Black Forest Brioche Scarf

Free Scarf Knitting Pattern

I called this the Black Forest Scarf, because the dense diamond motif reminds me of the intricate traditional woodwork that comes from the Black Forest region of Germany.

This scarf is knitted sideways, from one long side to the other. This means it’s very easy to adjust the width of the scarf if you want to.

Skills required:
To knit this scarf, you have to know how to knit 2-color brioche stitch, and make brioche decreases.

Size: length 80” (200 cm), width 7” (18 cm)

Materials: Lion Brand (affiliate link) Fishermen's Wool aran weight yarn, (100% Wool), 465 yd (425 m) / 227g, Color Nature’s Brown - 1 skein. (DC)
Hand-dyed aran weight yarn (100% wool), color Autumn, 300 yd (275 m) / 150g, - 1 skein. (LC)

Notions: stitch markers, yarn/tapestry needle.

Needles: US 6 (4.0 mm) circular needles 24” (60 cm) or longer.

Gauge:
16 sts x 20 rows = 4" x 4" (10cm x 10cm) In 2-color brioche st:
Note, that 1 row of brioche consists of 1 row of LC and 1 row of DC

Abbreviations
Please note that I use Nancy Marchant terminology for brioche stitch. I highly recommend her books Knitting Brioche: The Essential Guide to the Brioche Stitch and Knitting Fresh Brioche: Creating Two-Color Twists & Turns, as well as her lessons on craftsy.com.
yf - yarn forward: bring the yarn to the front, between the tips of the needles.
yb - yarn back: take the yarn to the back, between the tips of the needles.
sl1yof - slip 1, yarn over, yarn to front: with working yarn in front, slip the next stitch purlwise, then bring the yarn over the needle and the slipped stitch, then bring yarn back around to the front, ready to purl the following stitch.
yfsl1yo - yarn forward, slip 1, yarn over: bring the working yarn between the tips of the needles to front of work, slip the next stitch purlwise, then bring the yarn over the needle and the slipped stitch. Leave yarn in back, ready to knit the next stitch.
brk - brioche knit: knit the stitch together with its accompanying yarnover
brp - brioche purl: purl the stitch together with its accompanying yarnover
br3-3 (brioche gathered 3 into 3 st) –slip the next st (the marked st with its yarn over) knitwise, onto the right-hand needle.

Brk together 2 next sts (sl1yo and next brk), inserting right-hand needle into brk first, DO NOT take these 2 sts off the left-hand needle, yo, insert right-hand needle into these 2 sts again and pull another st (now you have 3 sts made out of those 2 sts),

with left needle pass the slipped st over 3 sts.

br4st-inc – brk1, yo, brk1, yo, brk1 into the same stitch: 1 stitch increased to five.
LS – light side
DS – dark side
LC – light color
DC- dark color
pm – place marker
sm – slip marker
rm – remove marker
k – knit
p – purl
sl1 – slip 1 (knitwise for the 1st stitch in a row).
m 1 (Make 1 increase) - Make a backward loop over the right-hand needle.

Pattern Notes

Two-Color Brioche Stitch – Basic Instructions

These instructions are included as a guide to the technique, and as instructions for swatching.

A single brioche row is worked in two passes, one in light color (LC) and the other in dark color (DC). Both colors are worked in one direction, then the work is turned and both colors are worked in the other direction. The light side (LS) of the project is first worked in light color (LC) yarn, then in dark color (DC) yarn. The LS of the work is where brk stitches are worked in light color (LC) yarn.

Odd number of stitches
Set-up row (LC): k1, *sl1yof, p1, rep from *, to last 2 sts, sl1yof, p1. Do not turn, slide work to the other end of the needle.
Set-up row (DC): sl1, yb, *brk1, yfsl1yo, repeat from * to last 2 sts, brk1, yb, sl last st. Turn.
Row 1 (LS, LC): k1, *yfsl1yo, brk1, repeat from * to last 2 sts, yfsl1yo, k1. Do not turn, slide work to the other end of the needle.
Row 1 (LS, DC): sl1, yf, *brp1, sl1yof, repeat from * to last 2 sts, brp1, yb, slip last st. Turn.
Row 2 (DS, LC): p1, *sl1yof, brp1, repeat from * to last 2 sts, sl1yof, p1. DO not turn, slide work to the other end of the needle.
Row 2 (DS, DC): sl1, yb, *brk1, yfsl1yo, repeat from * to last 2 sts, brk1, yf, sl last st. Turn.


Chain Selvedge

When working the selvedge stitches at the beginning and the end of the row, at the start of the LC rows, always bring LC under the DC.


Short Overview of the pattern

The scarf is worked sideways in 2-color brioche stitch: from long side to long side. The scarf begins with rows of straight brioche st, which is 2 1/2" wide. Then the center of the scarf is worked in a brioche lattice, which is achieved by working br3-3 (brioche gathered 3 into 3 st). The width of this is about 2" on my scarf, however, you can make it of any width. To finish the scarf the same number of rows of straight brioche is worked.



Scarf

Using 2 strands of yarn (LC and DC), cast on 299 sts.

Setup Row (DS LC): k1, (p1, yf sl1yo) 2 times, p1, [(yf sl1yo, p1) 2 times] 72 times, yf sl1yo, p1, yf sl1yo, p2. 299 sts.
Setup Row (DS DC): k1, (yf sl1yo, brk) 2 times, yf sl1yo, [(brk, yf sl1yo) 2 times] 72 times, (brk, yf sl1yo) 2 times, p1. 299 sts.

Row 1 (LS LC): sl, (brk, yf sl1yo) 2 times, [(brk, yf sl1yo) 2 times] 72 times, (brk, yf sl1yo) 2 times, brk, p1. 299 sts.
Row 1 (LS DC): sl, (yf sl1yo, brp) 2 times, [(yf sl1yo, brp) 2 times] 72 times, (yf sl1yo, brp) 2 times, yf sl1yo, p1. 299 sts.

Row 2 (DS LC): sl wyif, (brp, yf sl1yo) 2 times, brp, [(yf sl1yo, brp) 2 times] 72 times, (yf sl1yo, brp) 2 times, p1. 299 sts.
Row 2 (DS DC): sl wyif, (yf sl1yo, brk) 2 times, yf sl1yo, [(brk, yf sl1yo) 2 times] 72 times, (brk, yf sl1yo) 2 times, p1. 299 sts.

Repeat rows 1-2 five (5) more times both LC and DC.

Row 13 (LS LC): sl, 3-3, yf sl1yo, [3-3, yf sl1yo] 72 times, 3-3, yf sl1yo, brk, p1. 299 sts.
Row 13 (LS DC): sl, yf sl1yo, p1, yf sl1yo, brp, [yf sl1yo, p1, yf sl1yo, brp] 72 times, yf sl1yo, p1, yf sl1yo, brp, yf sl1yo, p1. 299 sts.

Row 14 (DS LC): repeat row 2. 299 sts.
Row 14 (DS DC): repeat row 2. 299 sts.

Row 15 (LS LC): sl, brk, yf sl1yo, 3-3, [yf sl1yo, 3-3] 72 times, yf sl1yo, 3-3, p1. 299 sts.
Row 15 (LS DC): sl, yf sl1yo, brp, yf sl1yo, p1, yf sl1yo, [brp, yf sl1yo, p1, yf sl1yo] 72 times, brp, (yf sl1yo, p1) 2 times. 299 sts.

Row 16 (DS LC): sl wyif, (brp, yf sl1yo) 2 times, [(brp, yf sl1yo) 2 times] 72 times, (brp, yf sl1yo) 2 times, brp, p1. 299 sts.
Row 16 (DS DC): sl wyif, (yf sl1yo, brk) 2 times, [(yf sl1yo, brk) 2 times] 72 times, (yf sl1yo, brk) 2 times, yf sl1yo, p1. 299 sts.

Repeat rows 13-16 one (1) more time both LC and DC.

Row 21 (LS LC): repeat row 13. 299 sts.
Row 21 (LS DC): repeat row 13. 299 sts.

Row 22 (DS LC): repeat row 2. 299 sts.
Row 22 (DS DC): repeat row 2. 299 sts.

Row 23 (LS LC): repeat row 1. 299 sts.
Row 23 (LS DC): repeat row 1. 299 sts.

Row 24 (DS LC): repeat row 2. 299 sts.
Row 24 (DS DC): repeat row 2. 299 sts.

Repeat rows 23-24 five (5) more times both LC and DC.

Bind off.

Click image to enlarge

Finishing:

Block.

Have fun!