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.