Au Revoir, Summer (and Good Riddance, Too, I Might Add)
Thursday, September 2nd, 2010It started with the fall catalogs. I could tell that that this Long, Hot, Miserable, Satan’s Arsehole of a Summer would soon be gone. Then came the fall knitting magazines, both in print and online. Sweaters! Mittens! Wool! Cozy stuff! As soon as I finished the ESTJ Socks, I cast on a lightweight beret for myself.
Pattern: Anthera from Twist Collective. For a mere $6.00, you get a pattern for a beret, cowl, and cuffs. Instructions are charted, not written out. Twist Collective has great charts in terms of legibility and ease of use, so don’t wimp out if you’re chart-phobic. If you can knit, purl, yarn over, ssk, and k2tog, you can make this beret. I can’t believe that I’m the only person on Ravelry who has made this beret thus far.
Yarn: Louisa Harding Kimono Angora Pure (70% angora, 25% wool, 5% nylon) in Color No. 6, Teal. I say it’s Turquoise. Approx. 90 yards.
Size: One size.
Needles: US size 4 and 5 (3.5 mm and 3.75 mm, respectively) both Brittany Birch DPN’s and Addi Natura 16″ circular
Mods: None, other than the absence of a dorky i-cord macaroni thingy on top. I’m not fond of dorky i-cord macaroni thingies, so I just left it out.
Comments: This needed Aggressive Blocking to get it to the point where I thought it had enough slouch to be called a beret. Aggressive Blocking translates to a full 30-minute soak in Soak and a 10½ inch dinner plate. The lace pattern really opened up. If you like a lot of slouch in your berets, I think you could do an additional repeat of Rows 1-12 from Chart A and add about 1½ to 2 inches to the depth of the hat.
This is perfect for fall. I plan on wearing it with my brown leather jacket and Norovirus Scarf v. 2.0
































