a fine kettle of stitches

I’ve been admiring Ysolda’s berets for some time now. I knit up a couple of Urchins (Ravelink) last fall for gifts, and Kelly has been sporting the lovely Gretel for most of the winter. As soon as I saw this pattern I knew I it was the one for me. Luckily I had some yarn in may stash that would work, because I decided I really shouldn’t buy any yarn this month (that only stuck for about half the month, but at least it kept me from going nuts, what with Kathmandu tweed close-out at Webs, odd lots and super deals at Colourmart, and a great sale at Pick-Up Sticks). It’s the same yarn I used for my silver beret, in a different colour, Georga 100% wool, this time in Aran. I really do love a yarn that knits up easily and evens out amazingly after blocking

Because it’s not as heavy as an aran-weight yarn I got slightly more stitches to the inch than the called-for gauge. I didn’t want to use a larger needle, though, as I really prefer a somewhat tightly knit fabric for most things (I used this same yarn with a 4mm needle for my silver beret). So I simply used one larger size instructions and that worked out very well for me.

The first part of the hat whipped right along. I love the petal shaping. I had one false start on the band, casting on too loosely. The linen stitch really snugs up the fabric and makes a nice dense band and that left me with a sloppy end. I restarted and joined it to the hat stitches. This part took a little longer to knit, being a slip-stitch pattern, but well worth it. Picking out the button was almost as much fun as knitting the hat! After digging through 3 generations of buttons, I found a lovely mother of pearl flat button, lovely in itself, but it doesn’t overtake the hat.

I’ve received many compliments on it, and I may just have to make another in some different yarn

pattern: Verity, by Ysolda Teague
yarn: Geoga 100% wool, Aran
needles: 4.5 mm 16″ KnitPick’s nickel circ, Aero circ, Bryspun dpns
Simple and ingenious shaping, the main portion in stockinette, fast and fun to work. As an aside, the yarn changed colour after washing. It had a definite pinkish cast to it in the ball, but that’s not visible at all now.