Stars everywhere!

It's getting cold out there and it is definitely time for hats and gloves. Yesterday, I braved the cold donning hat, gloves and scarf and I was still freezing. I couldn't seem to stop the cold wind freezing my face and numbing my toes. As I can't do much about the weather, I can maybe help family and friends wrap up against the early cold and retain a margin of snuggability whilst risking the inclement weather:)

Just in time for christmas - the star beret. Actually two of them for you to have a look at. I may have mentioned I was having a bit of trouble with these as I followed the pattern faithfully, knitting super chunky on the recommended 3mm needles. Ok, my common sense said 'this has to be wrong'. Super chunky is usually knitted on 7mm. A drop of 4 needles?? But I thought maybe the designer knows something I don't. Maybe she is going for the super tight, really dense, warm look?! I know, I know....

But keep on knitting I did and I began hating it more and more. Eventually on completion, it looked nothing like the picture being about 2 thirds the size and fitting more like a skull cap rather than a floppy beret! And so rigid! Needless to say I have no pictures of that hat to show you!! It's been ripped back and I enjoyed every minute of it! Isn't it funny that it takes a few minutes to destroy something that took hours to create?

But instead, I have both the green mohair and the bright purple star berets completed for you to look at. I do like the crisp star shape and it is a very bold hat in the purple but soft and warm looking in the green. Perfect design really. And it is really a friendly knit once you ignore the needle size and use the normal size for what ever yarn you are using. Both these hats are knitted with chunky yarn (rather than super chunky) and the pattern still fits well.

I did knit the rib band on a smaller size needle for a snugger fit as it was too loose on completion for me. At least this is knitted from the top down so you can always change the band if you need to. Not like the slouchy I knitted before that falls past my nose when you pull it on;) I would have to go all the way back to the beginning to fix it so what's the point? Maybe someone has a bigger head than me and it will fit them better! But I did remember this lesson when I knitted another one this week. Perfect fit this time - hurrah!

I'm afraid this pattern isn't available online as it was published in the small booklet with the November issue of Let's knit in the UK. You could visit their website for back issues if you have to have it! They have some free patterns there too and a forum for advice etc. Better suited if you are new to knitting or need support on new techniques.

So wrap up warm and pics soon of the new red marble slouch beret!