Lesley Anne Robinson - Brioche Knitting for Beginners and Beyond: Your Definitive Guide to Creating Colorful, Lusciously Textured Knitwear

CREATOR OF KNIT GRAFFITI DESIGNS

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IN MEMORY OF MY DEAR GRANDMOTHER,

DOROTHY MOWRY, WHOSE LOVE AND SUPPORT
STILL INSPIRES ME TODAY. I MISS YOU, GMA.

Welcome to the wonderful world of brioche knitting! You have just stepped into a magical place where you will explore color, texture and best of all, the lusciousness of the fabric itself. Brioche has been around for a very long time, and maybe youve tried it and didnt quite get it. Maybe you tried it and loved it and want to learn more and more! Well, you are in the right place no matter your knitting background. I have created this book to be your definitive brioche guidesomething you can pick up and take with you wherever you are. Here you will find all of the information you will need to learn how to knit brioche, both one- and two-color and even a little three-color. We will explore basic brioche, a little texture and lots of increases and decreases, creating the most exquisite fabric you will ever encounter.

Have you flipped through to see any of the projects yet? The patterns themselves are your learning tools! I have divided this book into four chapters, each of which will take you to the next level of brioche knitting. They progress from beginner up to advanced. The colors of the yarn used in each pattern also slowly increase in intensity from minimal and neutral to bright and vivid.

If you are a brand-new brioche knitter, make sure to check the there to help you understand each stitch and the basic techniques, including photos and step-by-step instructions.

If you want to jump straight to the patterns, begin with . If you are a seasoned briocher, you can simply pick and choose which patterns you want to create! Each one is unique and will help you develop your brioche skills no matter your skill level.

Wait! Not so fast! Before you jump into a project, take a look at all of the information between this introduction and the patterns themselves. I have shared with you all of my collective brioche knowledge: everything I have learned in the past six years since I first stumbled onto this stunning technique. Tips and tricks, fixing mistakes and picking up dropped stitches, swatching and measuring your gauge, how to read the anatomy of your fabricjust to name a few. All of these things took me years to perfect, and I am so happy to be able to share my experience with you.

When I first discovered two-color brioche, I found it so fascinating. It was the winter that Nancy Marchant published her book Knitting Fresh Brioche (2014), which I received as a Christmas gift that year. I knit my first swatch and was completely hooked. I immediately wanted to brioche all the things! But there really werent very many brioche patterns out there; at least I couldnt find exactly what I was looking for. So I started experimenting and designing my own. Yes, brioche is what prompted me to begin designing and publishing my own patterns! And I havent looked back. I am still so obsessed with it and continue to explore all of the possibilities.

I hope this book can help you in your own brioche journey, giving you the skills and confidence you crave. Before you know it, you will be showing off your intricate brioche lace and luscious brioche texture, and you will never want to look back.

While learning how to brioche knit, its important to remember that not only are you teaching yourself a new knitting language, but you are also training your hands to perform a completely new task. However, lets simplify it. Can you make a yarn over? Bringing your yarn around the needle to the front? Okay, thats good. Now, can you slip a stitch purl-wise from your left needle to your right needle? Great! These are the basic steps to creating brioche stitches.

In this section, I have listed several important brioche facts that I have learned over the years. Keep these in mind as you are learning.

Basic one- and two-color brioche creates a gorgeous reversible fabric! It is similar to ribbing in that what looks like a brioche knit on one side is a brioche purl stitch on the opposite side of the fabric. This makes two-color brioche so fascinating, as the colors switch depending on what side youre looking at. Because of this reversibility, I write my patterns using Main Side (MS) and Contrast Side (CS). There is no wrong sidetheyre both right!

A brioche stitch is constructed of a slipped stitch with a yarn over that wraps around it. Each slipped stitch with its yarn over is counted as ONE stitch, even though it looks like two. This is also known as a wrapped stitch. Each wrapped stitch is processed on the next round or row as either a brk (brioche knit) or brp (brioche purl). See .

Every TWO worked rows are equal to ONE counted brioche row. This is true for all types of brioche knitting. While working across a row or round, you will work every other stitch, while slipping the stitches in between. So, you need to go back and finish the row or round by working the stitches that were previously slipped. You always want to have your brioche buddies. There will be a brioche stitch (the wrapped stitch) and a single stitch next to it. Think of these stitches like soul mates: You will always want to have them next to each other! One thing I like to do while Im checking my work after my setup rows or rounds is to make sure that every other stitch is a brioche stitch. Because of these buddies, you will always need an even number of stitches for the brioche portion of a pattern. If you ever see an odd number, it is because there are additional edge stitches for balance.

All slipped stitches are slipped purl-wise, except when decreasing stitches.

In all of my patterns with two-color brioche, I refer to the colors of yarn as Main Color (MC) and Contrast Color (CC). The MC yarn will be shown as a brioche knit stitch on the Main Side (MS) of the work, and the CC yarn will be shown as a brioche knit stitch on the Contrast Side (CS). I write them this way so that you dont feel tied to using a light or dark color, but can switch them around! For your first brioche project though, I highly recommend using a light-colored yarn for your MC and a dark-colored yarn for your CC.