Glorious Manos

Ah the glory that is Manos!



The beret in Manos del Uruguay, she is finished....and isn't she just beootiful?!?! I've never had so many compliments over a knit project before....even for Ms Potters. Mind you, I've never worn a knit project so much either, so there's probably a connection.



Project Details:

Pattern: BOHO Beret from Artesano
Yarn: haven't you been paying attention?
OK, so it's Manos del Uruguay, Silk Blend

More Yarn details: 100g hank is 270m long. (Beret used just a shade over 1/2 the skein)
Needles: Recommended size for the yarn is 3.5mm - 4.25mm.
The pattern called for size 3mm dnps for the brim and 3.75m dpns for the hat. I used Brittany Birch needles from here. Lovely and smooth, much nicer than bamboo.
Colourway: Red

This was a reasonably quick and easy knit. The yarn is fabulous, and it was great to see all the colour variations appearing. Lovely.

See the purl rounds? This is where most of the increase and decrease rounds are placed in the pattern. I didn't like the slight jog this made in the round of purl bumps so I moved the increased/decreases to the following round. You can still see the increases/decreases, but at least the pearly purls are preserved.

The brim turned out slightly too loose. Who knew my head wasn't so big? I used some black elastic thread to give it more grip. (Thanks Mum.)

I only had one problem. You sharper knitters may not have fallen into this trap, but I did. Headfirst. (Headfirst...ha ha!)

The pattern called for the brim to be knit with 2 strands of the yarn in garter stitch. Now, I'm no ordinary eedjit, I know that garter stitch means that you knit all rows. So I did.

Ah hah! Spot the rookie mistake? Since the hat is knit in the round, knitting all rows, (i.e. rounds) gives you reverse stocking stitch. Given that I'm on 3mm dpns and knitting with 2 strands this resulted in an unpleasant stiff and unyielding band of fabric.

I lived with it for a while and knitted on despite my doubts...as you do. About 3 inches into knitting the hat I bit the bullet and frogged the whole thing. It would have been about as comfortable as wearing a luggage strap around your head. My thanks to Jellyknits for the moral support while this painful decision was made.

Anyway, it had to be done. And as it so often happens, frogging it and starting again gave me the beautiful outcome I had dreamed of. I love it.

And look see.



It goes so nicely with my scarf.

Matchy matchy.


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