But (t)hat’s not a beret!
This is what I exclaimed to myself last night, after I finished my Rangoli beret, wore it and looked at myself in the mirror, and burst out laughing. The funny thing is that a little earlier, as I began the decreases for the beret, I held it up and said, hmm. It’s actually looking like it might be a bit too large, I hope it won’t end up too slouchy.
As you can see, slouchy it is not, nor is it a tam. But I am not going to tamper with it (heh heh) because I quite like what I ended up with. It’s a slightly loose-fitting hat, and on the walk over to school early this chilly morning, has established that it can keep my head from catching a cold without giving me hat hair. I love it, despite how off I was with my calculations. I’m going to soldier on with the pattern, but only after some more serious swatching. Here I stretched the cap out over a bowl so it looks a little larger than it actually is.
And here’s one of the crown:
I really liked the idea of the bobble for the dot, and the way I was able to separate the two lines of the petals by two purl stitches. The 8-petal division also works, but I might try a 12-petal division the next time. I also worked the decreases into the straight knit lines leading into the crown, which makes them look more raised and really gives them definition. Will retain that. One of the reasons the hat looks puffy but not shapeless, I think, is that the decreases are concentrated up at the crown. Will probably retain that too, since I like this more than the idea of a flattish beret.
I am not, however, happy with the way the two petal lines cross each other at the ends of the petals. I tried two tactics, and as you can see below, neither of which are neat enough and need some work. The single 1×1 rib clashes badly with the double petal lines, maybe a 2×2 twisted rib the next time.
But well, there you have it, my first FO of 2007. As I’ve probably said before on this blog, der aaye, durust aaye (Late, but worth it!)
EDIT: my apologies for the screwed up formatting, multiple pings and and the large photos. I really need to find another bloghost, this Typepad thing just won’t give me a correct preview.
its so pretty especially the crown view and it is an awesome idea..
Hello hello – read your blog with avid interest!!Very pretty – rangoli patterns are such a good idea! Growing up, I was made to make a flowery kolam and write shri rama jayam with rice flour in our pujai room every morning. I wonder if one loses these skills?
It may not be a beret, but it sure looks cute on you!
I agree that even though it didn’t turn out to be the beret you had intended, it’s still a really cute hat! I’m very impressed with how the rangoli pattern turned out.
Ha, that is really a surprising FO. Very pretty, so what if it’s not a tam! Having knit the Sunflower tam, I think the key is to knit the ribbing, then a few inches of stockinette while increasing the circumference, then a purl turning row, and then the main circular design. That results in the tam shape. Also, I don’t know how many stitches you worked with, but the Sunflower tam had 128 sts. at the widest circumference of the disk, on size 9 needles, eventually decreasing to the center 4 sts.
Maybe another circular rangoli to experiment with! Meanwhile, this hat looks just lovely on you. Bravo.
It’s beautiful.
That looks fantastic! I just finished a Shedir, from Knitty, but I think I like yours better- it’s a little less fussy but still has the pretty flower look at the top. So impressive that you made the pattern on your own!
Very cool hat! It looks great on you. And not hat-head producing? That is triple cool. You have inspired me. Particularly since I just accepted a professorship at a university in a cold cold place. Time to get down with hats myself. Very very neat hat (modified tam?) And the surface design is beautiful. Well done. Hope mine turns out half so nice. Fingers crossed, and thanks for the inspiration! Happy knitting.
what is it about berets that make people so pun-happy?
Wow, that came out super-cute! It’s suprising that it looks very beret-like sitting flat but on your head it doesn’t. Just one of those weird flukes I guess. But I really think it looks good even if it’s not the exact style you were going for.
Thanks, everyone! In my excitement I forgot to post detailed specs, but will do so when I write up the pattern.
Daku dearest, as for the puns, it’s all because of the French. Tams, on the other hand, like good Scottish stuff, only drive you to drink. I think.
Mary, congratulations on the professorship and all the very best with the new job! I will write up a decent pattern as soon as I find some time, maybe you could try it out.
Deeni, I toyed with the idea of the purl row during one of the many frogs, but it didn’t go down very well, somehow.Also, my gauge is probably a lot smaller, but I started the ribbing with 112, increased right after to 168, and decreased over the last 15 odd rows to 8.
A, we lost the drawing skills in (to?) the archive, I think!
With my untrained eye, it looks very good, and very good on you too. Congratulations!
I think this is a fantastic idea and it looks good on you! Hope we get to see more of these in the future.
I can finally see it (damn slow dial-up), and it’s great. I totally agree that even if it’s not a beret, it’s a damn fine hat. Ooh, yay, in other news I now have two new episodes of the Office to watch. Yeehaw. Yay fast wifi!
Thank you for the good wishes, I am quite excited about the new job — though somewhat dampened by the fact that I have to negotiate these last months of the dissertation (hard enough as it is) with professors who are moving as slowly as a herd of turtles — yet somehow want me finished yesterday. But this is nothing new — just ratcheted-up a few notches with a job waiting for me this Fall.
It would be an honor to give your rangoli hat a try — it is beautiful, and I get awful hat head from regular knit hats, and the more traditional tams look like shower caps on me. Your hat might be the answer to saving my poor budding professorly pride — nice looking to wear, a well-shaped crown section, and I wouldn’t have to lecture to a classroom of hip undergrads with hat head. An honor, a gift — that is what it would be.
Many many thanks for the offer of a pattern — and a lovely weekend to you to boot. Here’s to the knitters French and Scots, may their berets and tams live on into eternity next to the exalted (yet humble) glory of the Desiknitter and her sweet rangoli (t)hat.
What a beautiful beret…are you going to publish the pattern?
Thanks for this great pattern! I re-knit a hat that I was not very happy with using a modified version of your pattern. The yarn was Rowan Summer Tweed, a worsted weight with lots of texture, so I reduced the pattern to only 6 repeats with 2 less purls in the repeat. It’s not quite so defined in pattern of course, but it’s got a little slouch and I love it!
I am having incredible trouble with the increasing row. I have completed the rib section, but am totally stumped with the next instruction.
The number of stitches to be increased with your instructions don’t add up to 160. Can you explain to me how that increase row works. Is it done over one row or multiple.
Many thanks
I have started your hat and would like to know what m1 means and how do I do this. I have a feeling it is make 1 but I do not know how to do this.