How to brk – brioche knit

What does brk mean in knitting?

BRK stands for brioche knit (stitch). It’s one of the three basic techniques in brioche knitting where you knit together a double stitch that consists of a slipped stitch and its overlaying yarn over. In spoken word, you often also hear “bark”. It’s the opposite of BRP (brioche purl).

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Instructions: How to knit brk

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BRK is the most basic brioche stitch. You can knit it in one or two colors, flat or in the round. The steps always remain the same. Typically, you have to knit a preparation row, before you can actually knit it.

Active Time 1 minute

Total Time 1 minute

Materials

• Any yarn works. I am using the Schachenmayr Catania Grande in this tutorial

Tools

• Any type of knitting needle. I am using the Knitter's Pride Dreamz here

Instructions

1. To start the brk, bring the yarn to the back. The next two stitches on your left needle should be a slipped stitch and a yarn over (sl1yo) that lays ontop of it with a slight left-slant.
   
2. With the right needle, enter the double stitch on the left needle from left to right (so as if to knit). This double stitch should consist of a yarn over and a stitch you've slipped in the previous row. This double stitch is often also called "sl1yo".
   
3. Wrap the working yarn around the needle counter-clockwise.
   
4. Pull the working yarn through both stitches at the same time, coming out towards the front.
   
   
5. Drop the double stitch (consisting of the yarn over and the slipped stitch) off the left needle and tighten up.
   

In a way, I have always been an advocate for not using the term “brk”. You will find it in my comprehensive knitting glossary but at the end of the day, the brioche knit is nothing else but a glorified knit two together (k2tog). I feel the term makes brioche knitting sound a lot more complicated than it actually is.

The reason why some patterns use it has probably to do with the fact that, unlike k2tog, BRK specifies very clearly which stitches you have to work through. From a technical point of view, it also acknowledges that the yarn over is not really a true stitch. In most cases, however, the terms brk and k2tog are interchangeable.

Anyway, that’s how to knit brk. Comment if you still have any questions.