Want to Learn a New Knitting Skill This Year? Try Brioche Knitting

January 2, 2015 by Sarah White

I got a little obsessed with brioche knitting this fall. I’m not quite sure I’m over it; I really want to knit a brioche cowl (when by all accounts I should be over cowls, too, given how many I knit before Christmas).

This knitting technique involves working some stitches and slipping others on one side of the knitting and usually doing the opposite on the other side to make a squishy, warm, reversible fabric that looks really cool in a single color or in two colors.

I have a tutorial on the basics of brioche over at About, as well as a simple potholder and two-color scarf pattern.

If you want to learn more and see some different ways of using brioche stitch, check out the free brioche knitting ebook from Knitting Daily. (Free subscription signup required.) This book covers the basics and offers five free patterns for you to try (I seriously love that tank top, designed by Katy Ryan).

Have you tried brioche knitting? I’d love to know if you give it a go or what you think of it if you’ve tried it before.

[Photo via Knitting Daily.]

Looking for Brioche Patterns? Check these out on Etsy

These Christmas Knitting Pattern Books on Amazon

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Comments

Jeanne says
January 4, 2015 at 8:29 pm
If you haven’t already done so, check out Rodekool on Knitty http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEdf10/PATTrodekool.php I made a dozen of these for gifts a few years ago. It’s not a cowl and not really a scarf… It’s just awesome.
Sarah White says
January 4, 2015 at 9:35 pm
Oooh, that’s a cool one. Thanks for sharing!

Have you read?

Knit a Fish Pouch, for Reasons

I can’t resist a pattern that’s both useful and a little silly, and that’s exactly how I feel about the Rybka pouch pattern from the delightfully named Rat and Sea Witch.

I know you’re going to ask, because I did, too. Rybka means little fish in Polish. (And because you’re also probably going to ask, Rat and Sea Witch comes from people’s attempts to say the designer’s name, Ratasiewicz, which if you say it fast kind of sounds like rat and sea witch.)

It’s easy to make a little fish bag in different sizes to suit your needs. The pattern has specific instructions for an Airpods Pro case and a pencil case, but you could change the length easily to hold more stuff, and change the size in general by working with a different weight of yarn.

The pattern calls for sock yarn and mohair held together to make a fingering weight gauge, but you could try it with heavier yarn and see what size bag you end up with.

Whatever size you make it, this looks like a fun project for holding trinkets or everyday items. The mouth of the fish is the mouth of the bag, and it closes with a drawstring that is also the strap. I wonder, too, if you could make one of these with a small clasp frame that could be the fish’s mouth and then you could just work I cord straps that would attach to the sides of the fish.

I could also see stripes, or fish of different colors to use up your yarn leftovers. How about a sunglasses case with a little loop to attach to your bag? Once you start thinking about all the ways you could use a fish-shaped bag in your life, I think you’ll see that you probably need more than one.

If you make one of these I would love to know how it went!

You can grab a copy of the pattern on Ravelry.

[Photo: Rat and Sea Witch]