beret city

OK, I knit this Beret in Malabrigo Aquarella up and finished it before I got a chance to tell you about it. It is an Urchin by Ysolda. I was a little confused when I first started but once I got the hang of it it was really easy. One caveat, you will REALLY want to have a set of locking or split ring stitch markers at hand to keep track or your short rows. Every time i did a Wrap & Turn (w&t) I stuck a marker in the wrapped stitch. Listen to me now, believe me later. I'm not sure I love the Aquarella for this hat, it may be a bit thick. I should have made a size Small, I did a Medium and it's a bit big - although, if you have a big noggin it is probably just right. One thing I notice now, looking at the pattern pictures on Ravelry, I don't seem to have the ridges that bisect the sections. I must have read something wrong, but it's easy enough to adjust next  time (if there is one).

This is my Parisian Beanie Beret (raspberry beret) from Stitch Diva Designs - almost finished except for another round or two of decreases  and some ends woven in. I was working on it while in line at the flu clinic on Monday (don't go to the one at Yonge & Eglinton, what a mess). I made some good progress on it, almost finished except I RAN OUT OF YARN! I finished it yesterday, it is drying right now. It looks really big!  I think it may have been a mistake to knit it in a superwash yarn. After you wash a superwash it can often loosen up a bit, and I think that because this hat is knit on 6mm needles that a yarn that has a more consistent body would be a good idea. Maybe a Malabrigo Worsted or Lamb's Pride Bulky. Otherwise, i think it would be a good idea to change the needle size and use 5.5mm or maybe even 5mm. But I'll get back to you with the final pics and how I feel about it.

Hey, by the way, I taught myself how to knit with gloves on! The trick is to wear those thin, lycra stretchy one size mini-gloves. The ones at H&M are pretty good.