For the last month or so I’ve been pretty obsessed with brioche knitting, so I thought I’d write about it for my September post. (Let’s ignore the fact that it’s October now…) I have two brioche FOs to share and one WIP test knit to come!
Brioche is something I learned how to do ages ago, but I think it was before I properly switched to Continental knitting – and boy would it be slow if I didn’t knit left-handed! It’s still slow, but I’ve gotten into a great rhythm with it, so I find it much easier these days.
If you’re unfamiliar, brioche is a (usually) two-color rib stitch variation. You usually work each row/round twice, once with each color, which is often what makes it slow. (I’ve thought about trying the single-pass version but I think that might take out some of the rhythm that makes brioche meditative for me.) Because of the structure, it turns out to be reversible with a neat color switch on the reverse – but you also have to be aware of that when weaving ends or joining new colors!
BriocheSis Hat
My first brioche knit in September was the BriocheSis Hat by Raina K. I think this pattern caught my eye because it looked so complicated but it was also super discounted. While I’m writing this, it’s still listed for €0.90 which is a huge steal.
I did say it looked complicated but actually I didn’t have a hard time knitting this at all. The pattern is super detailed so it was a great re-entry into brioche for me. Knitting it made me realize that I might have been making some brioche mistakes in the past. For instance, this hat is worsted weight knitted on a US 2.5 (3mm)!! That sounds crazy, right? I actually used DK on a 2 and it turned out to be the perfect size because of the way brioche stretches. It also helps keep your knit stitches looking nice and neat, when they can get kind of droopy if your brioche gauge is off.
The yarn I used was from Yarn Cafe Creations – her Americano DK. It’s a super nice yarn, very squishy and round – it looks great in brioche! And her speckles are really awesome, I’m not sure if I got a great photo of those, but it made it super fun to knit.
In this photo I’m wearing it with my Duomo earrings from Hello Lavender Design – part of her Italy collab with Explorer Knits+Fibers! I definitely treated myself to some pretty things from that collection at the beginning of quarantine, and they arrived just in time to be a nice birthday gift. I’m sure I’ll be featuring more of those soon!
Capture Life’s Memories
Raina has so many beautiful brioche patterns and although English isn’t her first language, her patterns seem really well edited, I didn’t have any trouble following. I’ll definitely be checking out more of them!
emPOWER People Bandana (brioche version of course!)
The emPOWER PEOPLE Project is “a craftivism project aimed at uniting crafters of all mediums to engage people across communities to spark conversation, engagement and action in the political process to uphold social justice and human rights”. It was started by a great group of designers and dyers – you can see them on the bottom of their site, as well as a list of participating BIPOC dyers – and the original knit version is by Casapinka. You can also check out the crochet and sewn version (all free!), and I made the brioche version by Nancy Marchant (the master of brioche, of course!).
I’m volunteering as a poll worker this year and I thought the bandana would be great to wear during that. I really liked the dark background on Nancy’s sample version, so I used some leftovers of Blue Sky Woolstok in a dark gray. The super vibrant purple is a tonal from Countess Ablaze (fingering held doubled) that was custom-dyed for my LYS, Knit Locally! It’s part of their exclusive 50s collection, which has some really awesome and bright colors
The pattern was really straightforward to knit after I had already done the more complex hat – though it was flat and not in the round, so that added a few additional details like selvedges. I did 5 increase sections rather than 6 since I’m small, and I added a little flair at the end with some decreases 🙂 The seaming to make the cowl/bandana shape was really easy and not how I expected, so that was pretty cool. I’m still kind of figuring out how to wear this style though – should I flip the neck in or out? Should I just leave it like the picture?
and finally…a WIP!
I’m probably not going to post too much about this until the pattern releases, but I’m test knitting the Broadleaf Sweater for Wool & Pine in October! It’s got a brioche front panel and brioche or stockinette back – I haven’t decided which I’m doing yet. It calls for a fingering for the foreground color, and fingering + mohair for the background, which should fill in the gaps in the lace pattern nicely – though I’m a rebel and using a DK instead of the combo, haha.
I’ll definitely come back with an update when it releases in November. I’ve test knit for Wool & Pine before with theirSummer Sorrel Sweater, and their designs are super creative and fun!
Are you a fan of brioche? What’s been your favorite brioche knit so far?