Frances

By Fiona Morris

This beret is an easy introduction to knitting Fair Isle in the round. The Rowan Tapestry yarn creates a multi-coloured pattern without the complication of using lots of different yarns. The beret is quick to make so you can create a selection for every season.

Photographs: Fiona Morris

Size
Adult medium, diameter when laid flat is 25.5cm/10inches

Requirements
Yarn: MC 1 ball Rowan Felted Tweed, (175m/50gms) in colour: 151
CC 1 ball Rowan Tapestry, (120m/50gms) in colour: 171
Needles: 1 x 3.25mm/3US circular needle (max length 60cm/24inch) and either 2 x 4mm/6US circular needles (max length 60cm/24 inch) or 1 x 4mm/6US circular needle and a set of 4mm/6US double pointed needles.
Notions: 7 stitch markers, darning needle.

Tension
26 sts and 27 rows = 10cm/4inches in Fair Isle pattern knitted in the round using larger needles.

Abbreviations
The Inside Loop standard abbreviations can be found here.

inc – increase in next stitch by knitting front and back
ddcr - double decrease: slip the next 2 stitches together knitwise to the right needle, knit the next stitch and pass the 2 slipped stitches over together. The centre stitch of the group of 3 stitches in the decrease sits at the front of the knitting giving a vertical line to the decrease.

Pattern Notes
The hat is knitted in the round using the two-colour stranded knitting technique. The hat is knitted from the rib border to the centre so as it becomes smaller it is necessary to change from knitting on 1 circular needle to either knitting with 2 circular needles (4 groups of stitches on one needle and 3 groups on the other) or 4 double pointed needles (2 groups of stitches on one needle, 3 groups on the other 2 needles and a fourth needle to knit with).

The Fair Isle patterns are given as charts. Knitting from Chart A, start at the right hand side of the chart and read each row of the chart (and each repeat within the round) from right to left. Chart B follows on from Chart A once decreasing begins for the crown.

Invisible cast on
Worked using 2 needles.
Make a slip-knot and place this on the left needle, insert the right needle from front to back into the slip-knot, and take the yarn round the needle as if to knit. Draw the yarn through and place the loop on the left needle taking care not to twist it.
*Insert the right needle from the back to the front between the last 2 stitches, and then take the yarn round the needle as if to purl. Draw the yarn through and place the loop on the left needle taking care not to twist it.
Insert the right needle from front to back between the last 2 stitches, and take the yarn round the needle as if to knit. Draw the yarn through and place the loop on the left needle taking care not to twist it*.
Repeat from * to * for the required number of stitches.
On the first round, work into the back loop of each knit stitch.

Instructions
Using 3.25mm circular needle and MC, cast on 112sts following instructions for invisible cast on.
Next round: *k1, p1, repeat from * to the end of the round remembering to place a stitch marker at the end of the round.
Continue in k1, p1, rib until work measures 2.5cm/1 inch.
Change to 4mm circular needle.
Next round: *k1, inc, rep from * to the last st, k1 (168sts).
Knit 2 rounds
Next round: Begin Fair Isle pattern following Chart A working from right to left of the chart every round repeating the pattern 14 times in 1 round. Knit one complete repeat of the pattern i.e. 23 rounds.
Continue knitting with MC only until the beret measures 9cm/3.75 inches from the end of the ribbing.
Next round: as you knit place a stitch marker every 24 stitches.


Note: charts will appear much larger in printable version

Decrease for the crown:
Start knitting the Fair Isle pattern from Chart B working from right to left of the chart. Repeat the chart 7 times to work 1 round. The first round of decreases is worked on row 3 of the chart.

Continue following Chart B and decreasing on every alternate round as shown on the chart until whole chart is completed (14sts remain). As you decrease, the number of stitches on the needle will become too small to fit on a circular needle so you will need to change to either 2 circular needles or 4 double pointed needles to complete the crown.

Next round: k2tog around. 7sts remain.

Finishing
Cut the yarn leaving a long tail end. Thread the tail end into a darning needle and pull the yarn through the remaining stitches to tighten and close the top.
Sew in all the yarn ends to finish.

About the Designer
Fiona lives in Hampshire. She teaches workshops in both hand and machine knitting and also teaches the City and Guilds course in these subjects. You can contact her through her website or she can occasionally be found blogging at her blog, Knitting and More.

Contact Fiona