Brioche: Like knitting a cozy cloud

There are few things in knitting that give me as much pleasure as knitting up a piece of brioche fabric.

When I first discovered this unique stitch I was flabbergasted.

You see brioche has its own language around it.

Because I was still a newbie at the time, I had no clue what the heck was a BRK1? Or a Sl1YO?!?

It might as well have been written in Greek.

Luckily I stumbled upon Nancy Marchant’s wonderful Brioche Stitch website where she explained how everything works.

In fact, it was Nancy who came up with the abbreviations we now use to describe the elements of brioche knitting.

There are three things that distinguish two-color brioche from other types of ribbed or colorwork fabric:

It’s reversible
Pretty much all ribbing is reversible, but brioche is a little different. This type of brioche has a positive and a negative side, which means what happens on one side is inverted on the other side.

Not only do shapes show on both sides, the colors will be reversed on the wrong side of the fabric, making for a more dynamic color combination.
**It’s double sided
**As mentioned above the positive and negative sides are inverted. So your primary color will be the secondary color on the wrong side and visa versa.

This happens because you’re literally knitting one side of the fabric with one color and the other side another color. But because of its stitch construction, both sides interact to create its distinct look.
**It has a unique construction
**What gives this stitch its luscious, squishy feel is its unusual construction. Each row is actually made up of two rows of stitches. Yarn overs are knit together with a knit stitch to create the icon “V” rib found in brioche.

It’s such a versatile stitch that Nancy Marchant has written three books on the topic, exploring different aspects of brioche knitting.

BUT…

A lot of people struggle with Brioche because it can be difficult to wrap your head around its construction.

That’s because it’s not just a ribbing stitch, it’s also a form of double knitting.

There’s a lot happening when you knit this technique, especially when doing it flat.

HOWEVER

And when you get the hang of it, there are many gorgeous stitches you can knit using this technique.

Success with this technique is all about developing an understanding the how brioche stitches work.

In my opinion, this is MUCH easier to learn 2-Color Brioche when knitting in the round.

Why?

Because when knit in the round, each repeat is only 2 rows, rather than the 4 rows when knit flat.

That means you can focus on learning how Brioche Knit and Purl stitches work, instead of maneuvering the yarn back and forth on the needle.

Luckily, we’ll be teaching how to knit 2-Color Brioche in the round during the Colorwork Knitting Weekend!

Want to learn more about 2-Color Brioche?

Register for the Colorwork Knitting Weekend where we’ll be teaching how to do this technique on Day 3.

Conclusion

Brioche is an advanced colorwork technique that’s extremely rewarding when you learn how to knit it.

But what do you think?

Have you tried knitting 2-Color Brioche?

What happened?

Hit reply and let us know!

We’d love to hear about your experience. 😍