Breezy Shawl

We have spent a lot of time researching, exploring, and testing with knitters so we can present brioche in a way that lowers the barriers to learning. To read more generally on Brioche (in particular, 2 color brioche rib worked in the round) check out this post on our Knitting Blog. Questions? Get in touch at support@knitrino.com. 

The Breezy Shawl is a triangular shawl that alternates between sections of horizontal stripes with a lace illusion, and vertical stripes created using squishy brioche rib. It’s worked on the bias from one pointy tip to the wide border at the top.

The Lace Illusion

The horizontal stripes or lace illlusion is really simple! Because you’re holding 2 yarns together, if you drop the heavier yarn and just hold the mohair for 2 rows, you get a “see through” row! Just remember that you don’t work a decrease on rows that are worked with mohair only.

Close up showing 2 rows worked with mohair only.

Brioche Ribbing Worked Flat

Because we’re working flat, there are only 2 stitches used in our brioche ribbing, and they’re almost identical to stitches you already know. Remember that (a) Knitrino always shows the right side of the work, so a knit stitch on the wrong side looks like a purl stitch on the right side, and (b) the wrong side rows are shown hashed. For more on reading charts, see our blog post Reading Knitting Charts.

Slip 1 yarnover (slip 1 yo in Knitrino): Bring the yarn to front, slip the next stitch purlwise, then move the yarn to the correct location for the next stitch. The important thing to remember is that your yarn always comes to the front before any slip 1 yo. If you don’t, your brioche won’t look correct.

 

Brioche knit ( brioche k1 in Knitrino): Knit the next stitch and its yarnover together as if one stitch. 

 

Note that these videos show 2 color brioche, but that just helps you see the stitches. 1 color brioche works the same way, but is even more straightforward.

Brioche Rib for Righties

Brioche Rib for Lefities

Working on the Bias

To create a biased-knit fabric, you’ll increase at one side of your work and decrease at the other. In this shawl, we do a double increase (knit front, back, and front) on the increase edge so that our shaw increases in width every row. For more on Knitting on the Bias, check out this article on our blog.

A Note for existing brioche knitters

We listen to lots of feedback from knitters when developing anything new. By far, the biggest request from Knitrino knitters is that they want to learn brioche, and that the barriers with traditional patterns are just too high. On top of this, brioche charts rarely look like what you're working on. (There's a philosophical question here about whether your charts should show the outcome or the process - we believe "both" and are working on amazing new tools. But until we get those built, we use the current standard in the knitting world that charts should show the outcome. You'll notice that this standard does not hold in current knitting charts for Brioche, and we don't like that.) We know this creates a small learning curve for those who've already learned brioche, but in our minds, lowering the barrier is the most important thing. 

So here's how you can decode brioche in Knitrino. 

brk = brioche k1

brp = brioche p1

brkyobrk = brioche m3-from-1

sl1yo = slip 1 yo

To get the Breezy Shawl, install Knitrino or click this link from your phone. With Knitrino's workshop-style knitting projects, you get charts in your colors, mini-workshops built in, step-by-step project tracking, and more. Take the tour or get this project by scanning the QR code or clicking the link from your phone.


alison yates