*Foliage Shawl* Brioche Knitting Patterns

Foliage Shawl is a brioche knitting pattern worked in brioche rib stitch. The pattern is composed of foliage panels with simple brioche rib in between.

The shawl is worked starting with just 17 stitches, then every other row more stitches are cast-on and the shawl grows bigger, but in the meantime the number of brioche rib stitches is decreasing, so the shawl is getting wider but at the end you have only 5 stitches to knit together instead of an usual bind-off.

You can decide the size of the shawl by working only once or repeating 2-3 times [rows 197-228].
If rows 197-228 are knit once, there will be 8 foliage panels with brioche rib in between.
If you repeat these rows 2/3 times, there will be 9/10 foliage panels.

For beginners that like the foliage pattern, I would recommend to start with the Foliage Scarf.
And for those who want to knit the shawl with a matching hat, try the Foliage Hat.

Finished Size:

51 1/2" (131 cm) wide x 15 3/4" (40 cm) deep after blocking – 8 Foliage Shawl Panels
63" (160 cm) wide x 15 3/4" (40 cm) deep after blocking – 10 Foliage Shawl Panels

Yarn:

Rockshelter Sock by Meadowcroft Dyeworks
Fingering: 100% Merino
Handpainted sock yarn
Main color: 044 Raku Glaze – 1,5 skeins
Contrast color: 225 Dark Garnet – 1,5 skeins

On their site you can find many wonderful colorway pairings with brioche swatches for each of them, so it's very easy to have an idea of how your brioche knitwork would look like. Being a brioche knitting huge fan, I absolutely love the idea of brioche swatches with photos from both sides. Since brioche is a reversible stitch, you always want to make sure that the "wrong" side looks just right.

Needles:

2.75mm - US 2 Chiaogoo 5” interchangeable needles with 14" and 50" cables

Notions:

Marker (m), tapestry needle

Gauge: 

21 sts and 29 rows = 4” (10 cm) in Foliage Shawl Panel pattern blocked

Abbreviations:

k - knit
p - purl
brk - brioche knit
brp - brioche purl
sl1yo - slip 1 pwise with yarn over needle
sl1 wyib - slip 1 pwise with yarn in back
sl1 wyif - slip 1 pwise with yarn in front
brLsl dec - brioche left slant decrease
brRsl dec - brioche right slant decrease
br4st dec - brioche 4 stitches decrease
br4st inc - brioche 4 stitches increase
brkyobrk - brioche knit, yarn over, brioche knit
MC - main color yarn
CC - contrast color yarn
st(s) - stitch(es)
LH - left hand
RH - right hand
m - marker
pm - place marker
sm - slip marker
rm - remove marker

Directions:

Purled Cast-On:

Step 1: Make a slip knot on the LH needle. Yarn to front of the work as if to purl. With the RH needle go into the slip knot stitch to purl it and the loop you pull through, pull it long and put it on the LH needle (without twisting it). Now you have 2 stitches on the LH needle.

Step 2: Yarn to front of the work as if to purl. Insert the RH needle from back to the front between the (last) 2 stitches and pick-up the yarn. The loop you pull through, pull it long and put it on the LH needle (without twisting it). This way you have cast-on one more stitch. Repeat step 2 until the required number of stitches are cast-on.

START HERE: 

Row 1 (cast-on row) MC: With MC yarn cast-on 17 stitches using the Purled Cast-On (steps 1-2). Turn work.

After that slide all stitches to the other end of the needles, join contrast color yarn and work row 2 with contrast color yarn.

Row 2 CC: sl1 wyif, *brp1, sl1yo; rep from* to last 2 sts, brp1, sl1 wyif. Turn work.
Note: when working on “freshly” cast-on stitches brp1 = p1
Note: work the “br4st inc” sts from previous row as: sl1yo, p1, sl1yo, p1, sl1yo
   and work the “brkyobrk” sts from previous row as: sl1yo, p1, sl1yo

Row 3 MC: sl1 wyif, * sl1yo, brp1; rep from* to last 2 sts, sl1yo, p1. Slide sts.
Note: Starting from row 231 - p1 instead of sl1 wyif in the beginning of the row.

Row 4 CC: sl1 wyib, *brk1, sl1yo; rep from* to last 2 sts, brk1, sl1 wyib. Turn work.

You can continue to knit by following the charts below:

If rows 197-228 are knit once, there will be 8 foliage panels with brioche rib in between. For 9/10 foliage panels, repeat 2/3 times rows 197-228.

In row 449 knit all the stitches together.

Cut the yarn leaving a 4” (10cm) or longer tail, and pull the tail through the stitch.
After that cut the contrast color yarn, also leaving a tail. Weave in the loose ends.