I designed these mittens last winter, in February. I finally completed the pattern – it’s nice to have some time off to finish things! Also, I admit, sitting in front of the computer to learn photography software is quite a drag, and very frustrating . . . so I pulled out the needles, and have begun to knit again.
I wanted to have solid-colored thumbs on these mittens, and practice carrying long floats at the same time. It took a bit, and I learned, too, the need to randomize the stranding on the thumbs. When I didn’t, the yarn got stacked up in rows, and affected the final design. If you look closely at the picture, I did a boo-boo when I took the picture – you can see the thumb is rather puckered. The second mitten is much nicer.
Camouflaged!
The pattern is not too hard to follow, and but for beginners, the stranding may be a bit of a challenge. The carried yarn makes for warm mittens, and if you start now, you could have a pair for yourself – or a loved one! – in time for the December holidays. (Shameless plug, huh . . . )
If you are interested in buying the pattern, you can find them under “My Patterns” page, or find them here on Ravelry. Cost is $4.00.
Being in vacation mode means – being in vacation mode! But as my last week begins, the organizational part of me returns. This means a return to patterns of daily living, such as coffee set up the night before, getting up at 5:30-6:00, and following the morning routines of reading the news, blogs I enjoy, and perusing the patterns on Ravelry, and what everyone is knitting. And this brought me to the current issue of Twist Collective, for which I had considered sending in a pattern or two. Well, I never got around to that! However, this morning I sat down and went through the current edition, and was really impressed by a lot of what was on it.
Latvian cast-on? That possibility caught my eye on this hat with knit-purl-cable patterns that are very pretty in all their combinations. This is the Crown of Leaves hat by Faina Goberstein.
Crown of Leaves Hat
A lot of sweaters caught my eye, too. Mostly they are traditional patterns – I don’t do innovative well – that are on the tailored side. Wellfleet by Cecily Glowik MacDonald presents with a tidy appearance in a very unconservative and cheery color.
Wellfleet
Continuing on a traditional note with innovative design is Hallett’s Ledge by Elinor Brown. It is easy to see why this is a popular sweater on Ravelry – design and construction! And the name – where did that come from?
Hallett's Ledge
Finally, there is Acorns by Carol Sunday. The entire design of the sweater is very attractive. It is knit from the top down, in one piece. The name of the sweater got my initial attention – I really love oak trees – but then the sweater itself showed its appeal.
Acorns
A part of me wants to order these patterns and get to work! Self-control must step in, but this post certainly will remind me what got my eye! (I still have other projects to work on . . . ) And this is not to say there are not a lot of other wonderful patterns on Twist Collective – there are far too many. This season’s issue is, in my opinion, one of the best. But then, I say that about most of their issues.
I chose the Full of Sheep yarn because I was curious as to how it would knit up with textured stitches. It is a soft yarn, much like Lopi Light, but perhaps less scratchy. It may not give very good stitch definition because of the fact it is not plied, but really is more a rather dense finger roving.
Getting the Pattern Set Up
I started this beret a couple of times, and was not at all pleased with how I was progressing. I wanted to have 6 pattern repeats at the beginning, and then expand the hat by adding them between. It did not work out right in my head at all – certainly not in the way I was knitting it up. I thought about it on the way home from work, and realized I wanted to have 24 stitches for the pattern set up, with a base of k2, p2 to start.
At home, I drew out the k2, p2 to total 6 repeats. From here, I worked backward to my 4 stitches at the bottom of the tab. This picture shows you my sketch. The 24 stitches eventually became Rnd. 3 in the table below.
Sketch for Foundation Development
Abbreviations Used
k = knit
kfb = knit front and back of stitch
p = purl
m1 purlwise = make one purlwise by slipping the left needle into the strand between the stitches, then purl through the back loop of the strand.
pfb = purl through the front of the stitch, then purl through the back of the stitch
yo = yarn over
Make 1 Purlwise
This video is a very nice demonstration of this purl increase.
Begin Body
Row 1: Using the doubled stitches of the I-Cord, kfb, k, kfb, k (6 sts)
Divide sts onto 3 dpns, pm. On Rnd 1, be sure to move some of the stitches onto needle with marker.
Rnd 1:
*K1, m1 purlwise * to end
12 sts
Rnd 2:
*kfb, p1* to end
18 sts
Rnd 3:
*k2, pfb* to end
24 sts
Rnd 4:
*k1, yo, k1, p2* to end
30 sts
Rnd 5:
*k3, p1, pfb* to end
36 sts
Rnd 6:
*k3, p, pfb, p* to end
42 sts
Rnd 7:
*MCCO, m1 purlwise, p4, m1 purlwise* to end
48 sts
Rnd 8:
*k2, p2, m1 pw, k2, m1 pw, p2* to end
60 sts
Rnd 9:
*k1, yo, k1, p3* to end
72 sts
Rnd 10:
*k3, p3* to end
72 sts
Rnd 11:
*k3, p1, pfb, p1* to end
Note: I experimented with* m1 purlwise, p3* versus *p1, pfb, p1.* I decided that the p1, pfb, p1 looked better in the long run.
84 sts
Rnd 12:
*MCCO, m1 purlwise, p1, k2, p1, m1 purlwise* to end
Note: Here I decided that maybe two rows of k2 would look better before beginning the k1, yo, k1, as was done in Rnd 4.
96 sts
Rnd 13:
Note: This is where round repeats begin.
*k2, p2* to end
96 sts
And here is how the pattern looks so far, stretched out onto the dpns.
Beret Knit to Rnd 12
The next needle will now be knit with the circular, and I will use the following pattern, which I think will become the basis for the rest of the beret until I begin to decrease for the brim.
Rnd 13:
*k2, p2* to end (Note: Check for the MCCOs on this row)
96 sts
Rnd 14:
*k1, yo, k1, p2 to end
108 sts ?
Rnd 15:
*k3, m1 purlwise, p2, m1 purlwise* to end
?
Rnd 16
*k3, p4* to end
?
Rnd 17:
*MCCO, m1 purlwise, p1, k2, p1, m1 purlwise* to end
?
Some Thoughts
The yarn is stretched out, so the pattern is taut on the needles. Does not look great now, but may when relaxed. I’ll look at it on the circulars later on.
When constructing the first few rounds, it is easier to create a purl stitch by doing a pfb rather than trying to m1 purlwise. However, once it becomes easier, it should be done; equally important is remembering to purl through the back loop, as done in the video, as the stitch is much nicer.
A lot of people have downloaded the pattern for the Basic Beret, both here and on Ravelry. Not a lot of people seem to have made it, though. There has also been some criticism about the pattern itself, especially about the decreasing toward the top. There may be some validity to it, and it could also be the skill level of the individual using it. Given that, if you do decide to try this one, be warned that all I am providing is an insight into my own design process, and what I do. That said, let’s begin!
What do you want your beret to look like?
For my purposes here, I want a small pattern that can show how the beret expands outward. I want a knitting pattern or stitch that is easy to memorize and small enough to illustrate my points in design. I figured a pattern of 2 to 4 stitches would be good, and no more than 5 rows in length.
My idea is that, since I will be working from the center outward, I don’t want all the pattern stitches radiating out all at once, but incrementally. I plan on 6 initial patterns of the stitch, increasing between the pattern stitches in purl, and then adding the knit stitches, which are the foundation of the mock cable rib. As the pattern itself is 5 rows, the idea is to add a new pattern line every 5-10 rows to keep each pattern repeat parallel.
Preliminary Sketches of Top-Down Beret
My favorite on-line place to go is Knitting Fool, which is a repository of oodles of patterns. I chose an eyelet rib or cable pattern that most of us have seen – 2 stitches, a yarn over in the middle, knit a few rows, and decrease by pulling a stitch over a couple to create the cable effect. Here is my circular version, using Knit Visualizer, of the pattern. I created the MCCO stitch using the stitch editor in Visualizer.
I may decide to move the purl stitches to the right end of the pattern.
Gauge
As I am familiar with my own way of knitting, and about how many stitches per inch I usually get with a given yarn, I tend to skip this step. However, if you do not know, or you like to swatch, make yourself a swatch knit in the round, and measure from there. Gauge of flat knitting and circular knitting can vary. Some good links for getting your gauge may be found here and here, and in the videos below.
Center Beginning
The first decision is to have a flat center, or a little tab, such as found on the classic wool beret, growing out of the center. If you want a tab, this is how to do it.
Tab Beginning
This is done using I-Cord. Using double point needles (dpns), cast on three stitches, leaving a tail of 4-5 inches in length. I-Cord is done by knitting the three stitches, sliding them to the other end of the needle, and repeating. This video is very nice in illustrating how to make an I-Cord.
While you are knitting, include that long tail left over from beginning. This means you are doubling up your yarn and knitting the tail into the stitches. This keeps the problem of the tab’s tail having to be woven in later on. It also makes a fatter tab, so you may wish to use only two stitches for your I-Cord tab. Whatever you do, knit all the stitches for each row of I-Cord, do not slip the first or last stitch if this is something you do with regular knitting.
I decided to do a 3-stitch I-Cord for the tab. Here is my picture of the long-tail cast on, with a tail of about 6 inches.
Long Tail for I-Cord
Well, I knitted up a 3-stitch I-Cord. Too fat! Ripped it out, and produced a 2-stitch I-Cord. Here is the tab, knitting the tail in as I created the I-Cord. And, as you see, there are now 4 stitches, which can be used as the foundation for the beginning of the beret. There is also nothing to weave in along the I-Cord itself.
2-Stitch I-Cord, with Long Tail Knitted Into Work
Now that you have all sorts of information, here we go . . .and to quote Elizabeth Zimmermann,
Pithy Directions (so far)
Yarn: Full of Sheep, in cream
Gauge (from yarn wrapper): 4 st. per inch, 5 rows per inch
Needle Size (from wrapper): US 10.5
I am using size 8 needles because I knit loosely.
Directions:You can knit this beret with the traditional center tab, or flat. Up to you. I am using a tab for mine.
Begin Tab. Using a long-tail method of cast-on, cast on 2 stitches with about an 8-10 inch tail. Make the I-Cord (see above video or written directions) knitting with the long tail and the skein yarn doubled together. Knit 5 rows of I-Cord. At the end, there will be a total of 4 stitches available from the doubled yarn of the I-Cord.
No Tab: Cast on 4 stitches. Knit one row. Divide evenly over 3-4 needles. Mark beginning of round.
Online knitting resources have been around for years, but as internet technology and hardware improves, they have become better than ever.
One of the most valuable tools, for me, is the video. On youtube, there are all sorts of instructional videos. These really help get points across, and show the viewer something which is really difficult to describe in words, even with sequenced photographs. Just doing a search for “backward caston” results in numerous hits, and refining it with “knitting” breaks it down even more. If it hadn’t been for youtube, I’d never have been able to purl using the continental method – the Norwegian Purl video was more than a little bit of a help!
Other favorite sites for patterns include Ravelry, Twist Collective, Knitting Pattern Central, and KnitNet. On many of these, techniques can be found, groups, local yarn stores. In some ways, the internet is like an ongoing treasure hunt – click here, click there, and something new and interesting pops up!
Still, despite the potentials found online, there are also limitations, although as time and technology move forward, that will become less of an issue. The low-tech book and magazine provide a portability not found online, and yes, you can take them with you! I personally would rather look at these than spend hours online, sitting in a chair, at a desk, and be indoors. Much nicer to wander outdoors to peruse. Color illustrations still catch my eye, the smell of ink and paper, and the beauty of layout, design, type font as well.
And, in this high-tech world, isn’t it interesting that many of us still prefer to knit with fine knitting needlesin our hand, rather than at a knitting machine?
Ink, Yarn & Beer 