use the same stitch, even similar yarn. (I’m literal that way.) I bought Rowan Purelife Revive in a lovely grey color. One thing that my DH liked about his sweater is that it is comfy and not too hot. The original fiber is a cotton and ramie blend. Revive is a silk, cotton and viscose blend, so I thought it would work pretty well. I asked around, but no one knew what this stitch was. It is obviously knit, but since it was a store bought sweater we thought that perhaps it was a trick of the knitting machine. I tried several things, but nothing was working. I decided to use a different stitch.   I worked many swatches, even finally settling on a double seed stitch. I think the needles are too small though because the fabric is rather stiff. I wasn’t happy with it, so it has been hibernating in the stash for a couple of years. I had discovered in all of my swatching that the Revive yarn has a peculiar odor. My husband is pretty sensitive to odors. He gets upset if I leave his jeans in the washer overnight because they have a peculiar smell. (Maybe that’s what’s in the Revive!) So I decided that I needed to use a different yarn for his sweater. As a result, I have a sweater’s worth of Revive on hand.  Then a week ago I started listening to Jane Eyre on the Craftlit podcast.There is a “Jane’s Ubiquitous Shawl” KAL on Ravelry and I thought I would like to make one for myself. Immediately, the Purelife Revive yarn came to mind. Jane’s Shawl takes 1200 – 1300 yards. It is the yarn I have the most quantity of, so I thought this would be a good way to use it up. I was busy working on my shawl the other night and mentioned to DH that this yarn has a peculiar smell. He said, “I don’t smell anything.” I insisted and even mentioned that my instructor at Vogue Knitting Live who designs for Rowan mentioned that it stinks and you can’t get rid of the smell. My husband said he liked the yarn. What!!! Back to the drawing board. I abandoned the shawl for now. :{ I immediately went hunting for the original stitch pattern again. I went to Barbara Walker’s A Treasury of Knitting Patterns. I had gone there before but didn’t really see what I was looking for. Then I stumbled on the Double Brioche Stitch. I happily swatched away and sure enough this one looked a lot like the original. The main difference is that the reverse is stockinette. I couldn’t figure out for the life of me how to make it stockinette. It always came out reverse stockinette. I looked up at the top of page 157 and there in black and white is Brioche Stockinette. Back to swatching. But the “front” now didn’t look right. Then this morning I got an idea. I looked online for Double Brioche Stockinette and came across this video. Eureka! Just what I have been looking for!

She is working in two colors. I tried swatching with my one, but I kept getting confused. I decided to follow along with two colors and I think I’ve got the hang of it.  In addition I may have a Christmas gift for someone else….

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