First, I made one for Blondie. She has been so great ever since I moved here, truly like a sister. I told her I would make something for her, and so we went to the yarn shop. We originally planned on a scarf, but she was drawn to some alpaca wool that told her it wanted to be a beret. (She had some scarves already, but no beret.) Sadly, she has been camera shy so far...her's is deep purple and similar to Kirsten Dunst's in Elizabethtown.
Next up was my friend Berkeley, who is finishing her master's degree in engineering. I felt that she needed a congratulatory present...especially since she is 1/3 or my new rock band...but what to get her? While we were at Disneyland a few weeks ago with Blondie and Mama Liszt, she noticed the prevalence of berets. She mentioned that she would love to have one, and I pointed out that I could make that possible as her grad present. When we got back to our neck of the woods, I drove her over to Knit This, Purl That. She was noticeably overwhelmed by the variety and sheer volume of choices. She selected a lovely dk wool in variegated rainbow colors. Very South American/ethnic/Berkeley vibe yarn. So, using a pattern that I had previously used from Knit Cafe, I whipped up a beret for Berkeley.
Finally, Jester. Her birthday party was actually the night Berkeley, Blondie, and I returned from Disneyland. I had TOTALLY not had time to go shopping, the poster I planned on getting her had to be ordered online, and I was flummoxed. Then, I remembered what I was doing for Berkeley, and wrote a note on Jester's birthday card. It promised her a trip to the yarn store, a hat/scarf/or wrist warmers, and coffee. She chose a chunky merino wool blend in shades of magenta and red. She also wanted a beret. I ended up adjusting the Knit Cafe pattern to suit a much larger gauge. (In fact, I had to frog most of it when I was nearly done, and re-knit the whole thing, otherwise Jester would have been channeling Strawberry Shortcake! it was HUGE!!!)
The ironic thing is that I finished Jester's beret before I had had a chance to give Berkeley her's, so they were delivered the same Sunday morning. I ended up wearing my alpaca/silk beret to church that night, so that we could be the Beret Triplets! (Blondie was out of town, or we would have been quadruplets!)So...Who is next? Anybody else feel the need to beret it up? Or, perhaps a more appropriate way of putting it: Voulez-vous un beret?
