Mauve verity

It's a funny word 'mauve'. It sounds old fashioned and a bit of an in-betweeny colour. Not quite purple or rose, a bit pale and makes you think of a lavendar smell - little loveheart sachets in drawers or drawerliners. See? All old fashioned reminiscences. But the word mauve just doesn't have the same ring as Lavendar and it's been bugging me since I started labelling this 'the mauve beret' as the Rowan band calls this shade Mauve. It wasn't intended to be its name and sometimes names don't bother me at all but this does. It's as if I've given a child a really naf name they'll get teased about at school and it's all my fault! Sorry!

Anyway, this mauve beret is knitted up - as you have probably already surmised - in the Verity beret pattern by Ysolda. I'm losing count how many I've done and I think I may call it a day now. I've also found a new star beret pattern that has taken my fancy - sorry verity - and is a quick knit and ideal for christmas pressies. More to come as that pattern is a story in itself!

But this beret has turned out well despite my name and the wool twist in the yarn. This was a bit of a tester to see what a simple structured pattern would look like with a bit of texture. I think it does work but I'm not overwhelmed by the effect. It does give texture to the panels but it also gives a rougher edge to the flower shaping which looks better crisper. But saying that I think it does work, it's just a matter of preference.

I also changed the band for this one too. I kept the same textured stitch but instead of knitting it sideways with an overlap for the button, I just knitted it in the round with a loose cast off. Do you think it needs a decorative button anyway? Been considering it but it might look a bit stuck on rather than an integral part of the design.

Had to crochet the edge as the knit cast off was too tight. But that may be my knitting!! As I knew this would probably be my last verity I decided to try this band out. It could also have been motivated by a laziness as the band takes a long to do as the knitting of the hat!! And I am beginning to run out of time for all my ideas for christmas.

I have pretty much sorted out now what patterns I will be using - through trial and error - so now I can get started on the knitting mountain! More progress reports soon.......

* Just for the record, this beret was knitted watching a scary episode of Sanctuary and the end of the film 'Mr & Mrs Smith' with Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie.*

reboot!

hello all!

Well, I didn't intend quite so long a break away from blogging! Once something happens to break the flow then I find that life tends to get in the way and suddenly nearly a month has passed and no updates.

The good news was that blogger fixed my site quite quickly after my last post, just in time for my computer to get infected with a very nasty trojan that started wiping files and corrupting all my programmes. Eventually, I had to admit defeat and back everthing up and wipe the whole computer and start again from scratch.

Warning! Do not do this when you are very tired. It really pays to be focused at a time like that. Of course, I WAS tired and desperate to get my computer working again so I made a major mistake. Please do remember to disconnect the external hard drive that is storing all 5 years worth of backed up files, photos, work, etc before you format all the drives on your computer. The weeping and wailing that follows about how the world has literally ended are not pleasant for anyone else to witness.

There is a happy ending to this tale as I managed to get a recovery programme to 'find' the files underneath the new coding so I got everything back - whew. I did have to pay for the privilige but it was worth every penny:-) I've also realised that I've been storing a lot of crap too so a good clearout is in order. If you have converted your drive to RAW then do look at the ZAR recovery programme - lifesaver. It lets you see the files it has recovered and if you have the patience of Job then you can download 4 files at a time free. But since I had over 100,000 files, I decided not to do the maths and work out exactly what century I'd be in when I'd finished:-)

So now I can get back to showing you what I've been working on this month. The Heather Verity has finally got a button and is already delivered to my sister with the fixed purple verity, just in time for the cold snap. I've completed a pink gretel beret - another lovely pattern by Ysolda - and the cables are dense and warm looking. I've also completed another slouch beret in a heather tweed by Rowan and although I intended it for the christmas pile, I've decided it goes with a lot of my clothes and is now, therefore, mine:-)

Here's a sneeky peek at the pink cables - I'll go into more detail on the gretel tomorrow with pics and close-ups but for now, I'm just glad to be back!

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.....

A maker's nature

At last I've got round to uploading my photos of heather verity. For once the weather wasn't to blame! The decision to change workrooms was only meant to take a small time and resulted in redecorating, waiting for paint to dry - all the while my computer was disconnected........

But the re-occuring problem I always have is how to fit it all in? Too much stuff and not enough space. Ahh, the perfect workroom, with pigeonholes of co-ordinated yarn and fleece, space for all the threads, fabric, buttons, ribbon, lace..... but in all honestly, I'd probably need a huge warehouse and the more room I have the more I will fill it! I don't think the notion of thinning out is compatible with my hoarder's nature!

But back to the verity. Although it has felted a little, it does have a lovely feel to it. I think the YO's have lost a bit of their crispness which is a shame but overall it's good - and it fits! The colour of this is really difficult to match as you can see - each picture has a slightly different tone. I feel the last picture is the closest but hey, it changes colour in the different light so all of the above!
It is proving difficult to match a button for this - grey is too dull, purple too strong, a pinky one could work or a wooden one.... Somehow none look just right. Oh dear, I may have to add to my button collection!

And this is why I have no room for anything and have spent DAYS organising and reorganising all my 'stuff' - buttons, threads, yarn, more yarn, fabric, books, more books.... Sometimes I wish I just concentrated on one discipline - my partner devoutly wishes I HAVE ONE DISCIPLINE!! - but I can't help finding all textiles interesting - melting plastic (stored plastic bags and tyvek), collage (boxes and drawers of papers, lace, letraset, image transfer paper....), drawing with stitch, printing, machine and hand knit, felting, weaving, spinning, dyeing, - the list goes on.

So have I finished? The loft is a little fuller and everything has a home of sorts for now - except for those annoying little 'bits' that are sitting cluttering up the floor looking accusingly at me when I think of doing some knitting rather than tidying up:-) And I want to get back to my new hat in the rose red pattern by Ysolda! I'm calling it 'snow white' - as it's white coloured this time. (Anyone else remember the ladybird book 'Snow White and Rose Red''?)

Roses are red and verity's are blue!

At last, at last, the beret's are finished! I've really enjoyed making them but I think I need a rest from hats! But I am really pleased with 'Rose Red'. This Ysolda pattern is even more fascinating than the Verity pattern and I enjoyed that immensely. I think using Cashmerino yarn might have helped the look and the overall feel.

I just love the cabling that goes all the way to the bottom. This did take quite a bit longer than the verity and I ended up getting distracted trying to watch television and having to take back sections. But, it's all a big learning curve!

After subtly (or not), trying to guage whether my friend would prefer the petrol verity for her birthday, I realised that the tactile aspect is so much more important than a lovely looking hat - she loved the pattern, she loved the colour, she loved the cookie button - but the feel was "not as nice as the cashmerino". A lady with excellent taste!
Now my quandry was - birthday in three days, beret to knit, soft yarn to find.... Ah Ha!! Debbie Bliss Alpaca Silk! Okay, it's DK but knitting the large size should work???

Long story short - it did! Not as full as I would have liked and definitely a lot neater that even the magenta DK verity but still a lovely, soft, verity beret. I don't think I would use the alpaca again for this pattern but it would be nice on the rose red or another pattern with more structure to help it keep its form.
(sorry the pictures are so poor - only managed to finish near midnight and had to wrap then and there, so artifical light was all there was.)


I took a picture of the yarn before I knitted for my Ravelry stash so you can get a better idea of the final colour - a bit bluer without the yellow cast.


The only issue I have now is that I intended to use this yarn to knit a rose red for my sister to replace the purple verity with the tight headband. Oh, dear! Does that mean I will have to buy some soft, yummy yarn? I'm sure I've seen some gorgeous hand painted merino on Ravelry......