I’ve been knitting in a heat wave for a couple of weeks, thirsting for that which best expresses my summer blues, and so I’ve produced the latest which I call it simply ” Azure “. It is a perky beret shape I’ve experimented from my latest pattern Dicey , that is I am considering augmenting the pattern with more beret shapes, graduating from the traditional Scottish Beret into less voluminous ones.  This one is definitely narrower and vaguely muffin-shaped as are some of the Old World Scottish bonnets I’ve seen. 

But what I love most about this beret is the color-work in the band while the crown is a single complimenting color, it is all about the subtle Fair Isle motif that one can barely see,  from the two shades of blue, one angle the motifs pop out, another they disappear into each other.  I am going to have to design a new pattern from this, because I love it so much.  With Dicey and this experiment, I have learned how to make a lined band, concentric decreases, experimented with several shapes of varying lengths, and practicing my new invention, the turning i-cord which is the edge of the band, super tidy and substantial, and also focusing the design into the band alone, in a Guarda Pampa sort of affect.  Oh, and I’ve also been toying with the little puff thing on top which the Scottish call a toorie!