Brioche. . .

. . .knitting, that is. This afternoon I took a little skillbuilding class at my LYS on brioche knitting. It was not a project class, although I did buy a skein of Cascade Superwash 220 and a skein of Painted Desert in a worsted weight to make a two-color cowl.

We spent quite some time playing around with the pattern; and after a number of times casting on and ripping out, I finally produced a small swatch. By the time I finally understood the technique, I realized it's actually pretty simple. It seems to be nothing more than knit 2 togethers, slip stitches, and yarn overs, complicated by fancy sounding names and maneuvers that are the same as the basic knitting stitches we already know. I don't think it's any more complicated than lace work; and in fact, basic brioche in one color is easier.

That is not to say, however, that it can't get complicated. We didn't have much time left in the class to try a small swatch of two-color brioche, but I did get a smaller swatch made. I knit a few rows of garter stitch first, then started the brioche pattern. You can see the pattern developing, with a row of vertical knit stitches in the burgundy color. On the reverse side, there's a corresponding row of vertical stitches in the peach color. It's reversible, which is so cool.

From what I've read, two-color flat brioche (as in a scarf) is more challenging than two-color brioche in the round (like a cowl), so if you can figure it out flat, knitting in the round should be easier.

On Ravelry, I've seen brioche patterns for hats, which means increases and decreases; patterns with cables; and brioche sweaters. I intend to try it all; but for now, I'll start with a basic cowl in one color. And that's after I get my two big quilts finished! KnittingDaily.com has a free e-book on Brioche that explains the technique pretty well, but sign up is required (it's free). If they inundate you with daily emails, you can set your preference for a weekly review or none at all.