Brioche Week, Day 4: 2-color brioche in the round
2-color brioche in the round (ITR) is my jam, baby! If I'm brioche-ing, this is where I want to be and where I want to stay! And the best news? This is THE EASIEST BRIOCHE YET!
2-Color Brioche, ITR
In yesterdays blog post about 1-color brioche ITR we talked about reading our work - identifying what round we need to work based on what stitches are wrapped and which aren't. Today we get to look at the same idea but the work is pretty much done for us! The work is color coded!
What's the same?
The cast on and setup rnd (1a) is worked exactly the same as in 1-color brioche.
Each rnd is still worked two times: rnd "a" is worked as BRK's and rnd "b" is worked as BRP's.
What's different?
Color A will be used for the cast-on and all "rnd a" rnds. And you guessed it, Color B will be used for all "rnd b" rnds.
Identifying the stitches are easier because the colors do the work, we don't really need to read the stitches!
Let's Try 2-Color Brioche ITR!
Much of today's tools will be the same as yesterdays: 1 - 16" / 40 cm circular needle, 2-colors of worsted weight yarn and a stitch marker!
Using Color A cast on 80 sts using the German Twisted, Long Tail or Tubular Cast on and join for working in the round (essentially, a stretchy cast-on method). Place a marker and join for working in the round. All "a" rnds are worked with Color A (and will be BRK rnds); all "b" rounds are worked with Color B (and are BRP) rnds.
Setup Rnd 1a: *K1, sl1yo; rep from * to end of rnd (the last st worked is the sl1yo).
Setup Rnd 1b: *Sl1yo, brp1; rep from * to end of rnd.
Rnd 2a: *Brk1, sl1yo; rep from * to end of rnd.
Rnd 2b: *Sl1yo, brp1; rep from * to end of rnd.
Rep [Rnds 2a and 2b].
Reading Those Stitches - Color Coded!
Reading 2-color brioche is far easier than one color. You can clearly see which stitches are wrapped and which aren't because the second color does the wrapping! Just remember that, generally, Color A (or your Main Color) is the color you used for the cast on and work the BRK rnds (and will be the column of knit stitches when the RS is facing you) and that Color B (or your counter color) is used for the BRP rnds.
If you do put your work down and need to pick it up at the beginning of a round when both working yarns are at the marker, you can use the predominant color of yarn of live sts on the needle as an indicator of what was just worked. For example, if you pick up your work and the majority of the stitches on the needle are worked in Color A, it means you've just worked a BRK rnd and the next round you work needs to be a BRP rnd using Color B!
FIX THAT MISTAKE!
In tomorrow's blog post, the final post of Brioche Week (le sigh...) we're going to talk all about how to fix dropped stitches in brioche. It's kinda sorta like fixing stockinette stitch but with some magic thrown in. Really impress those Muggles, right?
Feel free to ask questions here in the blog post. And if you're a social media user, we would love to see the samples of you trying out brioche. Tag @nobleknits on Twitter or Instagram and use #briocheweek on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook.
HAPPY BRIOCHE-ING!
