How to Knit One Color Brioche In The Round

Ok, confession time? If I'm going to knit, I want to knit in the round. It's likely all in my head but I feel like knitting in the round (ITR) is way faster because I don't have to turn my work and reset my needles, I get to just knit to the BORM (beginning of round marker) and keep on trucking!

It's no different with brioche! I love working brioche in the round. It's a bit more of a puzzle sometimes because if I walk away I have to look carefully at what stitches I worked last but man oh man, ITR is the bomb!

1-color brioche ITR - a fully reversible fabric!

Getting started with 1-color brioche ITR!

Monday and Tuesday's posts about working brioche flat is the basis of all brioche. How exciting is that? You already have the skills you need to transition into working in the round:

Much like brioche knit flat, we begin with a setup row, except it's a round. So, unlike our samples in which we used the first and last stitch as a selvedge edge stitch, we're going to work from the first stitch to the last stitch in the *k1, sl1yo* repeats.
Similar to 2-color brioche knit flat, we will have one round worked using BRKs and one round worked using BRPs. These are the only two rows worked to create brioche in the round. Say goodbye to 4 rows needed to make 2!
- The biggest trick to working brioche in the round is reading the stitches. Remember in Monday's post where I shared the tip about working the stitches? If you see 2, make it one? Well that absolutely still applies! We just have to make sure we know whether the stitch we're making 1 (from 2) is a BRK (brioche knit) or a BRP (brioche purl).
Also similiar to 2-color brioche knit flat, 2 rounds worked equals 1 complete round so the instructions of Rnds 1a and 1b will still apply even if we're only useing 1 color.

Let's get to brioche-ing!

In the following video I use a US 8 (5mm) 16" / 40 cm circular needle and a worsted weight yarn (Wooly Worsted from Ewe Ewe Yarns if you're curious).

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).
Setup Rnd 1a: *K1, sl1yo; rep from * to end (last st worked is the sl1yo).
Setup Rnd 1b (BRP rnd): *Sl1yo, brp; rep from * to end.
Rnd 2a (BRK rnd): *Brk, sl1yo; rep from * to end.
Rnd 2b (BRP rnd): *Sl1yo, brp; rep from * to end.
Rep [Rnds 2a and 2b].

Tricksy Brioche - Reading Those Stitches!

I have found that 1-color brioche, knit in the round, is the trickiest brioche to "read" when you put it down. I highly recommend clipping a removable marker to the outside of the work (the right side or public side). Since brioche does create a reversible fabric it's not as easy to tell RS from WS.

If you do put your work down and need to pick it up mid-round, or even at the beginning of a round, you're looking to identify which stitch has the wrap:

if you look at the RS of your knitting and follow up a column of knit stitches (those V's) and the stitch at the top of the column is wrapped (i.e.: looks like 2 sts) then you have just worked a BRP rnd (or are working a BRP rnd).
If the column of sl1yo's (what I think looks like W's) has the double stitch, it means that you have just worked (or are working) a BRK rnd.

It's all about the 2-color brioche, baby!

Tomorrow is already Day 4 of Brioche week and we're going to be adding a second color to our brioche ITR. Now that you've (hopefully) mastered 1-color brioche in the round, you'll find this an absolute breeze! Plus 2-colors is almost always more fun than one!

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!