Sunday, September 23, 2007

Res Completa: Gretel



Pattern: Gretel, by Ysolda Teague
Yarn: 1.75 skeins of Mauch Chunky in Marble (beautiful yarn, kinda smelly)
Needles: 24" US10 aluminum circular (Susan Bates), US9 Crystal Palace bamboo dpns
Size: "regular" (the in-between size)
Start to finish: September 11-17, 2007 (travel knitting)

Modifications: I didn't make any pattern modifications, but I did use a bulky yarn instead of worsted weight (which was called for) because I easily got the 4st/inch gauge. Big mistake. Instead of being an adorable, drapey, slouchy beret, mine turned out poofy and ginormous.



Originally I had planned to make the slouchy version, but when I realized the size of my beret, I ripped back to the point where one starts crown decreases for the "regular" size. Unfortunately, I didn't do a great job of picking up stitches where they were meant to be, my cabling was off, and the lattice pattern was interrupted. Poo.



Notes: Fabulous hat (if you choose the right yarn), and fabulous pattern. It was great to learn Ysolda's tubular cast on for 2x2 rib and I got quite a bit of practice cabling without a cable needle. I will definitely make another one and already have the (correct weight of) yarn picked out. This one went on its way to the thrift store and will hopefully make someone with a large head very happy.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hehe! It looked like that beret was taking over your head!

The first pic was very misleading, I thought it looked fab on you and then I saw how it large it really was! What a bummer, the color is very flattering on you!

Mr Puffy's Knitting Blog: said...

Those are great pictures. Thanks for sharing - I'm thinking about knitting that hat but will definately chose an Aran weight yarn!

Unknown said...

oh dear... I had a similar problem - I used worsted weight yarn, but I did the slouchy version and it's just way too big for my pin head. I've knit the medium size since then which is much much better on me.

Anonymous said...

I did the same mistake with the fitted shape... but i gave an other chance to Gretel with a Tweed yarn, and it is much more better!

Lillysmuul said...

I now how disturbing is to end great project like this.
But if you used 100% natural wool you can felt(fulling) it in washing machine with medium wash (cotton 40')and it will shrink.