A couple of FOs

I am trying to get my knit on again. It all went out of the window earlier this year so I've picked out some old skeins and some new patterns and been stashbusting. Here are the results.

Walkabout Willow
(So named because it was mostly knitted on plane journeys and bus trips related to my Australian holiday)



Pattern: Willow Cowl
Yarn: Knitwitches Seriously Gorgeous Cashmere & Silk, around 80g
Needle: 3.25mm
Mods: I didn't intend to make any, but then I realised, as I started the first set of decreases, that I had inexplicably only cast on three-quarters of the stitches required. By this point I had turned an almost perfect picot edge and the thought of ripping it out made my heart sink, so I did the only sensible thing and knitted the pattern backwards, increasing instead of decreasing. Since I think I was getting a tighter gauge than required, the top was still tight enough even though it was 10 stitches more than it was supposed to be.
I turned the bottom picot by picking up every stitch 9 rows down with a handy 2.5mm needle, knitting each stitch together with a live stitch (I knitted the lower stitch tbl) and then casting off. To start with the edge curled quite badly but it soon sorted itself out.



It really is gorgeous - soft, warm and light as a feather.

Green Beret



Pattern: Through The Woods
Yarn: Lorna's Laces Shepherd Worsted in Green Envy
Needle: 3.75mm, 4mm
Mods: None, really, except I knitted the ribbing on a smaller needle. I have knitted too many floppy berets with enormous ribbing to repeat the mistake.

It's kind of camouflage. Green beret indeed! It's a gift, though, for someone who likes green, so hopefully they will enjoy it. It was super quick - done in a couple of days.