My best selling shawl design is now available here on the blog! If you are looking for an easy brioche shawl knitting pattern to get you started on the brioche knitting train this is the one. This crescent shaped shawl features rows of brioche separated by relaxing garter stitch. A fun pop of nupps/bobbles are added to the garter stitch for more fun. It’s perfect for those single sock/fingering weight skeins you have sitting in your stash. Scroll down for the full free knitting pattern or purchase the ad-free PDF here.
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How to knit Two Color Brioche
Two color brioche knitting is when you knit each row/round twice using two different colors of yarn. The first part of the row/round is knit using a main color, stitches are then slid back to the beginning where the second color (contrasting color) is then knit across. This creates a ribbed fabric that is two sided and multicolored.
When you are first learning how to knit two color brioche it can be a little intimidating and frustrating. That’s why I created a series of blog posts and videos to help beginner brioche knitters get started on this beautiful and fun technique. You can find my brioche blog series here and my YouTube tutorials here.
After learning the basics of brioche you will be ready to move onto this easy brioche shawl knitting pattern.
Find a printer-friendly PDF version of the Nordic Sunrise Shawl here in my Etsy shop. The PDF version includes the full ad-free pattern great for printing and putting in your project bag.
Keep scrolling for the FREE version of the Nordic Sunrise Shawl Knitting Pattern.
Check out other FREE Shawl Knitting Patterns.
Nordic Sunrise Shawl – FREE Easy Brioche Shawl Knitting Pattern
Construction:
A top down crescent shaped shawl. Garter rows and nupps create a little pop of fun and brioche comes in to make it extra squishy. Perfect for those single skeins in your stash! Color A stands alone in the first section, in the second section it is joined by color B. Then color B stands alone in section 3 and is joined by color C in section 4. Section 5 is where color C stands alone and finally color A comes back to finish off the edging.
Helpful videos for knitting this shawl
- How to Knit Two-Color Brioche
- How to Increase Stitches in Two-Color Brioche Knitting
- My favorite trick to knitting Nupps
- Jeny’s Surprisingly Stretchy Bind-off
- How to do a Garter Tab Cast-on
No Stitch Edging
create a stretchy edge you will work a yarn over in some rows and then drop it in other rows. This yarn over is not counted in the stitch counts.
Materials:
YARN:
Fingering Weight
A – 190 yd/ 174m
B – 428 yd/ 391m
C – 435 yd/ 397m
Suggested Yarn:
- Summer Camp Fibers – Camp Sock – Use my link to receive 10% off your purchase of $25 or more on the entire Summer Camp Fibers site! Click here.
- Hedgehog Fibres – Twist Sock
- Madelinetosh – Tosh Sock
- Knit Picks – Stroll Tonal
- Knit Picks – Muse Fingering
Summer Camp Fibers Yarn Kits!
If you struggle to decide on what colors to knit and you love bright, fun, pops of color then take a look at Summer Camp Fibers’s curated Nordic Sunrise Shawl Kits! Each kit features 3 skeins of fingering weight yarn to create a punchy accessory that is bound to brighten up your wardrobe!
Use THIS LINK to receive 10% off your entire Summer Camp Fibers order. Or enter WHIMSYNORTH at checkout.
OTHER TOOLS NEEDED:
- Gauge Needle: Size US 4 / 3.5 mm 32″circular needle — or size necessary to obtain gauge.
- Size E-4 crochet hook (Optional)
- Tapestry Needle
- Scissors
- The Knit Kit – My FAVORITE knitting tool. I keep one in each project bag!
Finished Measurements:
Wingspan – 60”/152 cm
Center Depth – 16”/41.6 cm
Gauge:
22 sts & 48 rows = 4”/10 cm
Measured over garter stitch after blocking.
Glossary
{} – Repeat
brk – Brioche knit; knit the slipped stitch and its “yarnover shawl” together as one stitch.
brkyobrk – Brioche knit the stitch, but do not drop the stitch from your needle, bring the yarn forward for a yarnover, and then brioche knit again into the same stitch. [2 sts inc’d]
brp – Brioche purl; purl the slipped stitch and its “yarnover shawl” together as one stitch.
dec/’d – Decrease/d
inc/’d – Increase/d
k – Knit
kfb – Knit into the front loop and then the back loop of the stitch. [1 st inc’d]
kfbf – Knit the next stitch as usual, but instead of dropping it off the needle, knit into the back of the stitch, and then into the front of the stitch once more. [2 sts inc’d]
N – Nupp; Using a crochet hook, insert hook knitwise into stitch and pull thru one loop, *YO onto hook, insert hook back into the stitch and pull thru one loop; repeat from * twice more (7 strands on hook). Wrap yarn around hook and pull it thru all 7 sts to complete nupp. 1 st remains, pass it to the RHN. See Notes. pg 2 for a video tutorial.
p – Purl
RS – Right side
sl – Slip stitch purlwise (unless indicated to do so knitwise)
sl1yo – Bring yarn to front of work (if it is not already there), sl st purlwise, wrap a yarnover around the slipped st.
st/s – Stitch/es
WS – Wrong side
yf-sl1yo – Bring yarn to front of work (if it is not already there), sl st purlwise, wrap a yarnover around the slipped st.
yo – Yarnover
Nordic Sunrise Shawl Knitting Pattern Directions
GARTER TAB CAST ON
Using color A, CO 2 sts using the long tail cast on method. Do not join.
Knit 11 rows (on the final row, do not turn your work). Rotate knitting 90 degrees. You will see 5 garter stitch ridges. Pick up and knit 1 stitch into each of these bumps. Rotate knitting another 90 degrees and pick up and knit 2 sts into the cast on edge. Turn work to begin knitting.
9 sts on needle
SECTION ONE – Garter + Nupps
Row 1 (WS): K2, yo, k1, kfb, Knit to last 4sts, kfb, k1, yo, k2 [2 sts inc’d]
Row 2 (RS): K2, drop yo, k1, kfbf, K to last 5 sts, kfbf, k1, drop yo, k2 [4 sts inc’d]
Repeat [Rows 1 & 2] 7 more times.
48 sts inc’d, 57 sts on needle
Row 3 (WS): K2, yo, k1, kfb, k2 {N, k2} Rep to last 6 sts, k2, kfb, k1, yo, k2 [2 sts inc’d]
Row 4 (RS): K2, drop yo, k1, kfbf, K to last 5 sts, kfbf, k1, drop yo, k2 [4 sts inc’d]
Repeat [Rows 1 & 2] 8 more times.
102 sts inc’d, 111 sts on needle
SECTION TWO – Brioche
Set-up Row 1A (WS): K2, yo, {p1, sl1yo} to last 3 sts, p1, yo, k2. Do not turn.
Set-up Row 1B (WS): Slide stitches back to the beginning of the row. Sl 4 sts, join color B,
{brk1, yf-sl1yo} to the last 5 sts, brk1, drop color B to the back, sl 4 sts. Turn.
Row 1A (RS): Using color A, k2, drop yo, k1, yf-sl1yo, brkyobrk, {yf-sl1yo, brk1} to the last 7 sts, yf-sl1yo, brkyobrk, yf-sl1yo, k1, drop yo, k2. Do not turn, slide. [4 sts inc’d]
Row 1B (RS): Sl 3 sts, using color B, brp1, sl1yo, p1, {sl1yo, brp1} to the last 7 sts, sl1yo, p1, sl1yo, brp1, drop B to the front, sl 3 sts. Turn.
Row 2A (WS): Using color A, k2, yo, p1, {sl1yo, brp1} to the last 4 sts, sl1yo, p1, yo, k2. Do not turn, slide.
Row 2B (WS): Sl 4 sts, using color B {brk1, yf- sl1yo} to the last 5 sts, brk1, drop B to the back, sl 4 sts. Turn.
Repeat [Rows 1A/B and 2A/B] 10 more times.
Repeat [Row 1A/B] once more. Break color B.
The section finishing rows will be worked in 1 color brioche with only color A.
Section Finishing Row 1 (WS): K2, yo, p1, {sl1yo, brp1} to the last 4 sts, sl1yo, p1, yo, k2. Turn.
Section Finishing Row 2 (RS): K2, drop yo, k1, {brp1, sl1yo} to the last 5 sts, brp1, k1, drop yo, k2.
Break color A.
48 sts inc’d, 159 sts on needle.
SECTION THREE – Garter + Nupps
Using color B, Repeat Garter + Nupps from Section One.
102 sts inc’d, 261 sts on needle.
SECTION FOUR – Brioche
Set-up Row 1A (WS): With color B, K2, yo, {p1, sl1yo} to last 3 sts, p1, yo, k2. Do not turn.
Set-up Row 1B (WS): Slide stitches back to the beginning of the row. Sl 4 sts, join color C,
{brk1, yf-sl1yo} to the last 5 sts, brk1, drop color C to the back, sl 4 sts. Turn.
Row 1A (RS): Using B, k2, drop yo, k1, yf-sl1yo, brkyobrk, {yf-sl1yo, brk1} to the last 7 sts, yf-sl1yo, brkyobrk, yf-sl1yo, k1, drop yo, k2. Do not turn, slide. [4 sts inc’d]
Row 1B (RS): Sl 3 sts, using color C, brp1, sl1yo, p1, {sl1yo, brp1} to the last 7 sts, sl1yo, p1, sl1yo, brp1, drop color C to the front, sl 3 sts. Turn.
Row 2A (WS): Using color B, k2, yo, p1, {sl1yo, brp1} to the last 4 sts, sl1yo, p1, yo, k2. Do not turn, slide.
Row 2B (WS): Sl 4 sts, using color C {brk1, yf- sl1yo} to the last 5 sts, brk1, drop color C to the back, sl 4 sts. Turn.
Repeat [Rows 1A/B and 2A/B] 10 more times.
Repeat [Row 1A/B] once more. Break color C.
The section finishing rows will be worked in 1 color brioche with only color B.
Section Finishing Row 1 (WS): K2, yo, p1, {sl1yo, brp1} to the last 4 sts, sl1yo, p1, yo, k2. Turn.
Section Finishing Row 2 (RS): K2, drop yo, k1, {brp1, sl1yo} to the last 5 sts, brp1, k1, drop yo, k2.
Break color B.
48 sts inc’d, 309 sts on needle.
SECTION FIVE – Garter + Nupps
Using color C Repeat Garter + Nupps from Section One.
Break color C.
102 sts inc’d, 411 sts on needle.
BORDER
Row 1 (WS): Using color A, purl all sts.
Row 2 (RS): Purl all sts.
BIND OFF
Bind off using Jeny’s Suprisingly Stretchy Bind Off as follows. (See notes page 4 for video tutorial). K1, bring yarn forward over the back of your needle to create a yarnover, knit the next stitch. You now have a knit stitch, a yarnover and another knit stitch on your right needle. Pass the first knit stitch and the yarnover over the second knit st. {Bring the yarn back over the top of the needle (to create a yarnover) and knit another stitch, pass the previous knit stitch and yarnover over that stitch; repeat from} until only one st is left on the needle. Break the yarn leaving a 6” tail, pull it thru your last live stitch and pull tight to close it.
FINISHING
Weave in ends and block your shawl by soaking it in luke warm water, along with your favorite wool wash, for 15 minutes. Squeeze out excess water with a towel and lay flat to dry. Don’t block on towels as it can retain moisture and not allow your finished shawl to dry. Be careful when blocking brioche as it tends to want to stretch.
Now you have a beautiful and relaxing to knit easy brioche shawl knitting pattern! Check out more of my FREE knitting patterns on the blog HERE.
I would love it if you took a moment to upload your projects to Ravelry or Pin this pattern to Pinterest so you can share it with friends! Also, don’t forget to share your knit hat on Instagram so I can see what you make! Us the hashtag #nordicsunriseshawl and tag @whimsynorth
