Drafts begone and hats off

The drafts be gone reference is just doing the delete thing and not trying to play catch up with posts in the queue.

So the queue got purged and, with a bit of luck, I'll have more luck not getting backed up.

Having mentioned traditional tam/beret construction, in a duh moment about the Borjana beret, I've been knitting up examples since.

I am, of course, doing this in part because the gauge on the mittens to match the hat are not working out all that well and because other potentially deadline driven projects aren't immediately on the horizon (a possible grump there).

I've three berets/tams on the needles and a couple of mistake pentagon projects that might really test the power of blocking.

Three of them are relatively fine gauge (size 4 US 3.5mm needles) using the same Cleckheaton Country 8-ply I used for the DNA scarves and a third colour of the same stuff I picked up from the Guild sale.

Two of these three also explore a couple of variations on pentagon into circle knitting and some simple knit/purl experiments in design.

The blue beret/tam will be blocked into submission ala the traditional method of construction and won't even follow the pentagon increase into circle increase path.

To match up with the Borjana beret and complete the design element I've started, I'll need to knit the blue out to 160 stitches and then work plain (no increases) for about another 15 rounds. I'll decrease back down by reversing on of the centre out circle recipes.

The orange will morph from pentagon to circle at 160 stitches. Then I'll increase the circle until it matches up in diameter to blue and the Borjana beret before decreasing down to the ribbing. Like the blue and the Borjana before I'll decrease as if I'd been knitting a circle all along.

The third fine gauge version is an example of an "oops" or what happens when a swirl pentagon gets a rest row between increase rounds. I've not made a final decision about what path I'll follow with that one.

The beige and blue at the same stitch count have a significantly different diameter when they have the same stitch count. As I was working the beige, I had a thought that in metallic grey/silver or a rich chocolate brown this would make the most adorable chocolate kisses hat for a kidling. I may have to look into that.

The final example is slightly larger gauge version (6US) and a bit less blockable since it's an acrylic.

This is one of the Universal Yarns yarns that surprises even fibre snobs. I love this stuff and think it is just perfect for relatively quick knits for the easy care life style.

Four out of the five will be matching up to the Borjana beret using slightly different increase/decrease and construction methods.

The beige is the wildcard.