My Experience with the Indigo and Lichen Beret

When we moved, as a kind of reward for having to go through the whole moving business again I rewarded myself with a big order of books and magazines from the Interweave store. One of them was All New Homespun Handknits and one of their prettiest patterns was the Indigo and Lichen Beret by Jeannine Bakrigs.

I really did enjoy this pattern, even after the puzzlement near the end. Even though it starts at the crown on DPN's it was easy, the increases were simple and the instructions very clear. The chart was easy to follow and everything was going well until I hit the final 3 rows of the stranded chart where there were a series of peculiar decreases to incorporate.

I was a bit bemused but, nothing daunted, proceeded to try and follow the instructions...

...it did not go well.

The stitch count which up to that moment had been proceeding along the lines set down now made no sense at all. I couldn't even understand how to do one of the decreases - Sl2, k2, p2sso . How's that?? I looked at the back in the glossary, nothing there. What the heck??

Anyway, I continued, assuming that this was a usual slip 2, knit 1, pass 2 slipped stitches over knit stitch and looked at the final row.

It looked like crap! The stranded design had become hopelessly garbled, wasn't following any of the previous colour set ups. But I knit on regardless because, you know, bloody minded-ness is an essential part of the knitter's arsenal in morbid denial!

I finished the chart section and went on with the 3 rows in the main colour decreasing for the brim but as I began to knit the 5 stitch I-cord bind off I finally really looked at what I had.

The pattern called for there being 133 sts in the final round before you started the bind off.

I had 92.

This was so not going to work. So I unravelled back to the initial problematic rows in the stranded pattern. I had a good hard look at the instructions, especially the stitch count at the end of the crown section of the beret before I started the chart and the stitch count at the beginning of the first decrease in the main colour for the brim.

And then I made an executive decision.

I continued knitting the remaining rows of the stranded chart and just ignored the decrease instructions. The design followed seamlessly and made sense. Then when I knit the 3 rows of main colour as before, they were the only decreases I did. I had the stitch count I should and the bind off went off with out a hitch.

And I had a beret that looked very much like the original picture!

I blocked it over the largest plate I have in the house. (Doesn't the design look lovely? All the different colours! Six of them besides the main colour!)

This was, like I said from the beginning, a really easy pattern, even excepting the weird blip with the stranded  chart and I doubt that's the original designers fault. It's probably just a mis-placed instruction on the wrong chart. But if someone can make the original instruction make sense and keep the stitch count accurate, I'd love to hear about it!

 But for me, I'm really happy with my finished beret.

It looks like the picture, the stranded border is nice and crisp in detail,

And it fits and I can wear it. And instead of just collecting pattern books as I'm prone to do, I actually knit something from one!  Extra points me!!

Bye now!

Dx