Bitty Brioche Kerchief knitting pattern, available to buy on Ravelry or in the Pittenweem shop as a digital download.
It's designed by Iris Eichenlaub and features stripes of garter stitch (knit every row) and brioche stitch (a super squishy rib) separated by a row of eyelets.
Bitty Brioche Kerchief is a triangle-shaped small shawl. It's boomerang shape is achieved by rapid increases at the edges, made with Yarn Overs (YO) on every row. With more increasing down a centre stitch on the right side.
It's a great little accessory to add warmth and style.
Wear it like a cowl with the ends at the back or tie at the front for a jaunty look.
You only need a small amount of 4ply yarn, less than 50g/200m. So it's a great stashbuster.
I used WYS Solstice 4ply, a blend of Falkland Islands wool, Lyocell and cashmere. It's very soft and drapey with a lovely sheen. Perfect for textural stitches like garter and brioche.
If you're wondering what brioche is it's best described as a stretchy squishy rib. It uses slip stitches and yarn overs to create this extra stretch. These are then knitted together on the next row whilst working more slip stitches and yarn overs making a voluminous squishy fabric.
Brioche can seem tricky but I've found that the more I do it the easier it gets (funny that!) and you might just need to find the right pattern and the right tutorial to suit you. Once you've done one project it's easier to transfer those skills to another pattern.
The Bitty Brioche Kerchief pattern is clearly written. There's even a warning about yarn overs before and after stitch markers (more on that later) but the brioche abbreviations are not explained fully so there is an assumption that you know how to do a 'slip one yarn over'.
If you want to see Brioche in action check out these videos:
Stephen West on YouTube - for continental pickers and English throwers.
Purl Soho on YouTube - They use the abbreviation YOS instead of Sl1yo but it's the same thing.
This is one problem with brioche. Each designer has their own shorthand to make the same stitches. But the more you do it the clearer it becomes. Honest.
I've done a couple of brioche projects before:
Briochette - an asymmetrical shawl with garter stitch and brioche stripes in two colours. The shaping (increasing) was all at the edges, not near the brioche.
Beginner's Brioche Cowl - knitted in the round with two colours and no shaping.
So the Bitty Kerchief is my first single colour brioche. It also has shaping, in this case increasing, near the brioche sections. I'm not sure if it qualifies as increasing in brioche!
This is not hard but you do have to pay close attention to what the pattern wants you to do and what is on your needles. The brioche pattern is worked over 4 rows. The increasing down the centre stitch is done on the right side rows. You either make Yarn Overs (YO) to increase or you use M1R and M1L to increase.
When working YOs beside a stitch marker (used to protect the centre stitch) you can find the marker wandering under the YO and skewing your centre stitch. So you MUST pay attention to where it is.
Like all knitting techniques, once I got used to how the stitches sat on the needle I was able to spot anything odd before I knitted past it. Stephen Wests shows this in his video.
It's also important to play close attention to the eyelet rows after the brioche section. Again the pattern warns you about this (I really appreciate it when designers add these tips to their patterns).
When working brioche stitch you have a slip stitch with a YO (made on the previous row) that you knit together (usually referred to as brk - BRioche Knit).
When you stop doing brioche you still have to deal with that slip stitch and it's YO. You need to treat it like ONE stitch.
So on the eyelet row when the pattern asks you to K2tog - Knit 2 stitches together - it will look like you are knitting 3 stitches together, the slip stitch and it's YO AND the next stitch. This is one of those things that make more sense when it's on the needles in front of you!
Bitty Brioche is a straightforward knit with a lot of repetition making it a good beginner's brioche pattern. I am not saying it's simple but if you can make a YO and a slip stitch and you can recognise them on your needles then the brioche is straightforward. You also need to be comfortable with increasing (and keeping an eye out for a wandering centre stitch).
If you fancy trying brioche stitch before committing to the pattern and make a swatch. You can find instructions here.
unblocked
And finally - blocking!
For this shawl I followed the same process I did for the Isla Shawl (another bitty shawl).
I simply washed my shawl in Eucalan, letting it soak. I then drained the water and squished as much out of the shawl as possible before squishing it some more in a dry towel.
I then laid it out flat keeping the shape as it naturally 'fell'. I used my hands to smoosh it into shape, straightening the brioche sections and giving the outer edge an almost tear drop shape. I got the depth specified in the pattern but to be honest I wasn't sure how I was suppose to measure the wingspan as it doesn't lie straight?!?
Anyway, it looked big enough with no pins or wires.
I left it to dry completely.
Like the Isla Shawl I really enjoyed this project.
I was chuffed with myself that I finished a project quickly and it was brioche (a past nemesis). The yarn is lovely and the resulting mini shawl is light, soft and still delicate despite the squishy brioche.
So if you're looking to try a new technique or improve an old one. Get your knitting mojo back or cleanse your knitting palate I'd recommend giving it a go.
It makes a lovely accessory and an ideal gift.
To recap
You can buy a copy of the Bitty Brioche Kerchief on Ravelry or as a digital pattern in the Pittenweem shop.
You can buy WYS Solstice here. I used less than half a ball of Ocean.
You can of course use another 4ply yarn.
You can buy circular needles here. The pattern specifies 3.5mm. You'll need a circular needle, at least 60cm, to hold all the stitches. You end up with 229.
How the small shawls stack up.👇
