Knitting Fresh Brioche: Creating Two-Color Twists & Turns Paperback – Illustrated, December 2, 2014

KNITTING FRESH BRIOCHE is another wonderful Nancy Marchant book that all serious knitters will want for their reference library shelf. I've never cared much for brioche stitch, because it creates a very stretchy fabric, requires extra time and effort (one completed row requires knitting across and purling back again), and uses about twice as much yarn as stockinette. But Nancy's new book, which explores using brioche stitch to create beautiful two-color, reversible, twisting patterns on the knitted fabric surface, really inspires me to grab my needles and knit some of her shawls or scarves, or maybe some panels for a cardigan sweater of my own design!Nancy clearly explains the basic brioche stitch, as used in two-color knitting, both in words and in step-by-step photos. As Nancy says: "Brioche knitting creates a cushy, reversible ribbed fabric that comes about by working one stitch and slipping the next. In brioche knitting, instead of carrying the working yarn in front or in back of the slipped stitch, you bring the yarn over the stitch, giving the stitch a little shawl over its shoulders. In the following row, this shawled stitch will be either 'barked' or 'burped' . . . ."Barking and burping are much easier than they sound when described in words: Barking means bringing the yarn to the front over a slipped stitch, then knitting the next stitch together with its little shawl from the previous row. Burping means bringing the yarn around a slipped stitch and back to the front, then purling the next stitch together with its little shawl. That's all the technique there is! These beautiful stitch patterns should be easy for knitters with intermediate skills to execute.The 50-page technique section includes instructions for creating the basic fabric, casting on, creating a selvedge edge, binding off, working increases and decreases, weaving in ends, blocking, repairing mistakes (thanks!), reading charts, and understanding the oddball brioche knitting symbols. All knitters will want to consult these pages, to get the two-color slipped-stitch fabric set up correctly.Following the Techniques section, there is an amazing 110-page dictionary of two-color brioche stitch patterns. The variety of "twists and turns", and large and small repeated designs, will delight all serious knitters, especially those who love knitting techniques or designing their own knitted garments. Because the two-color stitch patterns are reversible, each stitch pattern is illustrated with a photo of both the front and the back of the fabric. In my opinion, the cover photo with the lovely "Willow" shawl doesn't show the most interesting of the included stitch patterns--but "Willow" gives you a good idea of how the surface designs show up on the knitted fabric. My favorites among the stitch patterns are Feathery and Fanny (sort of like a wavy Feather and Fan), Undulating Hourglass, Wavy Palm Leaves, and Sound Waves (sort of an op-art effect).Finally there are 60 pages with complete instructions (both written-out and charted) for 12 different shawl and cowl projects knitted on circular needles. The patterns, with needle sizes, are: Ring of Fire (US 4), Willow (US 7), Reptilian Cowl (US 9), Icicle (US 5), Stegosaurus (US 6), Veda's Peacock (US 5), Sister Janie (US 4), Cathedral (US 4), Miss B (US 7), Nan's Other Cowl (US 3), Gretchen's Zigzag (US 6), and Bart & Francis (US 2 or 3). Nancy gives excellent instructions for substituting yarns, so you aren't limited to the yarns used in the photographed models. My favorite project patterns are Icicle (sort of wavy geometric triangles) and Bart & Francis (sort of a leafy, growing plant).This book is a great reference book for two-color brioche knitting. If you enjoy brioche knitting generally, you may want to consider Nancy's earlier reference book on all kinds of brioche knitting (not just two-color), ; or another good, recent pattern book using brioche knitting, .

First off, I should probably say that I consider myself an advanced beginner when it comes to knitting. I have tried many types of knitting with success, so when I saw this book I thought..."I can handle that!" I had never heard of brioche knitting, but when I saw the picture on the cover of this book I knew this was the book I had to buy. Now that I have this book and have read it and tried some stitches, I realize that I probably should have started with Nancy Marchant's first book, Knitting Brioche: The Essential Guide to the Brioche Stitch. That being said, I was still able to learn everything I needed from this book.Things you ought to know:Brioche is different from "normal" knitting, but you will need to have mastered the standard knitting stitches to understand the more complex brioche knitting. This book consists of 3 major parts. Part one is how to brioche knit. It includes the special cast on, the new types of stitches, increases, decreases, fixing errors, special cast off methods, and how to read brioche charts. Part 2 is a dictionary of brioche stitches. Part 3 is a small collection of scarf patterns. It also includes some information on how to modify patterns for things like one color brioche and circular brioche. This book barely touches on one color brioche, so if that is where you want to start I would definitely get her other book instead. Each pattern includes both line by line directions and charts. The last thing you ought to know is that gauge and yarn weight are unimportant for most of these patterns, which I love!Pros of the book:The stitch patterns in this book are very complex, but expertly explained. The pictures show every aspect of the stitches without leaving you guessing how she got from one step to another. Each stich that is demonstrated is pictured in both American and continental style (which I find helpful since my teenage daughter knits in a different style then I do). The stitch dictionary is filled with stitches that you can't find anywhere else. I also found the knowledge imparted in this book clear enough to assist anyone that wanted to make up their own stitch patterns. The pictures and examples are gorgeous. She always lets you know what type of yarn she used, what sized needles, what size her projects are, how many she cast on in her sample pieces, etc. She also does not try to convince you that her yarns are the only ones that will work for her projects. Last but not least, brioche is pretty cool and there aren't many other places out there to learn it.Cons:Even though I gave this book a 5 star rating, there are a couple of minor problems which I hope they will fix in the next edition to book. First of all, I really wish the binding on this book were different. The patterns are complex enough that I am referring back to it often and I really wish it were bound in a way where it would stay open (like a spiral binding.) Second. I wish the charts were a little more contrasting so they would turn out more crisp when I copy them. This wouldn't really be an issue if they resolved issue number one. I don't consider either of these enough of a problem to knock it down a star. I could easily take it to a print shop and have them spiral bind it for me. There only other issue to mention is the lack of an errata. I am guessing that will come later. It isn't unusual for such a new book to have some errors and I have already found one. In the pattern "Icicle" they forgot to print the instructions for the set up rows in the line by line instructions. This wasn't a big deal since it was in the chart and set up rows are pretty much the same anyway, but I will admit I was a little confused at first... wondering if for some reason this pattern was able to skip those otherwise essential rows. Once again, I will not take a star off for this since it is most likely just a matter of time until the errata becomes available.All in all, this book was excellent. After some practice and a few sample swatches, I have been able to get the hang of brioche knitting and am ready to start making the gorgeous shall on the cover.

I absolutely love this brioche knitting book by Nancy Marchant. She really is the queen of brioche, & she really has helped me learn more complex brioche knitting from her many brioche books. I would highly recommend this book as well as her other brioche knitting books. Anyone can learn brioche knitting. It seems very difficult at first, but stick with it, it will make sense to you, & once you understand it, you can broaden your knitting skills. It can be a bit tricky to learn, but it isn't hard, it's jist different. It's a bit like double knitting. Brioche knitting makes a beautiful fabric that is reversible & looks a bit magical. I absolutely love it!! I'm just finishing a brioche knit hat Old Port by Andrea Mowry. I have been knitting brioche for at least 5+ years, & I'm so happy I learned this way of knitting. It's so unique & when done in 2 contrasting colors, it is just spectacular!! Thank you, Nancy Marchant, for making brioche knitting accessible to everyone who wants to learn it.

I'm going to have so much fun creating brioche products

Ótimo resultado da compra

Ottimo libro, ben spiegato e ben illustrato

Excelente para aprender e praticar o ponto brioche. Inclui instruções com ilustração, 75 exemplos/padrões do ponto brioche e ainda 12 modelos da magnífica designer Nancy Marchant executados em ponto brioche. Excelente compra!Excellent to learn and practice the brioche stitch. This awesome book includes illustrated technique tips, 75 unique brioche stitches (kind of a stitch dictionary for brioche) and 12 designs/patterns by the amazing designer Nancy Marchant. Excellent purchase!

Très bon livre (en anglais) pour les amoureux des côtes anglaises bicolores, façon "brioche stitch".Une première partie est un tuto en images, très clair, expliquant comment monter et rabattre les mailles, tricoter les points de base du "brioche stitch" bicolore, diminuer et augmenter, traiter les lisières, et réparer ses bêtises!Puis vient une anthologie d'environ 70 points bicolores avec photos, grilles et explications rang par rang.Le livre se termine par une douzaine de modèles d'écharpes / étoles / châles / snoods, quelques pages consacrées au "brioche stitch" bicolore tricoté en rond (comment convertir grilles et explications prévues pour le tricot en allers-retours), et une page de conseils pour utiliser l'anthologie de points dans ses propres modèles.