Skill Level: Intermediate

Techniques: Two color brioche

Supplies:
Yarn: Worsted weight in two colors.
Yarn used in pattern: less than one skein Carron Simply Soft in Soft Grey (Main Color)
Darn Good Yarn (DGY) Silk Roving Worsted Weight in Watercolor 50g (75yd) More if needed.
Size 8 (5mm) 24 in circular knitting needles and optional size 8 dpns for gloves.
Stitch Markers (optional)
Yarn needle
Scissors

Notes:
The yarn used is from Darn Good Yarn’s first yarn of the month box, but the rainbow headband patterns that came with it were not quite my style. I took this as an opportunity to use up some stash yarn and learn a new skill. While I like rainbows as much as the next person, the highly variegated yarn was a bit much for my taste. However, I thought it would look perfect as a background color to something more muted, with the option to flip it inside out if I’m feeling wild.

I searched for pattern inspiration and found a brioche leaf chart from Happy Knitter on Youtube. For the purposes of making the Birdie hat, I used her abbreviations and chart. For help with the Brioche techniques or chart pattern, please check out Happy Knitter’s brioche leaf video.

As I was coming to the end of my new hat pattern, I realized I had a lot more of the roving left than I thought I would, so I made a pair of fingerless gloves to go with it. As I was knitting, the lyrics of a song came to mind: “Grey skies are gonna clear up, put on a happy face…” from Bye Bye Birdie and so, this pattern was born!

Brioche is very stretchy, more so than 1x1 rib, so keep this in mind when deciding fit. I based my sizes on how much yarn I had. The hat is OSFM, and the gloves are fairly small, but stretch to snuggly fit my average-sized hands. If you want a longer, slouchier hat or longer/wider gloves, you will need more than the 50g ball of DGY, assuming that is what you are using. When knitting Brioche for this pattern, you will work back and forth along the needles, even though they are circular.

Download is a PDF pattern