Snapdragon!

Well, I didn't manage to get around to sewing buttons on the green veyla mitts last night because I was busy trying to finish this lovely snapdragon beret. The design is by Ysolda and as you can see it is gorgeously intricate with complex cables and petal shapes. I love how her beret patterns always flow to the centre without looking as if the pattern has been squished to fit:-)

I never really intended to use a bright sunshine yellow - not really my favourite colour to wear - but when I saw the original knitted up in this colourway, I had yarn to match and just had to cast on. The pattern is written for worsted weight and I think you could get away with a DK yarn too but my yarn was a bit fine being fingering/4ply sock yarn so I decided to double it up as sock yarns are usually rather generous in length.

This yellow is Schoppel-wolle's admiral ombre colourway 1959 and I knitted it with two strands. Each ball has 420m per 100gm and this was just enough to knit the medium size. I emphasise 'just'! In retrospect, although I even tested the gauge, this knitted up a bit big so the small size would have been a much better idea - and I would have worried less as the yarn was fast disappearing towards the end there! A very close thing!

I do like the variation the two strands gives the beret, not too much variegation but not a solid colour either. I think I'd like to try this again using a thinner yarn, maybe in a bright magenta! The pattern is easy to follow and very enjoyable and knits up very quickly once you get going. A hand spun yarn would be really good for this too. Shame I've already plyed the bright pink jelly jelly roving as it would be interesting to have used it with this design. But then again, it may have had too much colour contrast. I'll have to have a rummage through my stash and see what I can find.... :-)

Star crossed berets

After a little break, I'm back with some knitting for you. Not an intentional break, more one of those breaks where you suddenly go, I haven't blogged for week? No! That can't be right, but you double check and it is. Well, all I can say is time sure moves quickly when you start DIY! But I have a nice newly painted kitchen now. All the 'lovely' acid yellow paint is finally gone - not painted by us, I hasten to add. I like colour but even I struggled with this tone - bleh!

Anyway, after 4 days of DIY, I've been recovering from the knitting deprivation by knitting some quick projects - instant gratification:-) After I knitted the red star crossed beret in chunky yarn which turned out on the big side, I decided to drop down to aran weight and smaller needles to see if I could get the perfect fit for this pattern. And, voila! Nice weight, handle, drape and just enough slouch without drowning me in beret! If you want to try this smaller version, I used 5.5mm needles for the rib and 6.5mm for the cables and no modifications to the pattern. I did try cutting out some of the cable repeat and got a beanie look so I ripped back and knitted the pattern as is and it works just fine.

This yarn is a soft cotton mix from my stash, wendy fashion aran - long out of production I'd imagine - but it has a wonderfully soft feel and gives excellent drape. This pattern is very quick to knit up. I would say overall it took me about 3-4 hours watching tv so it could be knitted quicker if you were very focused!

I finally got some dry weather yesterday to get hat wearing photos taken. The red star crossed has been waiting a long time. You can see compared to the pale purple one the red beret is a lot bigger generally and has a LOT of slouch! But, it's still fun and being 100% wool is very warm. Being fuller, I can also get it to cover my ears for wintertime weather:-) This one is staying mine. But I don't think I suit the purple tones as well so I'll save that one for a present. Yes, I am starting to think christmas - well, the weather is definitely saying Autumn to me so I'm automatically looking for warmer, chunkier yarns to knit with, which is a bad sign when you haven't really had much of summer yet! (in the UK).

But looking on the good side, all this rain means I can stay in and do more knitting. I have also finished another hat - pics tomorrow - and I have been dabbling with a mini tote and some stripey socks - yup, more of them. But they are more experiments than definite projects. If I like them then you may see them soon!

Until then, happy knitting!

Urchins!

Well, you go and upgrade your computer and suddenly you are days behind on all your blogging posts! I have done quite a lot this week - knitting, washing more fleece, painting the house:-) - but I thought I would indulge in showing you some Finished Objects. Yup, FO's!! A long time since we've seen any of those:-) Everything has been ongoing, its beginning to hang over my head a bit so it's time to clear the decks and get some of these projects finished.

So, today it is two urchin berets. The first is the lovely multi-coloured red Urchin knitted with the majorly chunky Adriafil baba that I waited ages for in the post so I could finish knitting it up. So now it is finished, I've realised it is HUGE! While I was knitting, it didn't seem any bigger in circumference that any other beret but the band for your head obviously has too many rows and the hats falls down past your nose:-) Sigh. So after all that wait, and I must say an enjoyable knit, I think it is destined for being ripped back and knitted into something else. Maybe a circular bag....

The beret is precariously balanced on the dummy's head so it doesn't slip down her nose:-) It is really bulky at the back too and unfortunately in this jumbo scale not very flattering on! But I decided to knit another urchin in a thinner yarn to compare and contrast.

Same large pattern size but look at the difference. Little baby blue and jumbo red! It's a shame as the red yarn is really lovely and warm and would make a great hat. I think if I wanted to use it for an urchin I would have to create an extra, extra small version:-)

The blue Urchin is knitted in the Paton's Symphony I was swatching with earlier. All I needed to do was use 7mm needles instead of 8's and knit the large size to compensate for the stitch reduction. Saying that I could have got away with the small or the medium hat size as it still has a little more slouch that I would like. That may be due to the tension being a little looser than I would like as well - maybe 6mm's would be the answer:-)

Anyway, this is a very quick knit and the short rows just fly by using super chunky. I finished the last 5 wedges out of 8 and grafted the seams in about an hour or so this afternoon. This fits a lot better but still I don't find the style that flattering on me. I wonder what a much finer gauge would knit up like? With a little pattern tweeking, and maybe using st. st instead of the textured garter st, it could become a whole new hat in its own right. Thinking cap on......

Well, I have cleared my work space and I have pulled out another long overdue for finishing WIP - the fushia forest canopy. I'll work on this tonight and show you how far I get tomorrow.....

Happy knitting!

Right in or write off?

The pink slouchy 'beret for all seasons' is now finished. The question is whether it will stay a beret or not. This was knitted in aran weight deliberately, rather than the double knit stated, and seemed not too bad as I was knitting. A little bigger, which was to be expected but not too big to be a write off. Problem is, now it's finished, I'm thinking 'write-off'.

Slouch it definitely has! I know slouch in your beret is really 'the thing' but this is a bit too much! This is so big my biggest dinner plate was too small to block it properly! With this portent of doom, I was apprehensive about trying it on when it was dry. I mean the pattern is lovely, the eyelets swirling in a lovely spiral from the centre and it's clear as a bell using the solid pink colour.

It also has a nice chunky feel - warm to the touch and snuggly. BUT it is huge! I really don't think it's meant to look like this on!? Even for a big head, this is BIG...

So, I don't know. Do I know anyone who loves extra, extra slouchy berets in pink who would wear this? Or do I rip it back and make a nice pink cable waistcoat out of it? Or a cabled bag for me? I don't feel precious about it. It was a quick knit and as it just won't get worn by me maybe it should just be assigned to the 'frogged' pile.

Or maybe I could thread a ribbon through the rib and make it into a little drawstring bag?! Or felt it into a bowl?

Oops, I did it again....

So, I've gone and started something that wasn't in the plan - not in the list of must do's, want to do's or even might if I have the time sometime this year do's. I have WIP's (works in progress) that are nearly finished and only need that little shove to get them done and dusted so I can get all the projects off the needles for new, exciting spring knits. But this kind of came up behind when I wasn't looking and hijacked the needles!

So what am I knitting? Some new complex lace or cable pattern? Some lovely fresh spring number? Umm, no.

Does this look familiar?

Or this?

Sigh, yes, not only have I knitted it once before but TWICE! Not only isn't it a spring knit but it's another winter beret to add to the increasing beret pile - well the ones I have kept for me:-) And as this one is very pink, it'll probably stay mine!

But, although I do have things to finish that I should be feeling guilty about, I am really enjoying this small pink project in aran weight and it feels like it's flying off the needles. Do you ever feel that sometimes? Some projects tick over, some drag, but sometimes they just flow.

This one is definitely flowing and it's getting me thinking about tinkering with the pattern, playing with YO's and creating new beret patterns. So what if the eyelets went off in a slant instead of straight up? What if they were all over the beret? And how many stitches would that need to cast on etc, etc. So I'm knitting away and my mind is working overtime.

So not only will I not feel guilty about knitting my lovely new pink beret, I fully intend to keep on with my beret phase and play some more. I'm sure I can live without a spring cardi for another week or two:-) If I get on a roll, then I can always say I've started early for christmas!!!

Happy knitting!

Ishbel beret

At last I can show you what I have been beavering away knitting the last few days. The Ishbel beret is finished! It has been sitting there waiting for me to progress past the band for about a week and yesterday, I suddenly decided was the day to finish it. Okay, it took me more like two full days but don't you think it was worth it? Doesn't lace look good when its blocking?

This is knitted in 2ply/laceweight lambswool that I hand dyed a while back. I really did think this was going to be too thin for a beret but I was so wrong. The lightness of this is just lovely and so elegant being a finer gauge. When you are knitting the lace pattern, you can see generally where the design is going but you don't really get the full picture until it's finished. Then, wow. Suddenly this structure appears fully formed and looks amazing. Believe me, I tried to take photos of this at intervals of making to show you and none could capture the loveliness of the lace until it was stretched out.

Using such a dark yarn did make it difficult to see in artificial light and I did make a few mistakes trying to keep the pattern right at the beginning. But once you get a feel for each section it begins to flow a lot easier. Of course, knitting lace patterns when you are tired probably isn't recommended as you end up taking back what you knitted the next day! But I am pleased with my first lace project and there is still plenty of this yarn left to knit up the matching Ishbel scarf. For my sanity's sake maybe it'll be the short version ;-)

* Vital tv watching whilst knitting this lovely beret - 'The Duchess' and an episode of Poirot. I really enjoyed The Duchess though, lovely costumes sumptuous settings and a real feel of what society was really like in the late 1700's. Kiera Knightley played the Duchess of Devonshire very well and gave her a chance to show the depth of the character. Ralph Fiennes was a very convincing baddie! The link gives you clips, cast details and stills, worth a visit.

Cabled Beret - modified band

Well, the cabled beret is finished and blocked and I am much happier with my modified band. When the cables didn't match very well, and the beret still seemed on the big side after the decrease row, the perfectionist in me thought a little tweeking was in order:-) Of course, this tweeking always seems to be around midnight and then I get on a roll and don't get to bed for ages! But for once, this was a quick fix. If you have been having problems with this - the pattern instructions weren't very clear to follow at this stage - then you are welcome to try this out. Technical bit now....

Okay, you have just laboured through 51 rows of cable chart and you are looking forward to the home run. You have your smaller sized needle ready, and the first brim row reads *K2tog* . Okay, decrease - K2tog for the whole row and this leaves you with 120sts.

Here is where I have changed things.

Next row - *K2, P1, P2tog, k4, P2tog, P1* rep to end of row - 100sts.

Make sure to align your first 2 knit stitches with the first cable. A good guide is to check the placement of the large K4 stitch cable and count back to be sure:-)

Then follow the chart below:

Bind off normally.

If you feel it is a bit loose still then tighten up the bind off - works a treat.

I've never written out a chart before so hope this flows okay from the vogue one. I couldn't find the exact same symbols to use but found a free download for the cable symbol I used. As long as you carry on the same 4st cable as before - 2 st to the back on the cable needle, k2, k2 on cable needle - you should have a seamless continuation of your cable. Whew! That took a lot longer than I thought!

This is just what I did to my preference. After all that cabling, it's disappointing if you think it's been a waste of time and effort! I tried to keep it as faithful to the original overall look as I could and it's really only more decreases and a realignment. Hope it is of help to anyone in need!

So the cable beret is finished, the blue tiger socks are marching past the heel and on the homeward straight and I think it's time for another project. My blue and purple roving has arrived and I'm thinking a bit of spinning tomorrow but I also need to get started on the Vivian cabled top. Maybe I can get to do a bit of both!

Red marble slouchy

This slouchy is done as a request after my friend saw the yarn, saw the slouchy design and asked me to put them together in a beret for her sister. Since I only hunted the marble yarns out recently - for the stripey scarf - I hadn't considered using it in a beret yet. As a stripey matching beret, yes, but I haven't quite got round to that either!

Sometimes when you choose a yarn for a pattern, you have to weigh up the busyness of the pattern or the yarn. Rule of thumb - busy pattern such as mad cabling, stick to a simple yarn, solid or a semi-solid hand dyed as these show off the raised pattern well. Busy yarn with lots of colours, marls and textures usually like more simple shapes and patterns to show off the yarn qualities.

So mixing a medium busy marble yarn and a medium busy pattern with some yo's and a bit of a linear twist going on - hmmm. The jury says you can get away with it and it could be stunning but it may get too busy and confusing and lose all pattern definition. GO for it - at least you'll know how far you can push it!

So I did and I must say I am very glad I did. I was pretty confident that it would work but enough to be considered good enough for a present? I think this has worked out very well indeed and I love the marble gradations thoughout the beret as it works its way to the top. Being DK, it is a very slouchy beret but the weight of the hat sitting on the back of the head is quite comforting and cosy and looks good from all angles - in real life and not just in the best photos of the day:))

I do hope the recipient likes it but I am actually not bothered if she doesn't as I've decided to claim it as my own if its going spare - knitters perogative:)

Progress check.

Some new green mittens on the go and I need to get going on some gloves too.....

Considering starting on the knitting machine this evening - wish me luck and no more procrastination!

Plan B?

You may remember this purple verity from a while back - the one I decided to knit with two strands of DK Rowan wool for a chunky, warm beret. Yes, and the problems that arose from that chunkyness - the very tight headband that threatened to cut off circulation to the head! Well, my sister has sent it back for me to fix and I have been pondering over the solution. Two choices - take back the K2tog row which will increase the amount of stitches to stop the band being too tight or choose a looser stitch for the band as the selected seed/linen stitch is too firm and it needs to ----s-t-r-e-t-c-h-----

The easiest thing would be to try and substitute another stitch and if that doesn't work take more drastic measures and take back the decrease row. So I've been scouring the pattern books looking for something that would sympathetically fit....

Sample 1 - Double lace rib.

Way too loose and busy for the rim of the hat but would be nice on a garment (Note to self - must remember that)

Sample 2 - Variations on a twisted Rib

Has potential and I very nearly chose this one as it has a little stretch but not too much.

Sample 3 - Crossed Rib

Knew this wasn't going to work pretty early on as it was a 2x2 patterned cable and too loose and chunky, not delicate enough.

Sample 4 - Double Mock Rib

Looked better in the book than as a sample but think it would look more raised in a finer yarn but not for this.

Sample 5 - Corded Rib

Nice stitch definition, easy sl/psso that gives a clear textured finish. It also echos the slipped decreases in Ysolda's beret pattern rather than markedly contrasting which I feel the rib samples would do.

Sample 5 - Corded Rib

So off I went and knit, knit, knitted. This stitch is a variation of the slip pattern in the so-called scarf so I was happily surprised at already knowing what I was doing!! BUT! I also fell into the same trap of forgetting to knit into the back of the psso stitch every time to create the new knit stitch so I had lost a few stitches and it was obvious that there were mistakes. On the good side, I now know how to rectify this re-occurring mistake without having to take two rows back now! Bonus! I don't think watching the new Poseidon adventure film helped either:-)

So, the finished purple verity beret. I think the pattern looks good, it fits with the feel of the hat and I can get it on my head - just. It just doesn't seem to stretch as much as I had thought. Maybe I should have looked at the 2x2 ribs more carefully or taken back the decrease row..... But first things first. My sister's head is smaller than mine so maybe it will be a comfortable fit???
If not we can always go to plan C.....

Snow White Rose Red

I've been beavering away finishing this lovely Rose Red beret over the weekend. All finished but not blocked yet. But I thought you'd like some photos of the progress anyway. It's been a little while since I knitted the red one and I'd forgotten what a lovely pattern this is to knit. Watching the pattern progress is fascinating and all the details just 'fit' so well together. It inspires me to rush away and design my own but it's also a little scary as it sets a very high benchmark, don't you think?

The next challenge is the Gretel cabled beret or the mittens in the new Vogue Knitting magazine for fall. The bobbles and cables look lovely and I think they could have excellent potential for christmas presents. I know, I know, but do you know there is only 4 months to go? If I want to make things this year I should have started already!! Mild panic!

Maybe this snow white can be first on the Christmas Pressie Pile of Achievement! I've also come to the decision that although once I was a tight knitter - think squeeking needles - I am now decidedly relaxed and may have to start dropping down a needle size to compensate! I was getting concerned that the purl stitches meeting the plain were a bit on the loose side. Not that anyone will probably notice but it didn't seem to keep its tension as well as the rest. Hopefully blocking will even it out so I will be happy with it. I could always knit another one on the smaller needles to compare the results...... I know, christmas list first..... But it could join the Pile of Pressies :-)

So, gretel beret, another rose red beret, Vogue mittens x 3, no make that 6, and some so-called scarves. And Ysolda's got another hat pattern coming out soon. Better be making a start!