You’re not going to believe this.

So, I finished my Christmas shopping the other day, which was a tremendous relief, and I realised that there was one beloved lady left out.  My Nan, who has had a pretty rough year, and with whom I am very close.  I had not decided what to buy her.  And so, I did what any knitter does when faced with such a situation: I decided to knit something.  My Nan has those most excellent of qualities: she is both a beret-lover and a handknit-lover. So the solution was obvious: knit her a beret!

I cast it on this morning, since work was so quiet.  There were one or two odd jobs to do during the morning, but other than that, I was left to my own devices.  Knit, knit, knit I went.  Then there was the Christmas party, which was a picnic by the lake, followed by paddleboating.  Knit, knit, knit I went (not on the paddleboat).

When I got back to work, around 4pm, I had this much done:

By the time I left work, at 6pm, I was nearly finished, and I cast off within half an hour of getting home.  I damped it and pinned it out to block.

I don’t want to speak too soon here, but this was awesome! I didn’t have to frog back anything, I got the size right on the first go, and it’s really a very cool, simple knit.  I completely acknowledge that a knitted wool hat in the middle of the Australian summer is not necessarily the perfect present, but I think it’s still pretty good.  I’m feeling so pleased that tomorrow I’m going to cast on a matching set of wrist warmers. Although that could be the hubris talking.

Oh, and here are the details:

Pattern: The Baroness Beret, by Susan Power, through Knit Therapy

Yarn: Cleckheaton’s Angora Supreme in white, 1 ball.

Mods: None — hear ’em, none! Followed the instructions to the letter (except I didn’t have a 3.75mm circ, so I used a 4mm — does that really count as a mod, though? I mean, that’s just circumstance).