I knit my first beret!

   I finally got it right!  This is my beautiful, green beret that I knitted from a pattern at Crazy Aunt Purl’s blog ( http://www.crazyauntpurl.com/archives/2008/01/supersimple_fas_1.php ).  She’s right when she says it is simple and fast to make — just make sure you swatch first so you know how to adjust the gauge to fit you.  [And make sure you know how to count stitches in a swatch.  Sigh...]  Also, if it is your first hat (as this was for me), it would be good to read the blog entries she suggests first.  I used Lamb’s Pride Bulky, and it took almost the whole skein.  It is lovely yarn to work with.  Am already anticipating more berets using the same yarn in red, and blue, and white, and lavender, and brown, and …

My first afghan

   I’m still working on my thesis — really I am.  It’s gone through some revisions, and I hope to post about it after my proposal is approved and I get my IRB number.  But I’ve been involved in another project with an even more definite time-frame, and THAT one I completed on time!  :-)  Feast your eyes on my first, knitted afghan! 

This was for my husband’s birthday (well, originally for Christmas, but that was overly optimistic), so he picked the pattern and the colors.  I found the pattern in “Knit Afghans of Many Colors” (American School of Needlework, #1347), and it’s called Falling Leaves.  The idea is to use up bits of worsted yarn you have left over from other projects, but since I’m such a new knitter (I have very little left-over yarn) and this was a gift, we went to Michael’s in Eureka (CA) and chose colors he liked.  [Which also happened to match their illustration.  His choice.]  I used Lion’s Wool-Ease whenever possible, but there is also some of their Wool.  [This Michael's really doesn't have a large selection of colors, unless you want acrylic.]  I used a size 10 circular needle (29″), so it took a LONG time to knit.  But it was fun, and good therapy when life got stressful.  Best of all, he likes it. 

My next knitting project is a beret, from a pattern I found on Crazy Aunt Purl’s blog (http://www.crazyauntpurl.com/archives/2008/01/index.php).  [She's fun to read.]  Am using Lamb’s Pride Bulky, in a beautiful, deep green, but am having problems with the sizing. [Yes, I knitted a swatch.]  But before I ripped it out (it would have fitted Shrek) I saw it was going to be very pretty.  Am looking forward to getting it right this time. 

 PS:  I got out Knitting for Dummies and figured out I was counting my stitches in the swatch incorrectly.  Duh!  In my defense, I’ve been knitting things in the last seven months where gauge is not all that important (wash cloths, a table scarf, the afghan), so this is the first time I’ve needed to do a swatch. Still . . .