beret – Page 2 – Ink, Yarn & Beer

Clouds Beret

In the spring of this year, I decided to work up a lace beret. I’ve had the pattern written up and completed for some time, but did not want to publish it until I had included more photographs in the publication.

I am really pleased with the pattern, and my test knitters did a wonderful job correcting mistakes, as well as posing for pictures. These wonderful people include Judy and Donna, as well as models Alicia and Emmy.

Today, I posted this pattern on Ravelry, and on the Patterns page here on Ink, Yarn & Beer. Here are some of the photos taken in the process.

Anemoon – Finished!

There is absolutely nothing to dislike about this hat! It looks great on, and knits up quickly enough. The pattern directions are clearly written, the charting is easy to follow. Lucy Sweetland is a talented knitter and designer – not to say a great photographer! Check her out her blog, A Black Pepper.

Needless to say, my photographic skills do not do justice to this hat. What do you expect from a digital point and shoot? Well…I may buy a new camera in the future, too, and then??

Summer’s End

Somewhere I remember reading about a “rosy dawn,” but today’s rosy dawn is because of the fires burning in the San Gabriel area in Southern California. Yesterday as I drove home from Ventura, the billows of smoke from more than 80 miles away could be seen piling up in the sky, much like a volcano’s ash and smoke as it travels upward. This morning, the air is thick, and ash is falling on the streets in very fine particles.

The entire state of California is very vulnerable to these fires, which are part of the eco-system, and the fact that we have had a drought for several years, makes massive fires a very likely probability.

Where we live, we are in a valley surrounded by mountains. So far, we have not had anything major since moving here nearly five years ago, but I wouldn’t be surprised if our time will be soon. So many things can cause a fire, from a spark from electrical equipment to a bird on fire after hitting a power line (yes, it has happened), that you just don’t know where it will occur. You just need to be ready. Fires and earthquakes – a fact of life in California.

This week, our very good friend, Jerry, and his wife, Raka, have been here from Japan. They were married a year ago, and only now is their wedding reception being celebrated by their friends and family in the U.S. And, their first child is on the way! It is so good to see them, and wonderful to have the time to visit. They return to Japan tomorrow.

For me, the end of my all-too-brief summer holiday is winding to a close. I’ve had a few weeks off from students and school, but I still have had to deal with them even though I have tried to keep it to a minimum. We all begin again on 1 September.

I am also becoming a student again. Now that I have finished my teaching credential, the brain finally has time to pick up Japanese once again. I’ve tried different routes, but nothing seems to have been successful. I tried a community college class two nights a week while working on my credential. Beret Patt - First Page Too much work on all levels. Another time I tried a language class offered through a local adult school, but did not learn anything. Now I am trying to do it once more, this time through the Oxnard Japanese Language School. As the course meets state high school language standards, I expect it will be much be more to my liking. My class is for beginning adults; there are five adults, and seven kids, the youngest of whom is thirteen. Once we all settle in, I think it is going to be a lot of fun.

Finally, I’ve written down a very windy “how to” for making your own beret. Take a look at it. The purpose of this “Basic Beret” pattern is to help out the beginning knitter trying to design a hat. You can find the file on Ravelry, or here on the Pattern page, or under the heading of “Matataki Designs” to the right.

Flight of the Albatross*

Whew! What a relief it is to get those socks out of my life! I’m glad I did them, but the frustration – combined with guilt – about finishing them was a burden. I had no energy to do anything. And now they are gone I’ve been on sort of a rampage – cleaning house – gardening – and finishing up a heap of UFOs. I’ve got a number of berets and a pair of socks now, with loose ends woven in and toes woven shut, and a dropped stitched secured. That makes me feel really productive, and here are the results:

A grey Meret for a birthday last February:

Two berets for a friend’s May birthday:

A Porom for myself, out of handspun grey yarn plied with an orange (sounds ghastly, but really very nice!):

A watch cap for a different February baby, to match Christmas mittens:

And socks for me – or maybe a gift for someone with the same size tootsies:

And finally, a model for a pattern which I may post, or submit to a magazine . . . . but that picture will remain a secret for now!

Ah . . .

WIPs and Chains

Like every knitter – or nearly every knitter – I have more on the needles in progress than off. I thought it might be fun to take pictures of WIPs and WIPs-to-Be out of handspun.

Fountain Pen Shawl

I hate to say it, but I just couldn’t get into the pattern. So, it is now ripped out and waiting for something else. The yarn is Malabrigo, about 800 yards of lace-weight. Unskeining it was not fun – the ties for dyeing were not well done, and on the swift I had to weave in and out of the skein to get it onto the ballwinder. Worth the work though, as the colors are wonderful. I expect it will become a different shawl in the future.

Handspun / Hand-Dyed

Most likely for berets.

These yarns are two and three plies, some in tweeds. Tweed, at least the way I created it, was fun. All the little neps in other handspun, already dyed, get pulled out as spun, set aside, and then carded into another color. Another way to do this is to not clean the carder of the little neps, but work them into another color.

Another Meret (now finished since the photo was taken – just needing the tidying-up!)

This one is for a friend from childhood. Her birthday was in February. She’ll get an early b-day present I guess! (Hi, Claudia!)

And socks, socks, socks…

This is some commercial yarn. I think I dyed it, not sure.

Below, is some bare KnitPicks merino/nylon sock yarn. My mother-in-law, Judy, and I got together to do some for her birthday last year. I don’t believe she had ever dyed before. It was a great afternoon birthday project. Her yarn was much prettier than mine, but for all its gaudiness, this one I rather liked. You can see it on the ball, and how it is pooling – I like the yellow spiraling through the purples. Sunshine through the storm clouds.

And another sock, far too long on the needles. Great yarn!

Future Socks (of course!)

My first purchase from Sundara. The color was not quite what I anticipated, but I still like it a lot. Photos are not the same as real life (as I can tell you from the ones above, as well.) This is sock yarn, and I think a girly lace would be great. Her packaging is just wonderful, and her label makes you smile.

And in the meantime, I have some patterns I want to post, for free and for sale, and some in the design process. Once the next week is over, I think I should be able to get to them (at last). You will be able to find them on Ravelry under my moniker of Matataki. You can download this fellow from the “Patterns” tab at the top of this page, or using the link under “Matataki Design” on the right. Enjoy!