2 x 2 Brioche Rib
This post deals specifically with 2x2 Brioche Rib. If you’re looking for general guidance on 1x1 Brioche Rib, check our Brioche Knitting post here.
Table of Contents
Getting Started with Knitrino
If you're new to Knitrino, check out the Quick Start guide for short videos that show you how to use Knitrino. Those new to chart knitting may wish to review our blog post on Reading Knitting Charts.
Intro to Brioche
We think the hardest part of brioche is really just the language used. When designing for print, abbreviations are important because you need to conserve space. But we find "plain" language far easier to understand, and look to Elizabeth Zimmerman when considering good ways to make knitting more accessible. Elizabeth Zimmerman describes brioche as "Prime Rib" - it's like ribbing, but even better. Perhaps the best part of her brioche description is the "sloppy yarn over." It is so sloppy! One of our test knitters described her brioche as "mush"! Hang in there and don't frog it - it may be correct. :)
What is it?
One of the only ways brioche is different than other knitting is that it's a form of double knitting. You're technically working each round or row 2 times, first working just the knit stitches, then on the second round, working just the purl stitches. The stitches you don’t work, you’ll slip purlwise and add a yarnover on top of them, setting aside those stitches to be worked on the next round. We especially like 2-color brioche because it makes it easier to see which round you're on.
In the next round, when you come to slipped stitches and their yarnover, you're going to work them with their yarnover. This means that in some respects, a brioche k1 is incredibly similar to a traditional k2tog. You might notice that we show a tiny symbol for a k2tog in every brioche stitch, as an indicator that there is an extra loop involved.
Brioche Stitch Symbols
Just like 1x1 Brioche Rib, there are 3 (or 4 depending on your philoshophy) stitches that are fundamental to brioche. Because there is only one yarnover associated with the stitches in 2x2 rib, we show these stitches as compound stitches that are 2-stitches wide. They are the brioche k2, brioche p2, and slip 2 yo. (In each of the videos below, the left handed version follows the right handed version.) To see these stitches worked together in a full round, just jump down to the Brioche Knit and Purl Rounds section.
Brioche K2
Brioche Knit 2 (brioche k2 in Knitrino or brk 2 in traditional patterns): Knit the next stitch and its yarnover together as if one stitch, leaving the yarnover on the holding needle. Knit the second stitch and the yarnover together as if one stitch.
Brioche P2
Brioche Purl 2 (brioche p2 in Knitrino or brp 2 in traditional patterns): Purl the next stitch and its yarnover together as if one stitch, leaving the yarnover on the holding needle. Purl the second stitch and the yarnover together as if one stitch.
Slip 2 Yo
Slip 2 yarnover (slip 2 yo in Knitrino or sl1yo, yfsl1yo, sl1yoyb, and all kinds of other unpronounceable abbreviations in other patterns): Bring the yarn to front if not already there, slip the next 2 stitches purlwise, yarnover, moving the yarn to the correct location for the next stitch. (For this version of the stitch, bring the yarn to the back.)
Slip 2 yarnover (slip 2 yo in Knitrino or sl1yo, yfsl1yo, sl1yoyb, and all kinds of other unpronounceable abbreviations in other patterns): Bring the yarn to front if not already there, slip the next 2 stitches purlwise, yarnover, moving the yarn to the correct location for the next stitch. (For this version of the stitch, bring the yarn to front.)
Now, you'll notice that we use 2 different symbols for the slip 2 yo. We know the philosophical argument that the slip 1 yarnovers are identical, and that the only difference is where you position the yarn for the next stitch. But the fact is, new knitters are incredibly confused when they watch a video for a yarnover and it doesn't look like what they're doing. So to keep things as straightforward as possible, and to align with our philopsophy of always showing you a video relevant to What You're Doing Right Now, we're showing them separately. It's ok if you think of them the same! The important thing to remember is that your yarn always comes to the front before any slip 1 yo. Where it ends up depends on whether the next stitch is a brioche purl (yarn all the way around to the front) or a brioche knit (yarn to back).
Brioche Setup Round
When you go from regular 1-color ribbing to 2-color brioche (or from a cast on to brioche), you’ll have a teensy bit of setup to do. For our Warmers project, you’ll add the second color (in my case light blue/variegated) working only the purl stitches in the second color, and working the knit stitches from the round below as a slip 2 yarnover. Here’s how it’s done (the first video show right handed knitting (both English & Continental) and the second video show left handed mirror knitting.)
Brioche Knit and Brioche Purl Rounds
Once you get set and give it a try, we think you’ll get the hang of it! Don’t worry if it looks sloppy at first (remember the “sloppy yarnovers”!) We made these videos to show you what it looks like when you’re working brioche knit or brioche purl rounds (right handed and left handed like before.) The biggest trick is to keep that yarnover on the needle so you can work it with BOTH stitches.
2 x 2 Brioche Knit Round
2 x 2 Brioche Purl Round
(Including transitions from brioche knit round to brioche purl and from brioche purl to brioche knit.)
Counting Brioche Stitches & Rows
Because the yarnovers aren’t actual increases (they’re just a part of carrying the yarn as we set aside the stitches of the other color), we don't count them separately. Different people think about this in different ways, but we consider the slip 2 yarnover (slip 2 yo) to be a "compound" stitch. You'll notice on the chart, it shows up as 2 stitches wide (not 3), because we’re only counting the actual stitches, and not the yarnovers separately:
And because we’re working each round twice, the number of “visible rounds” is half of the number of rounds you’ve worked. So if you count 4 rounds of knit stitches, you’ve worked 8 times around the needle to get those 4 rounds.
Brioche Increases and Decreases in 2x2 Ribbing
Increases and decreases get an extra little dash of confusion thrown in because each brioche k2 or brioche p2 is worked with ONE yarnover. Because of this, we made special videos for each scenario that you will encounter in this project:
Brioche K2tog and Brioche SSK, Type 1 (1 x 1 rib)
Brioche K2tog and Brioche SSK, Type 2 (in 2 x 2 rib)
Brioche S2kp and Brioche K3tog
Brioche M3 from 1 (also called brkyobrk or something similar)
Common Mistakes
The absolutely most common mistake with 2 x 2 Brioche Rib is dropping the yarnover off the holding needle before working the 2nd brioche knit or brioche purl stitch.
Here’s what that looks like:
Here’s how to fix it (in the moment):
Here’s how to fix it (by dropping down):
Advanced Techniques
2-Handed Brioche Knitting
For the adventurous spirit, we present 2-handed 2x2 Brioche Rib. This method works best for those who are comfortable purling with their left hand (for right handed knitters, or right hand for left-handed mirror knitters), in other words, people who generally knit continental style. In this case, you must keep the brioche purl yarn (light blue/variegated color B) in the lower position at all times, and the brioche knit yarn (color A) in the upper position.