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Brioche rib double decreases

by ysoldateague October 17, 2014 2 min read

This week’s Knitworthy pattern, Opari, includes some rather tricky but very pleasing reversible double decreases. If you’ve never done any brioche knitting before the hat is a great project to get started with, and I’ve just issued an update with a few more clarifying notes to help you out, but if you’re a visual learner you might want to look at a tutorial such as this one.

Rearranging the stitches

The stitches are arranged in an alternating pattern but in order to have a double decrease that looks the same on each side (although in opposite colours) we need to rearrange the stitches. This means that three MC ribs can be decreased into one and, on the following round, three CC ribs can be decreased into one. The MC decrease will be knit and the CC decrease will be purled.

It’s easiest to use a cable needle but if you’re comfortable cabling without one then you might not need it for this.

Begin by slipping the first MC stitch and its yarn over purlwise.

Slip the next CC stitch to the cable needle.

Repeat this process until you've slipped 3 MC stitches to the right needle tip and 2 CC stitches to the cable needle. — Repeat this process until you’ve slipped 3 MC stitches to the right needle tip and 2 CC stitches to the cable needle.

Return the CC stitches to the left needle tip,

then return the MC stitches being careful not to drop any of the yarn overs.

You should have 3 MC stitches clustered together followed by 3 CC stitches.

brs2kp

The ‘br’ indicates that this is a brioche decrease — there will be yarn overs paired with some or all of the stitches involved. The general rule is to always treat the yarn over and stitch as a single unit.

The ‘s2kp’ is the abbreviation I use for a knit centred double decrease. It stands for: slip 2 stitches together knitwise, knit 1, pass the slipped stitches over the stitch just worked. Other than the yarn overs this is worked in the standard way.

Slip the next 2 stitches together knitwise including their yarn overs.

Knit the next stitch together with its yarn over.

Pass the slipped stitches and yarn overs over the stitch just worked and off the end of the needle.

Yarn over and slip the 3 CC stitches — the whole cluster gets just one yarn over — and continue working in pattern.

brs2pp

This is the purl version of the previous decrease which requires a little more manipulation in order to avoid twisted stitches.

Yarn over and slip the decreased MC stitch from the previous round. Don't forget to bring the yarn to the front between the needles before beginning the decrease. — Yarn over and slip the decreased MC stitch from the previous round. Don’t forget to bring the yarn to the front between the needles before beginning the decrease.

Without going through the accompanying yarn over slip the first 2 CC stitches knitwise individually (slip one, then the other).

Insert the left needle tip into both slipped stitches from right to left

Purl all 3 stitches together with the accompanying yarn over.

If you’re interested in exploring Brioche knitting further (it’s a bit addictive!) have a look at the work of designers and teachers Nancy Marchant and Mercedes Tarasovich-Clark.

ysoldateague

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