Are you this person? You haven’t knitted brioche before. To you, it’s like an alien landscape – symbols, terminology, movements and stitch structure that isn’t like anything else you’ve done. So you want to learn brioche, and you want to make something interesting and pretty; but you want to learn how brioche actually works without too much trauma. If this is you, you’re the intended audience for Baby Steps Brioche.

This set of learn-as-you-go instructions takes you through several practice sessions — which can be turned into actual projects if you like, or not – each creating a simple rectangular fabric that can be a scarf, a shawl, or just a sample. We’re not covering all the possibilities of brioche here, just an understanding of the basics. We’re only knitting flat (not in the round, because that just adds complexity you don’t need up front). We’re not doing any garment shaping (ditto). The goal is to get you into the rhythm of brioche, get you used to what you’re seeing on your needles as you knit brioche, and teach you the symbols and terminology of brioche knitting. If that’s what you’re looking for in brioche lessons, let’s get started!