FO: Grace Lace Beret

Oye. I've been really slacking on any sort a crafting lately. True, there are many things going on. A sewing machine clacking away in a game of "will it fit" chicken, an antique spinning wheel testing my mechanic skills and patience, a gorgeous spindle will occasionally be put into commission before it loudly clacks to the floor. Oh, the knits though. I'm having some issues sitting down and finishing anything (obviously). I currently have a very lightweight sweater on the needles that is almost done and it's been almost done for a while now. While I'm usually wrapping up the gift knitting right about now, this year I am coming up short. Y'all can deal with the hats and mittens that I made you last year for another winter, right?

I made and gifted a simple beret a few weeks ago.

Actually, it was more than that. More than a month ago now. Gah.

It was simple- a free pattern online. It used up a skein and a half of Canopy Worsted in "Palmbud". I love this alpaca/merino/bamboo blend. I did one less lace pattern than called for since this is a gift for someone with a small head, and I thought any bigger/floppier would look ridiculous.

It did take me about a day to make from start to finish. If I'm working on something that has an end in sight, I tend to just sit down and get it done.

FO: Icing Swirl Hat

The bumper crop of hats I have made are threatening to burst out of my winter woollies drawer. Some people in colder climates better have some birthdays coming up soon or this could get dire.

This one started out as a couple of wee braids of Capistrano Fiber Arts superfine merino.



I'm not sure what the color was called. Sometimes they aren't labeled. I pulled the braids apart and meticulously separated the different colors into piles- brown, tan and red. I carded each color into a separate batt, and then alternated when I was spinning so the yarn would stripe up when plied.





I spun it woolen and ended up with a worsted-weight 2 ply. I had about 280 yards total. After my last slightly bummer of a beret (now beanie) I decided to be brave and go for a slouchy big hat once again.



The pattern is the Icing Swirl Hat from Whimsical Little Knits. It's fairly simple to make. You start with an I-cord and it grows from there. There are some short rows in the back to give it a slouch shape. I like having a hat where you can pile all your hair underneath and hide it there rather than try to neatly arrange it while trying to fight static. Just hide it. It's easier that way.

On hindsight, I probably could have been a bit more aggressive blocking this out to a baggier shape. I'm always a little careful when I block anything handspun- I consider it just a little more fragile than a commercial yarn and I usually slowly block it out in stages rather than have a cartoonish struggle involving pins and upturned mixing bowls and wet wool.



A good blocking will also open up the lace a bit more, making the swirl more visible. I'm quite thrilled with the striping. It's also so soft, and really warm without being incredibly heavy. I love merino- I forget I love it as much as I do, and then I spend some touch time with it and it wiggles its way to the top of my love list again. The whole hat only used about 100 yards, so I have enough yardage leftover to, uh, make another hat I guess. Maybe I'll shake things up and make a cowl.

FO: Handspun Urchin Beret

Back to showing off a bit of knitting here. Here's another handspun hat that I whipped up in an afternoon.

It started out as a 4oz braid of Creatively Dyed roving. It's a 50/50 wool and bamboo blend.



I got this at MDSW a couple years ago. I just remember that it was hot out, and touching wool was a really big effort for me. Maryland has a great wool festival, but it's timed rather awkwardly. It's at the exact part of the year where you are liable to get your first really muggy days, which make you panic about there never be the need for woolly things ever again.



I spun this up as a chunky 2-ply, with plenty of thick and thin spots. The bamboo was a little squeaky to spin- it wanted to clump and not be a homogeneous blend with the wool. I went with it, and let it be what it wanted to.



I got slightly over 60 yards in the end. A hat-amount.



A simple beret was whipped up in record time. I used size 15 needles. Once again, it's the Urchin Beret by Wenlan Chia. It's a good pattern for a small amount of chunky or bulky weight yarn. I put in some extra rows just so I wouldn't have any leftovers. The bamboo really wants to drape, so it gives it a nice slouchy appearance. You can't really put this on your head, you have to pour yourself into it and let it flop around artfully and lopsided.



The bamboo didn't pick up the dye, so the white really muted the bright colors. It looks more heathered than anything.



Voila! It's a cute, fun little topper.

FO: Uni Beret makes me say "oui!"

I have such mixed feelings about berets. On one hand, they can be very stylish and chic. On the other hand, they can look foppish and, as my friend Knithound found out, "like a feedbag". (Whatever. She looks regal in it when she's not trying to rob banks.) I approach beret-making with much trepidation. They take up twice the amount of yarn as a regular beanie hat, and they usually take about twice the time. Beret= neigh.

The solution:



Yarn that is thick and roving-like. You lose a bit of the drape, but it only took me a hair over an hour to finish a hat. If it looked like I was about to run away and join the French Circus, it would't be a huge time loss.

Also, I really needed a quick pick-me-up since all I've been plugging away at have been eye-straining chart-reading cable and lace projects. Big projects. They have ceased to be fun, and I usually put them down and forget my place on a weekly basis. I should break this cycle, but I am way too committed to it at this point. I want to making no visible progress on my cable sweater FOREVER. I prefer it that way.

Here it is, the Urchin beret:



Except I prefer to call it "Uni", since that's what it's called in sushi form.



It's a bit heavy and warm for the summer. Quite a bit. Also, it pissed me off to no end that it took almost a week to dry after blocking since it wouldn't stop raining. I couldn't get anything to dry at all, and at the end of the two-week rainstorm we had that is called "Springtime" everything smelled like musty grossness of doom and gloom. I sprayed down everything with tea tree oil once I could get a dry day. I was seriously worried that a mushroom forest would have popped up in the bathroom if I didn't spray something.



A floppy fun head-covering in an hour.

The specs:

I used less than 1 skeins of Classic Elite Soft Chunky Yarn. It's only 83 yards to a skein, so it's a good use of most of one. The pattern is called the "Urchin Beret" from "Twinkle's Weekend Knits". I used size 15 needles. Bigger is really better when Instant Gratification is needed.