Sunday, August 29, 2010

Ishbel Beret

It is finished. Finally!

I started this beret (the first time) in June last year. That's rather a long time ago! However, while this is (at least) the fourth time it was started, it's the first time it's been finished! It's definitely not perfect, but it's lovely and soft and I think the pattern nearly looks right. There's something slightly odd going on with the crown, and a few holes that look a bit bigger than others, but on the whole, I'm really happy with it.
Knitting this beret involved a lot of firsts for me. It was the first time I'd attempted a provisional cast on (I'm much better at it now than I was!) and the first time I'd done a folded knitted band (and used three needles at once). It was the first time I'd attempted lace knitting, and I now feel much more confident 'reading' my knitting to work out where mistakes are, and also at unknitting lace! It was also the first item I'd knitted in the round. So for a project that involved so many 'learning opportunities', I think I'll declare it a raving success! I love how logical the pattern was - my struggles were I suspect primarily a result of a slightly dysfunctional brain rather than an overly convoluted pattern - so I think I'll be trying another Ysolda pattern before too long.

Details:
Pattern: Ishbel Beret by Ysolda Teague
Yarn: Eki Riva Supreme
Duration: Far longer than possibly anyone else who might ever knit this pattern!! Possibly a couple of weeks of decent knitting time if you take out all the time I spent studiously ignoring it...

Ravelled here.

6 comments:

Sue said...

Congratulations on finishing your beret! I too have to always unknit lace patterns, I must get distracted by other things and end up missing a yo or a hole appears. I think you did a wonderful job and you learnt so many things along the way.

posie blogs Jennie McClelland said...

Oh another fabulous post, great work, fantastic colour, love Posie

Vic said...

well done! very impressive!

Anonymous said...

the more i see of these, the more i want one! it looks perfect, and the colour is to die for. nice work.

Jan said...

Ishbel looks good. I made one in Bendigo luxury 4 ply for myself and another on smaller needles for a young granddaughter. She loved it too. I've done two shawls but really enjoyed the berets. So comfy to wear too.

Sally said...

Gorgeous. A feat of endurance - well worth the effort. Beautiful.