I first learned to hate brioche knitting when I made my Exploration Station a couple months ago. It's not that it's hard, but if you drop a stitch, you're - for lack of a better word - screwed.
So for some reason, I decided to punish myself further by buying and knitting Pop Fizzle, a hat made entirely out of brioche in the round. It looked so pretty that I just had to have it. Plus, I had a coupon code, so at least I got tedious torture at a steal.
The good news is: it's not that bad. Once you get the pattern going, it's fairly intuitive. I mean, it's probably best if you already have experience with brioche knitting so you understand how the stitches are formed. You'll play a lot with increasing and decreasing in this pattern, so if you don't "get" brioche, then you won't like making this.
I'm using Knit Picks Chroma Worsted in the Black and Lollipop colorways. To be honest, I probably should have chosen a different yarn, or something that wasn't a fuzzy single ply, because getting my needles through the stitches at first was slightly painful. It's going well now, but the start was rough. I even had to rip out at one point after a false start (ie: I misread and increase as a decrease), which didn't work well since the fibers had felted together at that point.
I managed to learn the German Twisted Cast-On, though; it may become my default cast-on method going forward. I love me a good long-tail cast-on, and this seems incredibly sturdy and neat while creating a really nice-looking border.
PS: I'm knitting these on my new Knitter's Pride Marblz, acrylic interchangeable needles that are almost too pretty to use. I'll have a review in a later post, but if you feel like living on the edge, you can buy them sans review by using my KnitCrate referral link to receive 10% off your first store purchase ;)
Make amazing holiday gifts while expanding your knowledge! Learn brioche knitting in Craftsy's on-demand online class: Brioche Knitting Made Easy, where you'll learn the basics of this gorgeous-but-intimidating technique while making three practical projects: a hat, fingerless mitts, and a cowl.
Full disclosure: this post contains affiliate links, added because I love the product and think you - my valued reader and knitting friend - might benefit!