What Is Brioche Knitting?

"The Brioche Stitch (or combination of stitches) creates a pretty, flat, double-sided fabric." Staci, VeryPink.com
Flaming Hat - Cascade 220 Black & Summer sky - brioche knitting, fully reversible hat.

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UPDATED: June 12, 2019

I have yet to learn the brioche knitting stitch but it’s on my list of techniques to learn. The concept of working different colour sequences on a reversible knit piece intrigues me. 

What Is Brioche Knitting?

According to Wikipedia, “brioche knitting is a family of knitting patterns involving tucked stitches, i.e., yarn overs that are knitted together with a slipped stitch from the previous row. Such stitches may also be made by knitting into the row below and dropping the stitch above.”

Brioche stitch (front on left, back on right) Credit: the Brioche Stitch

 

Where Did Brioche Knitting Come From?

Nancy Marchant is credited with introducing the brioche stitch “to American knitters with her book Brioche Knitting, inspired by the brioche knitting she found very prevalent in the Netherlands.[1]

The brioche stitch can be used to knit any kind of garment or project that regular knitting can be used for, but will be double-thick. Nancy Marchant standardized brioche-knitting abbreviations and terminology so that knitters worldwide could share patterns and understand the abbreviations.”.[2]

How Difficult is Brioche Knitting?

Apparently, brioche knitting is not hard. If you are comfortable with knit, purl, yarn over, and slipping a stitch, you should be able to pick it up.

Where Can I Learn Brioche Knitting?

I found some great how-to tutorials that seem relatively straight-forward. I hope they help you also.

A cable is so much more than a cable when you knit it in brioche. Brioche adds that extra texture that makes even the most basic cable look so gorgeous. If there’s a technique you love, translate it over to brioche and we bet you’ll have a new appreciation for it.

To learn other knitting techniques, check out our knitting tutorials collection of blog posts.

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Elizabeth Ruth

Elizabeth Ruth

Elizabeth is a children's book author and designer of knit and crochet character hats under the brand The Ruthless Crafter. In her spare time she loves to read, watch movies, spend time with her family, and swim. She lives a full, happy life in Kitchener, Ontario with her husband and their two children.

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