About the Girls' Hats

So here are the details on Christmas for my nieces.

Finished beret--aka Meret #2

First off, the beret.  The yarn was bulky (it's James Brett Marble Chunky--which incidentally is a bulky yarn, similar to Bernat's vintage Softee); so I settled on Bernat's beret from their Urban Weekend booklet.  Having made this pattern before (here and also here), I remembered that the brim was a little shallow.  I referenced another pattern I had recently made in which the brim was less shallow, the Meret (aka Mystery Beret) and lo and behold, it had the same number of cast-on stitches!  So I switched gears and worked the Meret instead (by the way, I just love my own Meret !).  

Under side of beret

Is this a recipe for disaster?  No, I say.  A thousand times no!!  First off, the yarn I used for the original Meret was on the aran side--thicker than most worsted weight.  The marble chunky yarn is listed as bulky but it's more on the thinner side--close to an aran weight.  See the confusion?  I also used smaller needles than would normally be used for the yarn weight (4.5mm and 5.5mm).  Finally I worked the smallest size listed in the pattern directions.  My oldest niece is 9 and rather tall for her age, so a child-sized hat was probably not gonna work for her anyways.  I figure better it be a wee bit bigger than too small.

Leftovers

If there's enough yardage, I'm hoping to make a matching beret (with purse and shawl) for my niece's 18" doll.  Won't that be cute?  I'm certain she'll love all of it. :) 

Yarn and pattern are ready to go . . .

For my younger nieces, I'm hoping to get them some storybooks along with some pretty hats.  How does Zeebad look?  Cute, right?  I've got some lovely Patons Classic Wool in orchid (more like a lovely raspberry, in my opinion) for one niece.  There's lots more pink in my stash, so if I run out of orchid, I can use a different colour for the second girl.

Very excited about getting started . . . 

Still Winter?!

What?  Winter still here?!

 Yeah, it's blustery out there today.  I dare say it is even blizzard like with all the snow and wind . . . Thank heavens my hat is finished 'cuz  I can still wear it!

Friend modeling my hat :)

I really do like the fit.  I did something different by casting on the smallest size for the ribbing, then I increased twice--once to reach the medium size stitch count for the brim/ribbing and then again as per the medium size instructions.  

Top view of my "meret"

I also made the hat a little more slouchy by repeating the simple lace pattern twice before working the crown decreases (pattern offers suggestions for making mods.  Gotta love it when the designer gives you options).  And I love it!  Now onward to another project . . . .

MIA?

Missing mojo is sucky, but I gotta confess: even though I have been absent the last number of weeks, I got over my slump.  Yes Martha, there HAS been knitting!  And really, that's all that matters.

Pretty yarn

In fact, I finished one project and am very close to finishing another one.  And surprisingly, there are a few other small projects in the works--nothing new or special, but something that is needed (more on that later). 

In-progress beret

So the hat I was working on is one that's been in my queue for ages.  It's Wolly Wormhead's Meret (aka Mystery Beret).  It's a lovely pattern with clear instructions and tips for mods (you can find it here along with other free patterns ).  Everything about this project made me happy except for one thing: I lost a circular bamboo needle.  The cable separated from one of the needles.  Thank heavens I didn't lose any live stitches, but I was not happy.

With school just about done, I hope I can get back into regular weekly blogging.  More importantly, I wanna get back to regularly scheduled knitting--as in every night, if you please.  It's a great cure for itchy fingers. ;)