Learn Brioche, the Ultimate in Cozy Knitting

Brioche knitting might seem terrifyingly complex, but these free tutorials and patterns will have you enjoying soft, squishy fun

Brioche knitting is one of those techniques that I place firmly in the “say what, now?” category. 🤯

(I just made that up, to be honest.)

By this I mean, when I look at a project created through its use, my first reaction tends to be, “Say what, now?”

Other knitting stitches/techniques I tend to put in this category: intricate lace, entrelac, cables, steeking. (If you don’t know what steeking is, don’t ask. You’ll be horrified. If you know, you know. 😂)

Having said that, brioche has too many benefits to be ignored.

Benefits of Brioche

If brioche is so jaw-dropping, why bother learning it?

As it turns out, brioche knitting has a few benefits that can’t be overlooked. 👇

• Coziness. I wasn’t really sure how else to put this quality of brioche. It creates fabric that is soft, squishy, and warm. What else to call it but “coziness”?

• Reversibility. Brioche knitting also creates projects that you can wear on either side. There is no “right” or “wrong” side, even if you use different colors of yarn.

• Style. Brioche knitting creates some of the most stylish knitting I’ve ever seen. It’s particularly striking in multiple colors, but it looks lovely in single colors as well.

If all of these appeal to you, you may be a perfect candidate to try brioche knitting!

What Is Brioche Knitting, Anyway?

Brioche knitting creates a reversible ribbed fabric (especially with two or more colors) that can be simultaneously described as “light and squishy” and “dense.”

How can this be? Well, when you’re knitting brioche, you’re creating two distinct sides of knitting at the same time (creating the denseness) with slipped stitches and yarnovers (creating the lightness).

Three important things to know about brioche knitting: ☑️

Number one, it’s best not to use a slippery yarn. Stay away from superwash wool, alpaca, and silk, for instance, because these yarns tend to lengthen in brioche knitting. 100% non-superwash wool yarn is a good one for brioche; I would suggest a firmer acrylic as well. Wool blends are a good choice, too.

Number two, you’ll need larger needles than usual for casting on. If you are using a worsted weight yarn and would normally use a size 7 needle to knit with, you’ll want to use larger needles to cast on, at least a size 9. This will help keep your cast-on stretchy, which it will need to be for brioche.

Number three, brioche uses far more yarn than regular knitting. For instance, if you want to knit a brioche hat, and you usually need only a single ball of your favorite yarn, you might want to get two balls instead. (The beautiful finished project will be worth it, of course.)

This last quality does make brioche ideal for stash-busting!

Getting the Hang of Brioche with Helpful Tutorials

Happily, as always the Internet is a treasure trove of great tutorials for brioche knitting. Read and/or watch as many of the tutorials shown below as you’d like, until you get the hang of the technique.

Here we go!

KnitFreedom Brioche Knitting Basic One-Color Brioche Stitch: This video tutorial demonstrates how to knit a small swatch of brioche.

You may want to check out this video as well; it’ll show you how to count stitches and rows in brioche, which will help in following patterns.

Brioche Stitch website: This is Nancy Marchant’s website devoted entirely to brioche knitting! Nancy is considered “the Queen of Brioche Knitting” and has written many books and taught many classes on this style of knitting. On her website, you’ll find resources to just about every possible question, problem, or issue you might have regarding brioche knitting.

Purl Soho Brioche Stitch: This is a tutorial that also creates a lovely scarf. What a terrific way to get yourself immersed into brioche knitting! I love the extra-close-up photos; they really show you what your needles and yarn should look like mid-stitch.

Knitting Two Colour Brioche with the Knitting Expat: When you’re ready to move from one-color to two-color brioche knitting, this video tutorial is for you! I love the “pile” of knitted brioche we see at the beginning of the video; it makes me eager to dive into the tutorial and try the technique!

(Note that this is a longer tutorial. It takes over 30 minutes, so be sure you have plenty of time to focus.)

Fabulous & Free Brioche Knitting Patterns

If you’ve gone through the tutorials and are ready to put them into practice, you can start with the scarf tutorial/pattern shown above. If you want to go beyond that, try one of these patterns!

1. Brioche Head Coverings

Not Quite a Blizzard

• What you’ll need to make it: 106 yards super bulky yarn; US Size 11 needles; scrap yarn and crochet hook (for provisional crochet cast-on); tapestry needle

• Why you’ll want to: This headband pattern makes a fantastic introduction to brioche. Plus, with its small size and thick yarn, it knits up quick and makes a wonderful instant-gratification project.

Brioche Basic Beanie

• What you’ll need to make it: 160 to 200 yards worsted weight yarn, depending on the size you knit; US Size 8 and 5 circular needles and/or DPNs, depending on how you prefer to knit in the round; stitch markers; needle tip caps/protectors (optional, but could be helpful)

• Why you’ll want to: Here’s another good introduction to brioche, but in hat form. It was specifically designed to get a knitter comfortable with brioche. It creates a nice high beanie with a fold-up brim to highlight brioche’s beauty. It’s also available in 3 sizes: infant, child, and adult.

Gina’s Brioche Hat and Cowl

• What you’ll need to make it: For the hat: About 400 yards worsted weight yarn in 2 different colors; US Size 5 and 7 circular needles and/or DPNs, depending on how you prefer to knit in the round. For the cowl, twice this amount will be needed.

• Why you’ll want to: This hat/cowl set is a delightfully warm and snuggly introduction to two-color brioche.

Syncopation Adoration Hat

• What you’ll need to make it: 280 to 300 yards DK weight yarn; US Size 7 circular needles and/or DPNs, depending on how you prefer to knit in the round; stitch marker

• Why you’ll want to: Want to dive off into the deep end? Try this funky, multiple-colored brioche hat topped with a floppy pom pom. It’s pure silliness, but it’s also charming and stylish.

2. Brioche Neck Warmers

Flower Scarf

• What you’ll need to make it: 150 yards fingering weight yarn; US Size 5 straight needles, circular needles and/or DPNs, depending on how you prefer to knit flat and in the round (this pattern uses both); US Size F crochet hook; scrap yarn; tapestry needle

• Why you’ll want to: First, because this scarf is adorable. It’s more like a buttoned-together cowl than a real scarf. Knitting the button that inserts into the center of the flower for its close is just too clever. And second, while the pattern calls its stitch pattern Fisherman’s rib, it does indeed use brioche knitting techniques, albeit in a gentler fashion.

Rodekool

• What you’ll need to make it: 195 yards fingering weight yarn; US Size 5 circular needles and/or DPNs, depending on how you prefer to knit in the round; stitch markers; scrap yarn; tapestry needle

• Why you’ll want to: This is a Nancy Marchant special and undoubtedly the trickiest pattern listed here. It’s not recommended as your first brioche project! However, if you’ve knitted one or more of the patterns on this page and feel up to the challenge, why not give it a try? (You will find several links to tutorials and techniques on the pattern page to help you out.)

3. Brioche for Babies

Blue Steps Baby Booties

• What you’ll need to make them: 50 to 70 yards fingering weight yarn; US Size 2 or 3 circular needles or DPNs, depending on how you prefer to knit in the round

• Why you’ll want to: For a smaller-scale (and totally adorable) project, try these precious brioche booties! (Scroll down to “Blue Steps” and click on one of the two links below the photo for either a PDF or a Word version.)

Fluffy Brioche Baby Blanket

• What you’ll need to make it: 640 yards bulky weight yarn; US Size 10.5 or larger circular needles, at least 24″ long (to accommodate the large number of stitches while knitting flat)

• Why you’ll want to: Brioche is such a great fit for a baby blanket. It’s so soft and squishy, great both for baby and whoever is cuddling with baby!

4. Bold Brioche Socks

Nornir

• What you’ll need to make them: 390 to 460 yards fingering weight yarn; US Size 1 and 2 or 3 circular needles or DPNs, depending on how you prefer to knit in the round

• Why you’ll want to: Are you ready to get bold? Try this gorgeous pattern for brioche socks. Yes, socks! If you have a whole lot of variegated sock yarn that you’re not sure how to use (all that pooling, ugh), try this pattern. Brioche stitches break up the variegation and make the colors pop.

Ready to give brioche knitting a try? Let’s dive in!