Mercedes Tarasovich-Clark - Brioche chic: 22 fresh knits for women and men

With love to Chris, my partner in crime. Mostly.

The first time I saw brioche knitting, I fell in love. Nestled in the current issue of my favorite knitting magazine that had arrived that day was an article by Nancy Marchant detailing a two-color brioche rib technique. I was part owner of a local yarn shop at the time, and it was a slow afternoon, so I grabbed two balls of contrasting yarn and dove in. After a few missteps, some raveled yarn, and a few colorful words, I was well underway on a two-color brioche rib hat, ultimately destined to be given as a gift to a friend undergoing cancer treatment. I made a few more pieces that summer, experimenting with yarn colors and textures, and then I moved on to other things as shop responsibilities led me in other directions.

A few years later, Nancy published an entire volume on brioche knitting. The techniques sparked my interest once again, and I dove headfirst into brioche knitting projects. After publishing a few sweater designs in Interweave Knits, I was asked to film a video on brioche techniques for Interweave. In spite of a bad case of nerves from being on camera, I was excited to share the technique. Since then, brioche has been on my mind as I experimented with the technique, trying new yarns, color shifts, and texture options. It wouldnt be an understatement to say that I have tried only a fraction of what is possible within the world of brioche knitting.

After trying many brioche techniques, loving many while discarding others, I decided to hone in on what makes brioche fun, visually striking, and worth the leap from the familiar. In this book, my goal has been to bring classic garments and accessories with a modern feel into the world of brioche knitting and vice versa. To that end, youll pair familiar pieces with brioche textures, add brioche colorwork to an otherwise simple sweater, and delve into a complex pattern on a smaller accessory. I hope these pieces encourage you to develop a new skill set and cultivate your own love of brioche knits.

To begin to work in brioche, and fully fall in love with the possibilities of the stitch, youll first need to learn a few basics. Once you understand the basic stitch structure, you can then learn how to choose yarns and needles that help you fine-tune your brioche projects, work cast-on and bind-off methods that pair well with brioche, and shape brioche with increases and decreases.

Brioche knitting creates an unusual stitch structure, quite unlike anything you may run across in an average knitted fabric. Brioche is sort of a hybrid of k1, p1 ribbing and double knitting, in which you work each row or round in two passes and slip the unworked stitches to create one finished row. Unlike double knittings technique of simply slipping the unworked stitches on each pass, brioche relies on an unusual stitch called the sl1yo, or slip one, yarnover. This stitch combined with the subsequent brioche knit and brioche purl create what appears to be a single fabric layer, but it could almost be considered two enmeshed layers of knitted fabric. The result is thick, luxurious, highly textural, and warm, especially when worked at a slightly smaller gauge to highlight the ribbed stitch columns.

Brioche is, admittedly, a bit of extra effort. So why go to the trouble? The minute you feel the texture of a brioche-stitch piece in person, or see a bold piece of brioche colorwork, the answer will seem obvious. The depth of texture and stunning color effects made possible through brioches stitch manipulation make these pieces worth the time. In colorwork, handling two colors of yarn per row can be easier, since you are working each color one at a time before returning to the beginning to work the second color, much like mosaic knitting. With cables, colorwork, and other texture patterns, the work is often reversible, making turndown collars, double-sided scarves, and two-toned cowls a design option.

Basic brioche rib (top) and k1, p1 rib (bottom)

To create brioches unique structure, we rely on an alternating pattern of slipped and knit (or purled) stitches. Each row or round is worked in two passes, which equal one completed row or round. As alternate stitches are worked, theyre not merely slipped but slipped while a companion yarnover is simultaneously worked. This stitch, the sl1yo, is what creates brioche knittings enmeshed structure. Once you have sl1yo stitches in place, these stitch/yarnover pairings are either knit or purled in the brioche method, as a brk (brioche knit) or brp (brioche purl).

This is a stitch combination that creates a stitch/yarnover pairing, which counts as a single stitch. Following a knit or brk (brioche knit) stitch, bring yarn to front between needle tips, slip next stitch purlwise and simultaneously bring yarn over needle to back of work (). Following a purl or brp (brioche purl) stitch, with yarn in front, slip next stitch purlwise and simultaneously bring yarn over needle to back of work.

Figure 1

This is the brioche version of a basic knit stitch, and it is as easily worked as a k2tog. With yarn at the back of work ().