Trying my hand at Brioche

I've only ever seen pictures of knitted brioche.  The way the colors intertwined mesmerized me and I convinced myself it was "too advanced" or "too fussy" for me.  I'm here to tell you that I was wrong and appreciate brioche for what it is: clever and actually very simple double knitted ribbing.  Seriously, it's very easy!  If you can do basic ribbing and know how to yarn over, you can make this happen.  Trust me! 

Now, I don't do much knitting requiring more than one color (making two custom Christmas stockings out of acrylic the first year the Husband and I were married put me off to color work for a while), but brioche is essentially knitting horizontal stripes without letting anyone know.  Each row alternates between each color, and you simply knit together a yarn over with the previous row.

Ok, I'm just making it confusing.  The pattern from Purl Bee is A LOT better at explaining than I am.  I used their pattern for the Brioche Cowl, but cut down the stitches from 218 to 124 to make it a single wrap cowl.  Find my Ravelry project page here.  So far, I love the results.  I always knew there was a reason I stored these two colors in the same baggie after all of these years.

For this project I used some stashed Knit Picks' Wool of the Andes Worsted Yarn in Tranquil (teal) and Fairy Tale (magenta).  This picture totally doesn't do the colors justice, but I love how each color pops between the other.  Note to self: Get off the couch and out of your yellow-walled family room to take some descent project pictures that actually show them off once in a while!

Now that brioche is firmly in my "I can do this" camp, here are a few other brioche projects that I've promptly put into my favorites.

Kennermerland hat, cowl, and mitten set by Alexandra Richards

Vintage Deco wrap/scarf by Nancy Merchant (frankly, I should just include her whole collection)

High Vibe by Maiko Hikosaka

Shallow End Brioche Accent Pillow by Trudianne Temple

Ah, Brioche.  Let's be friends forever.....