Beret

Sizes

You will need

Yarn: A smooth wool or wool blend that holds its shape: 4-ply / fingering on a standard machine, DK on mid gauge, worsted on bulky.

About 40 g in total for this size (an estimate from the area of the pieces; buy a little more).

Also: Tapestry needle, Waste yarn and ravel cord (for a hem band), Transfer tool, A dinner plate for blocking

Gauge swatch first

1. Cast on 40 needles with waste yarn and knit a few rows. Change to the main yarn and choose a tension that gives a fabric you like (see the starting points below).
2. Knit 60 rows. Tie a contrast thread to the 11th needle from each side at row 10 and row 50, so the marks are 20 needles and 40 rows apart.
3. Knit a few rows of waste yarn and take the swatch off. Steam or wash it the way you will treat the finished piece, and let it rest flat for a few hours.
4. Measure between the marks: stitches in 10 cm = 20 ÷ width in cm × 10, rows in 10 cm = 40 ÷ height in cm × 10. Type the two numbers into the gauge boxes above; that tension is your main tension (MT).

Pieces

Finishing

1. Pull the gathering yarn tight and fasten it on the inside.
2. The beret is knitted flat: sew the back seam with mattress stitch from the crown to the band, through both layers if the band is a hem.
3. Weave in the ends. To set the shape, wet the beret and let it dry stretched over a dinner plate, so the crown lies flat.

Notes and changes

• The widest round is about 1.3 times the band, so laid flat the beret is roughly 21 cm across for the women's size and 19 cm for the child's. A wider, floppier beret needs more increases than a 200-needle bed allows at the standard gauge.
• The women's size is too wide for a 180-needle bed: at the standard gauge its widest row takes about 197 needles.
• With a ribber, knit the band in 1×1 rib for a firmer grip; on a single bed it is a turned hem.

What the words mean

Short rows (引返)

knitting only some of the needles for a few rows while the others wait. The middle grows taller than the sides, which makes a cup: that is how the heel and toe of a sock get their curve.

Hold

the needle position for short rows: a needle pushed all the way forward keeps its stitch and does not knit while the carriage is set to hold.

Turned hem

a neat double edge: knit a strip, then fold it up and hang its first row back on the needles, so the edge is a fold instead of a raw cast-on.

1×1 rib

one stitch on the main bed, one on the ribber, side by side: the stretchy edge of socks, cuffs and hat brims. Needs a ribber or a double bed.

Decrease / increase

making the piece one stitch narrower or wider at the edge. Fully fashioned means moving the 2 edge stitches in (or out) with a transfer tool, so the edge stays smooth for sewing.

Transfer tool

the small hook (1, 2 or 3 prongs) that lifts stitches off needles and puts them on others.

Waste yarn

a few rows in a spare colour knitted before or after the piece and pulled out later, leaving open loops to hang back or sew.

MT (main tension)

the tension dial number of your gauge swatch. MT−1 is one number tighter, MT+2 two numbers looser.

RC (row counter)

the counter on the carriage. Set it to 000 after casting on; every step says what it should read when the step is done.

L10 / R10

needle numbers, counted outwards from the middle (0) of the needle bed.

Mattress stitch

the usual way to sew knitted pieces together: you catch the bar between the first two stitches on each side, so the seam disappears.

Duplicate stitch

embroidery that follows a knitted stitch's V shape with a needle and a second colour, so the pattern looks knitted in.