Materials: 1.5 skeins Elann Peruvian Highland Donegal (90% Highland Wool/ 10% Donegal) in Slate (1147). Size 10 and 11 needles. Pattern: Star Crossed Slouchy Beret.

Time: 2 nights!

Cost: Free.

I whipped this up with a couple of balls of yarn left over from Pete’s Avast!, and I’m so glad that I did. The yarn works quite well for a hat – it’s soft and smooshy, plus the worsted weight makes a thicker beret than many of the lacy DK-weight patterns out there.

I made this as a easy, take-a-breather project between a bunch of smaller-gauge stuff, and it just FLEW by. I don’t bother with gauge swatches for hats, so I had to re-do it on the called-for needle size (I originally went down a needle size, because I’m a loose knitter) to make it floppy enough. All the same, it still took me two evenings to complete. So fast! Like lightning!

I wet-blocked the finished product – because I wanted to, mostly – and patted it back into shape so it didn’t stretch out too much post-washing. I think I’m going to steam-block the top flat, because it’s a bit too pointy as a result, but that’s a quick enough finishing touch.

It’s winter. It’s cold. It’ll stay cold for at least another four months. The more variety in my winter accessories, the better.

This entry was posted on Saturday, January 9th, 2010 at 12:31 pm and is filed under diy, projects. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.