Reversible Brioche Wrap

And Other Brioche Objects

I have another class coming up at the community college – Brioche Knitting. The next post will be the password protected materials for that class. In the meantime, here is a brief introduction to brioche knitting.

Brioche knitting is a slipped-stitch technique that results in a stretchy knitted fabric where the partially visible floats add interest to the fabric design. When worked in a rib pattern, as in the Reversible Brioche Wrap shown in the photos below, the fabric does not compress as much as traditional ribbing. But like a traditional rib pattern, the fabric doesn’t have an obvious right side or wrong side, which makes it an appealing stitch to use in scarves and wraps where both sides can be visible. In the photos below, the fawn-colored floats are visible on the side with the more prominent black knitted stitches. On the reverse side, the black-colored floats are visible with the more prominent fawn-colored knitted stitches.

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Each row in brioche knitting is worked twice–in the first pass through a row, half of the stitches are worked and half of the stitches are slipped using the brioche slip (essentially a YO worked across the slipped stitch), which sets up those stitches for the subsequent pass across the row. In the second pass through the row, the pattern is alternated: work the slipped stitches and slip the worked stitches from the previous pass. Because the float yarn is worked together with the stitch, it produces the characteristic look of brioche knitting where the floats are partially visible.

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Because each row is worked twice, circular needles are required, even when working a flat object.

While the brioche technique can be a challenge, it produces such an interesting and beautiful fabric, it is well worth the effort to learn!

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For more information about knitting classes at Heartland Community College, please visit the continuing education site at: http://www.heartland.edu/continuingEd/personalEnrichment.html