Iced Eucalyptus Beret

Ever heard of Craftsy? I hadn't until last August. It's actually a pretty cool website that hosts online workshops for quilting, sewing, knitting, cake decorating, art, photography and so much more. You can sign up for a workshop, ask the instructor questions and basically complete it in your own timeframe.

A few weeks before I left for Europe, my dear knittingholic cohort had brought to my attention that a mutual knitting friend was hosting a mystery knit-a-long for a pattern she designed on Craftsy. I had no idea what the pattern would be, but I just knew I had to participate and support her even though I knew I wouldn't be able to start with everyone else as I would be in Europe when the class started on September 1st. (Again, the one thing that appealed to me was that I didn't have to start, or finish, with everyone else participating.)

So, I clicked the linky that my knittingholic cohort tagged me on, signed up for Craftsy, enrolled in the class, forked out the cash and before I left on my trip, I received the yarn we all would be using for the project! Easy peasy.

Now ten whole months later, I can finally call it done and share it with you all!

Pattern: Iced Eucalyptus Beret (Ravelry Link) by Angela Tong
Yarn: Cascade Yarns Venezia Sport (Deep Sea) - 1 Skein
Needles: 4 and 6 circs/dbl pntd
Started: 09/13
Finished: 06/29/14

The pattern is really quite lovely. I made the smaller size, and as you can see, it covers my head nicely. If you had a big ol' hunk of hair to put under it, you wouldn't have a problem. As with beret's, I find they have a lot of breathing room.

There were two options for the brim. I chose to complete the folded over brim, as I thought it would provide some extra warmth during the colder months. Even though it was a bit of extra work, I am happy I chose that option. Since I like to wear my hats down on my forehead, I feel this brim adds a little bit of sturdiness.

At first glance, you would think this pattern is more complicated and advanced than it really is. The pattern included a bit of lace and cabling work, but nothing difficult for a newbie to those techniques. I would label this project as "easy" and great for beginners, even with the folded brim.

The only thing left to do is give it a good soak and blocking, but since the summer weather is in full swing (I was literally sweating buckets in these pictures), I will put this away until the cold weather returns.

Knitting Goal No. 2 is complete! I really could of had this finished months ago. When I sat down to complete it the other night, I had only10 rounds to finish. I know I stopped working on it last time when I realized I needed to order size 6 double pointed needles. However, when the new needles arrived back in February, my life was in total apartment renovation chaos and everything took a backseat.

Stay tuned to see what else I've knocked off the list! Until then, share with me what you have on the needles right now? I'm always curious to hear what everyone else is knitting!