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.

Green Fingerless Mitts with Buttons, a Scarflette, and a Headband (finishing up Christmas gift posting)

I knit these fingerless mitts from the cuff up. I made the pattern up as I went based on a few proportions from other patterns I had. These mitts were knit from one of my favorite yarns, Merino Style, from Knit Picks, in the Moss colorway (probably my favorite of the colors I’ve used from Merino Style). It does have to be gently hand-washed (as it’s 100% Merino wool), but it is very soft.  It also gets fluffier and softer after washing, technically called blooming. 

I added a unique button from JoAnn’s to the cuff. It reminds me of lace, except in plastic. It’s a lighter green than the mitts, but it coordinated nicely. I made these mitts for a friend of mine who loves buttons. Have you ever spent time making something specifically for that person really hoping they love it, and you don’t really hear back from them? It’s like the item has disappeared forever. I don’t know how much she likes them, but hopefully she’ll enjoy them. 

I got these pictures a few minutes before packaging the mitts up to give to my friend. My sister is modeling. I think she was secretly hoping that I would decide to give them to her. 

In this second series of pictures, I’m wearing the fingerless mitts with the buttons (it was freezing outside, okay? and I was just wearing my pretty Christmas dress) and another triangular scarflette. I loved how the scarflette and the mitts pretty much match (both from the same company, though slightly different fiber content influenced dye adhesion). The scarflette was knit from another beautiful yarn, Gloss DK, also from KnitPicks. It is 70% Merino wool, 30% silk. The yarn is dyed after the two fibers were mixed (I don’t know if this was before or after it was spun), which resulted in a bit of sparkle. Silk does not accept dye as readily as wool does (wool just drinks it up) so the silk is a slightly lighter green and gives the yarn color more dimension and vibrancy that a 100% wool yarn.

As of yet, the scarflette has not found a new home. I’m hoping to sell it if I can figure out how to set up the business logistics and PayPal. If you're interested in purchasing it, send me an email and we'll discuss details.

In these last pictures, I’m modeling another Christmas gift for a friend. She saw the blue flowered headband for my sister and told me she wanted one in red. I was so excited. I can follow directions and I love knowing that she'll actually probably wear it. The one I made for her was smaller than my sister’s; it’s flower is smaller, more elegant, and more appropriate from a teenager than huge flower. Plus, my sister’s flowered headband is starting to flop around from the weight of the flower. My sister had literally stretched out her headband from trying it on too many times before I even gave it to her. I designed this little red headband with i-cord tails so the fit can be adjusted to fit the wearer’s head and if the headband stretches a little, it won’t be a big deal. 

So yes, I know Christmas is over, and school has started again, but I’m still catching up with posting the picture of all my Christmas knits. What have you been working on? Did you finish all your Christmas knits in time, or are you still finishing up the IOU projects? You can put your answer in the comments. 

Happy New Year!