Crafting Alphabet: B

Here is a beret I finished a few months ago from the Koolaid Dyeing Project. It was a really fun project, especially after dyeing the yarn myself in the garage, using stepladders to hang the yarn to dye, and making a total mess. The pattern is "Pebbled Beanie" by designer Elisabeth Parker from Weekend Hats. The pattern took longer than I expected, but I'm looking forward to wearing it in this cool weather. 

Campus has definitely gotten much colder since the weekend. I've been using more of my hand knits, enjoying the fall colors, but not the freezing weather. But after a few days of gray rain, a rain-free day today was lovely. 

Isn't this Japanese red maple stunning? It's right outside my Spanish building, so I get to see it progress in its glory each day. Are you enjoying the cold or disliking the wind and rain?

I hope you all are having a wonderful autumn!

A Green Ruche Beret

So I finished that Ruche Beret in record time. I think I worked on it for about three days. It’s a well-written pattern, and I’m excited to have learned how to pleat in knitting. Part of the obsession was that the color breaks in the yarn gave me manageable goals. I wasn’t just knitting eight inches of plain stockinette but watching a symphonic harmony in green slide through my fingers. This ruche beret coordinates with the green scarflette I posted on here about previously, so now I have an entire green set. Wearing hand-knits is a great way to ward off the winter chill and have fun with different textures and colors.

I definitely plan to be knitting more green yarn, my current favorite color, and definitely plan to make another Ruche Beret. However, I intend to put more pleats into any future hats so that the headband is a little snugger. The Ruche Beret pattern was written by Susan B. Anderson, who wrote her own books called "Itty-Bitty Toys" and "Itty-Bitty Nursery." I have always enjoyed her designs; there are clear instructions with little details that pull the design together. 

Slouchy berets seem to me to be the most wearable hats; you stick them on, over a bundle of hair or not, and they frame your face without you fidgeting with them. What's your favorite type of hat? Do you prefer a hat or scarf to frame your face? 

Happy Knitting!

A Greenery Beret and a Ruche Beret

This week I finished a wonderful beret from the book “Weekend Hats” by Cecily Glowik MacDonald and Melissa LaBarre. When I first saw the book at my local Barnes and Noble, I was enchanted. Already I could see several hats that I wanted to make and wear. Although the hats are all unique and have sufficient techniques to teach me something new and to challenge me, they are both knit-able and wearable. 

The red beret I’m modeling in these photos is the Greenery Beret from “Weekend Hats,” designed by Melissa LaBarre. The yarn used is Hollyberry Merino Style from KnitPicks. I have found yet another colorway of Merino Style that I love. The Greenery Beret surprised me by being much larger than other hats I have made. The finished beret is larger than my dinner plates! However, it's size is absolutely wonderful because it covers my ears, hair, and forehead with soft, textured warmth.

The cowl is knit from another KnitPicks yarn, this time, Wool of the Andes Sport. I happened to choose the Hollyberry colorway for this yarn as well. I did not realize how identical the yarns were. Aside from touch, where one can discern the difference in softness from the merino and the Peruvian Highland wool, they are indistinguishable. I designed this cowl with a drop stitch pattern. After seeing a beautiful drop stitch pattern on Ravelry that was selling for six dollars, I decided I could design my own drop stitch cowl. I knit the cowl in the drop stitch pattern for twenty-six inches, I cast off and crocheted the two ends together. 

I am very excited to have a new matching set in this lovely dark cranberry color. It reminds me of the fire-red leaves in autumn, and the red berries at Christmas, and now the cranberries that have made their way into my kitchen. 

I am currently knitting another hat from “Weekend Hats,” the Ruche Beret designed by Susan B. Anderson. I am knitting it in a wool/acrylic blend from Lion Brand Yarn called Amazing. It is a green yarn that slowly morphs from a light, sandy green, to the vibrant green of spring, to a brilliant, bright green of summer leaves, to the darker, deeper evergreens of winter. I am enchanted with this truly Amazing yarn. 

I am trying to make this Ruche Beret out of only one ball of Amazing. I have 147 yards. Will it be enough? If not, I will probably just buy another ball because I am already loving this hat and would not want to rip it out. 

So, my final consensus of this book is that it is excellent. I will definitely be making more "Weekend Hats" and wearing them for the entire week. There's nothing quite like a warm hat on a cold day to make you feel cozier.