Firstly, I’d like to collectively thank everyone who was so complimentary about my Cherry in the last post. It’s been lovely to read your comments, and to know that my spur-of-the-moment decision to accessorise turquoise with red wasn’t completely crazy. :)

Secondly, here are some dolls in the snow. (Yes, snow, in April, in London of all places!) This is obviously a justification for my ridiculously large box of knitted doll clothing. Some day I’ll have to get it all out and photograph it, although much of it is rubbish, and from the “early days” of my knitting (hard to believe that was only a year ago!).

I don’t think I’ll ever tire of snow. It’s rare here, and rarer to have it settle, and even rarer for it to be more than an inch thick, so in my view I’m allowed to behave like a five-year-old when I see it. When I woke up on Sunday morning to see the white blanketed view from my window, I showered in about two minutes flat, pulled on my big coat and some woollies, grabbed the camera, the dolls, and went out into the back garden to enjoy the freezing temperatures and the sheer joy of kneeling in snow (ha!) to try and get a good angle for my photos.

One of the aforementioned woollies was my new beret. When I finished Cherry, I had five balls of the RYC Cashcotton DK left over (having only used five for the cardigan). I hummed and hawed over these five balls, not really wanting to make another top, but not feeling the need for a scarf either. Solution: another hat. I didn’t need another hat, but I’m coming to realise that’s a completely irrelevant and pointless fact. I don’t need to drink tea, but woe betide the man or woman who tries to stop me! Anyway, this is what I ended up with:

Pattern: Lace Tam (from Lace Tam and Scarf pattern) by the Rainey Sisters (see “free patterns” section at the top of the sidebar, or find it on Ravelry here)
Yarn: Rowan RYC Cashcotton DK, colour #602 Pool, just over 1 ball
Size: One size fits all
Needles: 3.75mm, 3mm

I knit it flat on straight needles - I have very few double-pointed needles or circulars, so I decided to make do with what I had. This initially caused some confusion re. the seed rib, but I soon figured it out. I don’t think the seam is particularly obvious, either (at least, I hope not!). It’s a beautiful pattern, not too lacy, but just enough to be interesting. I did find that I had to sew a couple of rows of elastic inside the hem to make it really secure, but that’s due to a combination of the inelasticity of the cashcotton and the extremely windy weather we’ve been having here. (I hate having to walk around holding my hat on my head - I hate it even more when I’m doing that and trying to keep my skirt from blowing up!)

Over the past few days I’ve been churning out doll-sized hats, but I also have plans for ysolda’s gorgeous Rose Red beret pattern. I’ve bought it, but haven’t quite decided on the yarn. I’m also plodding along with the Darcy jacket from Kim Hargreaves’ Heartfelt. It’s going to be lovely, but knitting seed stitch in thick cotton yarn is really not my idea of fun. I’ve got a slightly sore elbow, too (too much computer and knitting, I suspect) so I haven’t worked on it much. At this rate, maybe I’ll finish before the autumn…