My grandmother needs a new hat. Every winter she wears this terrible tatty gray thing that has to be twice as old as I am! So I scoured the Ravelry database looking for the perfect beret, but none of the free patterns seemed anywhere near as lovely as Ysolda’s Gretel–which is, of course, worth every penny and then some. I was a bit overwhelmed by the tubular 2×2 cast-on at first, but it’s like all things in knitting: once you get the hang of it, it’s easy-peasy.
I stuck with the smallest size because I figured I’d need a third ball for the next size up, but because I used larger needles than called for I think the beret turned out somewhere between fitted and regular, which is perfect.
Pattern: Gretel by Ysolda, fitted size.
Yarn: Rowan Felted Tweed Aran, ivy, 2 balls.
Needles: #6s for the ribbing, and #9s.
Raveled: here.
I think this beret looks great knit in a proper tweed, too; I’ll knit one for myself in Kilcarra eventually. (It’s one of my favorite yarns, from a mill in County Donegal.)
love it, especially the color. I'm having a hard time parting with knitted things lately too, seems they are not off the needles before they are whooshed away!
Absolutely beautiful! The color is divine.
If there's ever anything that scares me off a pattern it's the fancy crazy cast-on method. That's when I call my mommy. 😉
It looks like a work of art in that first picture. It's going to look so cute on her!