Two-Colour Brioche in the Round
Create vertical stripes and other intricate designs with this lush stitch
Brioche knitting creates a lush and squishy fabric, created by working every round twice for deep ribs. When using two colours, you can create vertical stripes or other designs for stunning effect. Designer Nancy Marchant (www.briochestitch.com) has done extensive research on brioche knitting and taken the artform to a whole new level, and we in the the knitting community are all deeply in her debt.
My designs only tackle some very basic stitches for two-colour brioche knitting in the round (so far), but there’s lots more you can do with brioche, so do check out Nancy’s work if this piques your interest. Below, I’ve included links to the two cast on types you will need for two-colour brioche knitting, as well as an excellent tutorial video for the basics of two-colour brioche knitting the round.
Happy brioching!
How to do it:
Basic Principle:
You’ll be working each colour separately as you go around a circular project twice to complete one round.
With brioche, you’ll be working every round twice: first the background colour, then the foreground colour. In my designs, I use the labels Dark Colour, or DC (which is usually in the background) and Light Colour, or LC (which is usually the foreground colour). You can use any contrast level or orientation you wish, just remember which label applies to which colour you chose. (The reason I don’t simply use Background Colour and Foreground Colour is that the two colours can switch within a single design.)
The yarn-overs you see on the non-working needle are in the last colour you worked. In other words, looking at the round you just did, you will see one stitch, then a slipped stitch of the other colour with a yarn over of the same colour as the previous stitch. This is the colour you worked last on that needle.
To prevent your yarns from getting tangled, move the yarn end for the colour worked first in the round forward and leave it hanging down the front of your work as you work the other colour. This will also keep the last yarn over on the final stitch of the round tight while you knit it with the other colour.
A Basic Brioche Stitch Glossary:
Note that I use slightly different abbreviations than some designers, as I find the hyphens in the middle of long abbreviations make them easier to read.
brk (bark, or brioche knit): knit the stitch that was slipped in the previous row together with its yarn over
Brioche knit (brk) stitch in progress. The working needle has pulled the Dark Colour yarn knitwise through both yarns of the first stitch on the non-working needle.
brk2tog (brioche knit two stitches together): knit the slipped stitch and its yarn over together as one with the stitch beside it
brk-yo-brk (brioche knit, yarn over, brioche knit): brioche knit into the front loop of the stitch, but do not slip off needle. Yarn over front to back, then brioche knit into the back loop of the same stitch, letting stitch drop off left needle.
brM1L (brioche make one left-slanting): pick up the bar (both coloured strands between stitches) and placing on the needle with the left leg at the front. Knit into the left leg.
brM1R (brioche make one right-slanting): pick up the bar (both coloured strands between stitches) and placing on the needle with the right leg at the front. Knit into the left leg.
brp (burp, or brioche purl): purl the stitch that was slipped in the previous row together with its yarn over
Brioche purl (brp) stitch in progress. The working needle has pulled the Light Colour yarn purlwise through both yarns in the first stitch on the non-working needle.
brssk (brioche slip, slip, knit): slip two stitches one at a time knitwise, including any yarn overs, insert left needle back through slipped stitches from left and use right needle to knit them
brsssk (brioche slip, slip, slip, knit): as for brssk, except slip three stitches
sl1-yof (slip one, yarn over, yarn to front): with working yarn in front, slip the next stitch purlwise, then bring the yarn over the needle (and over the slipped stitch), then back to the front under the needle, into position to purl the following stitch. This combined purl and yarn over is considered to be one stitch.
Slip 1, yarn over, yarn to front (sl1-yof) stitch in progress, showing the working yarn in the Light Colour coming up in front of the needle to create a yarn-over over the Dark Colour stitch on the non-working needle. The working needle is inserted purlwise through the stitch.
Image shows a brioche purl stitch, and a completed sl1-yof (slipped stitch, yarn over, yarn in front) on the working needle. The burped stitch has only one colour (the Light Colour), and the sl1-yof stitch has the Light Colour as a yarn-over over the Dark Colour, which was slipped from the previous round.
yf-sl1-yo (yarn forward, slip one, yarn over): Bring the working yarn under the needle to the front of the work, slip the next stitch purlwise, then bring the yarn over the needle (and over the slipped stitch) to the back, in position to work the following stitch. This combined slipped stitch and yarn over is considered to be one stitch.
Note: Yf-sl1-yo looks very similar to sl1-yof, except it is coming from a brk stitch instead of a brp stitch.
