bits and bobbins

beret beret!

if you read my recent post over on the threadbanger blog, beret brained!…you know i’m all about the beret at the moment. it’s definitely a continuation of everything hat-centric i’ve been blabbering about for most of this year.

in recent weeks, i have been looking all around, high, low, here, and there for the perfect beret pattern. it has not been an easy task, for i wanted something easy, basic quick to make, pretty classic, not too slouchy, and worsted-weight yarn worthy. a tall order! though the lacy, oversized or chunky ones are lovely, they weren’t *exactly* what i had in mind in my mind’s eye.

i found some promising contenders around the ye olde world-wide-web (as evidenced by the round-up i linked to in the aforementioned post)…but like goldielocks and the three bears, none of them was quite right.

however, yesterday around 3pm a tiny crafty lightbulb flickered on on above my head, and shone brightly: i know where to find a pattern for the perfect beret! it’s a pattern contained within a vintage copy of the reader’s digest complete guide to needlework, a lovely classic craft tome i thrifted ages and ages ago.

reader's digest complete guide to needlework

beret pattern in the reader's digest complete guide to needlework

i had attempted said beret yonks ago when i was first learning how to crochet (that would be way back in what, 2004??) but for some reason didn’t complete it. i’m pretty well-versed with the crocheting now, natch, and usually don’t use patterns, but now and again i like the ease of not having to work everything out myself. so armed with some super basic bright yellow wool yarn (cascade 220), i got to work. three short hours later, i had myself the beret of my “dreams”.

yellow beret

yellow beret

easy peasy.

love projects like this! nearly instant gratification.

***

(p.s. i am OBSESSED with yellow at the moment. orange still reigns supreme as my favorite color o’ the past several years, but yellow is a recent fling with which i am having a torrid color affair. anyone else similarly smitten with yellow??)

December 3 2007 | Posted in creative dabblings., fashion musing, yarn insanity.

Comments

22 total remarks on this post.

  1. December 3 2007 at 5:11 pm

    soNOTcool

    Yes, yellow!! My daughter and I found a great vintage yellow snowsuit two weeks ago. It’s in this photo: http://sonotcool.typepad.com/daybook/2007/12/post.html


  2. December 3 2007 at 6:21 pm

    CuteMess

    I woke up sometime last week with a random need for a bright yellow dress. I haven’t searched for it but it is still in the back of my mind. I only have a few pieces of yellow clothing, only one is a standout: a lovely retro cardigan I got at Anthropologie that is cool bright yellow with white lace appliques and brown acrylic rounded buttons. I always get comments about it when I wear it.


  3. December 3 2007 at 7:01 pm

    jesse

    That book has been a mainstay in my childhood – my mother has it.


  4. December 3 2007 at 7:25 pm

    persephassa

    oh yes :) that looks so great on you. i have a beret obsession at the moment too (what is it???), mostly because i’m also liking egl brand clothes & berets seem to go well with the more ‘classic’ styles. i think they look cute with flowers & ribbons pinned on, like so:

    http://www.marymagdalene.jp/catalog/saihan/amabe2007.html

    but self-made, certainly!


  5. December 3 2007 at 7:56 pm

    alexis

    I know you’re not a big movie watcher, but you should look at some images from the movie “Bonnie and Clyde”. I just watched it last night. Faye Dunaway rocks a beret and some really wicked 1930s fashion in the film. Her clothes in the film are quite amazing and made the beret very popular in the late 1960s.


  6. December 3 2007 at 8:25 pm

    kelly LOVES whales

    LOVE the beret. I am with you on the yellow trip, though it has been a complete surprise and utter departure for me. Out of nowhere, it grabbed me by the arm and has not let go!


  7. December 3 2007 at 9:45 pm

    blingblingkitty

    Yes! I am wild about yellow. Thing is, I wasn’t a yellow “fan” for the longest time. I detested the color for awhile in my early twenties. Ugh I don’t even want to know what that says about me psychologically. In the past couple of years my love for the color just grows and grows. Love the beret. I too, am in search of that “perfect” pattern. Too bad I just can’t get the hang of crochet…someday.


  8. December 3 2007 at 10:40 pm

    Sarah

    Oh yes, I love yellow! In the past year I’ve accumulated lots of yellow t-shirts, a 70’s vintage yellow sweater, a 50’s yellow sundress, and my recent and most favorite, a floor length yellow handmade 70’s prom gown! It’s very prairie-chic, and I just can’t wait to find a time to wear it.


  9. December 3 2007 at 10:45 pm

    softspoken

    i’ve learned so much from that book! i’m glad i was lucky of enough to thrift it.

    and your beret looks fantastic. i’ve been feeling more of a golden yellow myself these days :)


  10. December 3 2007 at 11:03 pm

    Melissa

    Ah! I just regained that loverly book at the craft thrift! We had that growing up, and I’m glad to have it again.

    Also, I’ve been buying lots of yellow, but I think you pull it off a lot better than I do! :)


  11. December 3 2007 at 11:09 pm

    Hyena In Petticoats

    I have a copy of the same book, and I’ve used it to teach myself about a bazillion things so far…. well worth the $2 it cost me!

    The beret looks fabulous, and I’ve just spent a whole Southern Hemisphere Winter completely obsessed with yellow, so no. I don’t think you’re alone on that one. I got through the chilly months dressed almost entirely in black, white, yellow and grey. Sometimes red. Yum.

    xxxx


  12. December 4 2007 at 1:14 am

    Nadine

    Oh this looks so great! I love the bright yellow!


  13. December 4 2007 at 7:12 am

    Kristin

    Oh. My. God. I haven’t seen that book in ages! My mom has a copy and now I want to find out if she’s kept it after all these years:) I’m getting into knitting recently and I forgot all about that book :) Thanks for reminding me :)
    Also I love yellow and the beret looks fab on you. I have a beautiful vintage yellow shift dress with a layered pleated hem. It’s divine but it doesn’t fit me well. It has a tiny stain on the front so when I have more time I’m going to turn it into a skirt (which works great because I’m pear shaped and the bust is too big whereas the bottom fits my bum perfectly :)


  14. December 4 2007 at 11:37 am

    jani

    You look smashing in that Yellow beret!
    I love berets and just ordered on on the bloomies by mail website, its big and red.
    I have been loving yellow since the summer, when I bought yellow converse with no laces. Love that true yellow color, no pale shades for us! :-)


  15. December 4 2007 at 12:02 pm

    GlamaRuth

    My color obsession exactly! Tangerine, pumkin and persimmon have long been my favorite shades of orange, but yellow, which I had always considered unwearable, began creeping into my color-consiousness in fall of 06. The lemony tones don’t do much for my olive skin, but ochre has become a mainstay – including a Hayden-Harnett purse, late 60’s crocheted skater sweater and mid-60’s suede Bonnie Cashin dress – along with shots of acid yellow, most prominantly in an early 60’s wool suit with a full skirt and collarless, bracelet sleeved boxy jacket. Oddly, both pair well with cherry-colored shoes, and I love ochre with all the gray that is currently out there. Enjoy your lovely beret – the color alone warms up a drear day!


  16. December 4 2007 at 12:09 pm

    TurabianNights

    My mother passed that book along to me when I was learning cross-stitch in third or fourth grade – I rediscovered it a few years ago, and it is FABULOUS. So happy to see it on the blog!


  17. December 4 2007 at 9:17 pm

    PaperDollyGirl

    Love the beret! I am also really wanting one this season.


  18. December 5 2007 at 3:03 pm

    Angie Montreal

    Yes, yellow is my love lately! More along the mustardy side of things for me though.

    I’m going to try to crochet a beret as well, been thinking about it since your first post. I’ll try without a pattern and hope for the best…


  19. December 6 2007 at 12:25 am

    Prêt-à-Porter Prostitute

    ou that looks nice


  20. December 7 2007 at 11:06 am

    Dee

    Very cool. I thrifted this book as well and am using it right now to knit a lacy hat.


  21. December 17 2007 at 5:00 pm

    Ally

    I LOVE yellow! I am also obsessed with hats– and they are so useful now.

    All the cocktail hats I’ve found have been out of my price range but then H&M had one which I snatched up and have been wearing.

    I just finished a tam– I can’t wait to take pictures of it.

    My mother had that book when I was a girl. I wish I had it now! I am collecting hat patterns anywhere I can find them…


  22. July 13 2008 at 8:05 am

    sanmarcosmom

    This is perfect. I have been searching for a beret pattern on the internet and not finding what I wanted………..now that you mention that book, I have it on my shelf! thanks for the photos, I am inspired!