fo: purl beret

this weekend i somehow injured my lower back (while i was sleeping no less!) so i spent much of the weekend on the couch, leaning on either a heating pad or a frozen bag of edamame, knitting away. nothing really makes you feel like you're starting to get old (i'm 27!) like not being able to fully stand upright, or having trouble putting on pants. but besides all that, i did get a lot done on my brother's socks, and i finished my beret!

it was really touch and go with this project - if you'll recall, i had a few false starts, and then once i really got into it, i realized that i might not have enough yarn. in one of the earlier incarnations of this hat, i was knitting with the recommended size 3 needles, and it seemed too small. so i frogged and moved up to size 4s, and in doing so, i think (well, i know) i used more yarn than the pattern really called for. and since this was koigu, and it was of course the last of the color when i bought it from my lys a few months back, i felt i had very little chance of getting the exact same yarn. so i just hoped for the best!

the pattern calls for knitting the hat 4" from the start before decreasing, with the option to make a floppier hat by knitting 4.5-5" instead. i was hoping for a floppier hat, both because i prefer the look and also because my head and hair are both big, so i thought a little extra room would be nice! but since i was afraid of running out of yarn, i stuck to just over 4". now i wish i'd been a little more daring, as i did end up having probably five yards of yarn left - enough for that extra inch. oh well. the hat is a little small but i think it looks pretty cute anyway.





the specs:

pattern: purl beret - i've yet to try one of their patterns that i haven't loved.
yarn: koigu kpm, and i've lost the little tag so i can't tell you what the color number is, but we'll just call it blue. or maybe...sapphire blue, just to be a little more exciting. as the pattern pointed out, the decreases really stand out and look great with the variations in this handpainted yarn.
needles: clover size 4 16"-circulars and dpns.

ooh! i also made blueberry bran muffins this weekend. they are yummy in a very healthy tasting kind of way...and with peanut butter and honey, they are just plain yummy.