A Tale of Two Berets

Ah, mother-daughter berets.



One for me...

And one for her...

Cute, right?

My beret was knit with the very lovely Debbie Bliss Luxury Donegal Tweed Aran in a pale pink (can't find the color name anywhere, sorry).  The pattern is by Hannah Fettig, called Early Morning Beret. It is a free, easy and well written pattern that took a couple of evenings to complete. Quite pleased with the results. My mother had given me the yarn as a gift to make a scarf, but I was really in need of a fresh, simple hat (since I made several scarves and cowls last year- didn't need anymore of those now). Loved, loved, loved the yarn. It blocked beautifully, softening as it sat on my blocking mat.

Emma's beret was an emergency knit too. I have a super intelligent, super talented, super beautiful daughter (I know, I'm not biased at all!) who just happens to be super tall with a super large head that grows at an alarming rate! NONE of the hats that I made her last year fit, so I had to start over. This little Debbie Bliss' Moss Stitch Beret (moss stitch is the British equivalent of the American seed stitch - don't ask me why) was knit using one of my favorite yarns from one of my favorite companies: Three Irish Girls' Springvale Super Merino in the Cherry Blossom colorway. Love how the seed stitch changes the effect of the color pooling. So neat. Am thinking about whipping up a pair of matching mittens, too! The pattern was quick and simple, but I'm not crazy about purling 3 stitches together, it creates a sharper decrease and then has a bit of a bubbling effect once complete. However, the color masks that a little and the final product is pretty cute.

But first I have to finish this for her.... in the next couple of days. The weather channel (can they be trusted, really?) claims that the high for Saturday here in northeast Ohio is 47! That's a bit chilly for the first day of October. So the race of nature vs. knitting mother is on!

It's good to give

The wonderful step-mother of a dear friend of mine recently found out that she has cancer. No one likes to hear this news. No one. To help her step-mom through this rough time, my friend asked me to make a couple of caps for her.

And here they are...

The is the Brattleboro Hat from New England Knits, an absolutely beautiful book with many tempting patterns. Since this hat is for a cancer patient, I was advised only to knit with cotton or cotton-blend yarns. So the Brattleboro Hat was made with Knit Picks' Comfy Worsted yarn, a surprisingly soft and smooth fiber blend consisting of 75% pima cotton and 25% acrylic.

The second hat was a free pattern I found on Ravelry, entitled 2009 Race for Life Chemo Cap. The delicate little lace detail at the edge caught my eye when searching for patterns. This little cap was knit with Knit Picks' Cotlin, which was not at all enjoyable while knitting. It felt scratchy on my fingers and regularly released bits of straw, but blocked beautifully and turned out much MUCH nicer and softer than I expected. (Thank heavens!) Cotlin is made of 70% Tanguis cotton and 30% linen.

Both projects took only one skein! Great stash buster projects. But I admit that the best part of this experience was putting the package in the mail, knowing that my friend's mom will feel more comfortable while wearing them.