When we think of soft, squishy, luxurious knits, we often imagine projects made in brioche stitch (also known as English rib). This stitch pattern has a wonderfully rich texture that seems so difficult to make but is, in fact, one of the easiest stitch patterns out there.
We can knit brioche back and forth (see a one-row method described over here), and we can easily knit it in the round.
It is really easy. You’ll see. There are only two rounds to repeat, and we don’t even have to remember those rounds. Once we understand the structure of brioche, we don’t need to rely on written instructions.
In this tutorial, I’ll explain both – the pattern repeat and the logic of forming the sumptuous brioche texture.
Once you understand the flow of working brioche in the round, you’ll be able to make gorgeous hats, cowls, legwarmers and numerous other projects without any confusion and frustration, even if you are a beginner knitter.
If you’d rather learn from a video tutorial, watch the video below:
CAST ON
Cast on an even number of stitches and arrange them for knitting in the round.
Feel free to use the setup that you normally use when you knit in the round – double-pointed needles (here’s how to use them), a short circular needle, two long circular needles, or one long circular needle and the magic loop technique.
As to the type of cast on, if you want to give your project a sturdy frame, use a method that creates a firm edge (long-tail, knitted, or cable cast on). Brioche stitch is puffy and gets unruly when the edge is too loose.
To make the swatch shown in the photos, I cast on 20 stitches using the long-tail cast on method. As you see, I’m going to work with one long circular needle and the magic loop technique.
It is better to join stitches for working in the round (this tutorial explains how to do it), but if you are making just a quick swatch, it’s ok to skip this step.
SETUP ROUND
Knit 1 stitch, then make a yarn over and slip 1 stitch purlwise (insert the right needle into the stitch from right to left, and take the left needle out, leaving the stitch on the right needle).
Repeat these steps to the end of the round.
If your stitches are divided into groups (usually when you use double-pointed needles, two circular needles, or one long circular needle), be careful not to lose the yarn over created at the end of each group of stitches as you move the work between the needles.
If we count the number of strands on the needles, we’ll see that there are 30 of them now. That is half again as many as the number of stitches that we cast on. Not all of those strands are considered to be stitches. The yarn overs that we make are more like “enhancements to stitches”. We’ll always work them together with the stitches they are paired with.
ROUND 1
Make a yarn over and slip 1 stitch purlwise.
Then purl the next stitch together with the yarn over created in the previous round.
Repeat these steps to the end of the round.
The very first yarn over will be the same strand as the last yarn over of the previous round. It looks a bit funny, but don’t worry – everything will get back to normal as soon as we finish this round.
ROUND 2
Knit 1 stitch together with the yarn over created in the previous round.
Then make a yarn over and slip 1 stitch purlwise.
Repeat to the end of the round.
Repeat rounds 1 and 2 to make your project as long as you want.
After a few rounds, you will see that brioche stitch is very similar to 1×1 ribbing, but with a little twist – some stitches are accompanied by yarn overs.
When we look at the stitches sitting on the needles, we’ll notice that every other stitch is paired with a yarn over, while other stitches are “single”.
Once we establish the ribbing-like pattern of brioche, there is no need to look at the pattern instructions.
Simply work the stitch + yarn over pairs together and make a yarn over + slip the single stitches in every round.
By “work” I mean knit together the paired stitches that look like knits, and purl together the paired stitches that look like purls.
This little trick will help you to enjoy the pleasant rhythm of brioche stitch without looking at the pattern instructions.
Another helpful trick is to add a lifeline to your project. This way, your work will be protected in case you make a mistake or accidentally drop a stitch.
BIND OFF
When you are ready to bind off stitches, bind them off in pattern – knit the knits and purl the purls (treat paired stitches as one) and don’t make any yarn overs.
That’s how easy it is to work brioche stitch in the round.
Now use this new skill to make a beautiful cowl, just as I did when I made the Quick Brioche Cowl out of an odd ball of yarn I had in my stash for ages.
To make this project even more interesting, I made sure the cast-on and bind-off edges look the same and have a good amount of stretch.
How did I do it? The pattern explains every little trick I used. Click here to get your free copy, and make this cowl in just a few hours.
SAVE FOR LATER:
This and 41 other in-depth tutorials are part of Knitting Collection #4.
