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Also available in my book, Brioche Knitting for Beginners and Beyond!

Chapter 2, Pattern 1: Glint.
A cowl knit using two-color brioche and garter stitch, with tiny stockinette stripes to add depth to the fabric.

A glint of brioche to kindle your love of the stitches, or perhaps entice you into more. Holding a lace weight Baby Suri Alpaca Silk blend or Kidsilk Mohair yarn together with a fingering weight gives just the right amount of fuzz to a project. And doing this with brioche knitting is not as complex as you might think. If you are feeling nervous about it, you could just use a heavier fingering weight or sport weight held single, that’s totally fine! Do what makes you feel most comfortable while learning these fun brioche stitches. I chose Hawari Bazaar yarns for this project because I am obsessed with the colors that Corinne develops. The inspirations, the witty names of each colorway, and the intensity of her colors are breathtaking.

Yarn Notes:
If you would like to substitute yarn, please note that yardage / meterage amounts may differ. This is a great way to play with speckled or variegated yarns! If you do not want to hold yarns double, feel free to use a heavy fingering or sport weight for your MC yarn.

See photo here of my yarn in skein form.

Skill Level:
Intermediate. This cowl is great for learning a couple brioche increases and decreases!

Techniques Used:
Twisted German Cast On, knit, knit increases and decreases, yarn overs, brioche knit (brk), brioche purl (brp), sl1yo, brioche increases and decreases (no br4st dec!), knitting in the round, Elastic Bind Off.

Video Tutorials:

Twisted German Cast On:
http://bit.ly/TwistedGermanCO

Elastic Bind Off:
http://bit.ly/ElasticBO

Construction Notes:
This cowl is knit seamlessly from the bottom up, creating a squishy neck warmer that you can wear long around your neck or shoulders, or double up for extra warmth on those chilly days. You will alternate between Brioche and Garter Chevron stripes, which are a combination or two-color brioche and two-color garter stitch with a few increases and decreases, and small stockinette stripes. Two-color garter stitch is worked exactly like traditional garter stitch, except you will be mimicking two-color brioche in the round: knitting all stitches with your Main Color and purling all stitches with your Contrast Color. The outcome makes the fabric look identical on either side! The stockinette stripes will help you to see the dramatic waves that the Brioche and Garter stitch patterns create together with dramatic increases and decreases.

» One Size
48″ (122 cm) circumference and 14.5″ (37 cm) height

» Gauge:
19 sts x 24 rnds = 4’’ / 10 cm, measured in stockinette stitch in the round using MC yarns held double (taken after blocking).

MATERIALS:

Yarn
Main Color (MC): 320 yds (293 m) fingering weight held together with lace weight; or heavy fingering/sport weight held single (you will need this amount for both yarns)

Contrast Color (CC): 270 yds (247 m) fingering weight

Shown In
Hawari Bazaar Yarn

MC: 1 skein Nova (fingering weight) in Genie Pants (mint; 75% Superwash Merino, 25% Nylon; 463 yds 423 m per 100g) held with 1 skein Arabesque Suri/Silk (lace weight) in Gigglewater (mint speckled; 74% Baby Suri Alpaca, 26% Silk; 328 yds 300 m per 50 g)

CC: 1 skein Nova in Cassiopeia (dark variegated)

Needles
40″ (101.5 cm) US 4 (3.5 mm) circular needle (Adjust the needle size as needed to achieve the proper gauge.)

Tools and Notions
Stitch marker for noting beginning of round
11 contrasting stitch markers for noting differences in stitch patterns
Tapestry needle for weaving in ends
Row counter (optional)