Felting the alpaca puff which will first dry, then get a good brushing, a tidy trim, and finally tied on to the top of the latest Chaltén Beret as an alternative to the decorative chufflin tassels on the design of the original beret.
tied on
Category Archives: Chaltén
beret progress
Slowly working on new prototype variations for the Chaltén Beret, and deciding perhaps just the beret overhaul, with redrawn charts, wider band, shown additionally not blocked as a tam with tassels, but possibly including socks, would be good enough for the pattern overhaul. Still thinking on it, just knitting (and weaving) and trying not to let anything bother me too much. These are totally addictive to knit and I particularly love how the faced band is the focus of artfulness, while the crown is instead plain. Casting on for another…
Things going on…
Hi, its me Abelene.
There are things going on, and Jen has asked me to chat here a bit, about it being the time of year which demands a lot of work outside, and that Jen is tired, sore, and grumpy. But I am not! I am always cheerful and see the bright side of everything! For one, this lovely softer-than-a-cloud baby alpaca sweater I am wearing . . . it is a sample of more variations to come ( Jen hopes, with all good intention ) in a series of a redesign from an old pattern that was before my time, one of her first, back when her nieces were so young, it was the Chaltén Beret . It happened in the summer of 2014, and since only a few were ever made, she has decided to bring it to the fore and create a collection around it, which will include the pattern for this pullover that I am wearing, and who knows what else, but you can see all the posts past & present in the series Chaltén .
Recently I have been talking in the closet with Jen’s various unemployed looms, about matters of the heart; about cultivating and enriching the muse within, even when it feels barren, and dedication to a work ethic in all things artful, even when it seems futile or meaningless.
Hey, there is a rumor among the looms that one of them has been selected by Jen for another little series happening at the same time as everything else, also involving more alpaca, some gifts needing to be made, and Jen said to me that she thinks I should learn how to weave, to help her out with all the things going on.
Until the next …
Ta ta,
Abelene
good-bye twenty-twenty-four
Thoroughly enjoying the new winter season, with plenty of rain and the company of a pair of woolen socks I am knitting from some yarn I “un-spun”… playing with color and motif. Inspired by the muse lately, and excited to know that for the remaining winter I will be settled into working a new design, augmenting from an early design from over ten years ago into a new collection of variations! The looms are happy in the closet chatting amongst themselves for a while, the storms softly kiss the landscape, and I must say, I have missed knitting!
Chaltén Beret : The Pattern
I talked at length in previous post the inspiration behind this design, which I’ve named Chaltén Beret. Now with my lovely nieces having modelled in an absolutely stellar photo shoot yesterday, against the stone walls of a gothic Catholic church in St. Helena, with an intriguing landscape of grasses, I have got the pattern done, and you can find it on Ravelry HERE. Either way, I hope that you knit it, and try out making the adorable chuflines (tassels), because believe me, they are the most fun that I’ve had in a long time.
Eldest Niece is modelling the pattern prototype with dos chuflines, knit in Jamiesons Spindrift (details can be found for this project on Ravelry project here, and Youngest Niece is modelling (a slightly larger) pre-prototype version with un chuflín, knit in Alice Starmore Hebridean 2ply yarn (details can be found on Ravelry project over here. Lastly, I have made a step-by-step photo tutorial on , found on my Tips From The Table on How to make a “chuflín” tassel.
Now, if you haven’t yet read the previous post about the inspiration and name-sake of this design, then you really must, as it really is such a very spectacular place, you’ll want to knit the beret! I knit it also in the sunrise alternate colorway, that is, Chalten at sunrise with the rusts and blues!
Chaltén
Dear Jen,
when you asked me what is the paradigmatic mountain of Patagonia, I did not hesitate in giving you the answer: Chaltén, the blue smoking mountain. In the last trench of the Andes range, Chaltén raises like a magnificent tower transmitting majesty and ferociousness. It is the main summit of a range that has the shape of a croissant opening onto the East.
The mountain, also called Fitz Roy in memory of the British sailor that explored the Patagonian coast with Darwin, is one of the most challenging peaks in the world, with vertical slippery slabs constantly hit by the icy winds of the South Pacific Ocean. These winds bring about the rare aeolic phenomenon that makes its top always appear as it was surrounded by clouds, which give the mountain the smoking volcano look its name is derived from.
In the rare occasions of good weather, its massive granite structure turns rose hue at sunrise. During the day, if it is not hidden behind the clouds, its image reflects on the Lagoon of the Three. By nightfall, the clouds usually thin out and wisp around its peak.
Mount Chaltén is certainly one of the most emblematic places of Patagonia, for its magesty and its wilderness.
Alejandro
* * *
Since before the recent June Solstice (that’s winter solstice in Argentina) I’ve been working on designing a beret that I now present, and that I’m naming ” Chaltén “. As my dear and wonderful Argentine friend, professor, and naturalist Alejandro has taught me so many things about Patagonia, from the spectacular Andes Mountains to the wildlife & botany of the place, to the history of the Welsh settlements in Chubut. ( I mustn’t forget that I’ve also learned much about the making & drinking of Yerbe Mate , having many different kinds in my cupboard, sent to me by Alejandro. ) It was in fact , a daunting etherial image of Chaltén which being etched in my mind from a dream, which was the force of curiosity to bring us to meet (on an internet pen-pal site, nearly four years ago, as I wanted to meet a Patagonian to write to).
Thank you Alejandro ~~ this Chaltén Beret is dedicated to our many letters over the years, our story we are writing, your kindness, and all that you have taught me ! And thank you , thank you for the letter about Chaltén which I so wanted to have in this debut post. xx Jen
* * *
Here is the pattern prototype, knit with Jamiesons Spindrift , and embellished with dos chuflines (two tassels) . . .
Chaltén’s snowy white teeth seem to leap toward the sky, shrouded by mist and blueish atmosphere ~~ here is my knitted interpretation of Chaltén in a colorwork beret. Colorwork motifs inspired by “Guarda Pampa” patterns, symbols of Patagonia, profiles of peaks of the Andes Range and reflections of them in the mountain lakes. The Argentine gauchos (shepherds & cattlemen) adopted some elements of the Mapuche design and incorporated them in their Ponchos and other fabric pieces, reinforcing regional identities of the provincial groups of Gauchos, almost along the lines of Tartans in Scotland.
example of guarda pampa design
And a second, the first prototype, knit in Alice Starmore Hebridean 2ply I had in my stash … embellished with a single chuflín (tassel)
Chaltén beret features a unique two-inch-wide shaped colorwork faced band, comprising of two mirrored shaped stockinette layers, a crown of concentric decreases and second colorwork motif just above the rim. Finished with Andean Folk style tassels known colloquially by Patagonians as chuflines ( much of yesterday was spent photographing for a tutorial on making these , which will debut with the pattern , a ‘chuflín-making’ tutorial on my Tips From The Table tutorial page.) And here is my own very sketchy hand-drawn schematic . Measurement A is diameter, measures 10-10.5 inches laying flat. B is depth, measures 8 – 8.5 inches when folded into quarters. C is circumference of band, measures 20 inches.
click image to enlarge
Chau ! In the near future I will be augmenting “Chaltén Beret” with a straight-sided ski hat version, the “Chaltén Skier” … it will be so re-loco … I am looking forward to designing it ! (( Note: All who purchase the pattern will recieve updates when the ski hat is augmented into the pattern. )) I have decided to make the debut of Chaltén Beret in two installments, this first being more informative and about the inspiration behind the design, and the second, featuring my nieces modelling (which I’m going to do this afternoon !) .. and also presenting the pattern. So watch this space, Chaltén Beret pattern arrives this week!
Edit in next day: Introducing the pattern & photo shoot presentation of this design, you must see ! 🙂
Read about Mount Chaltén in Wikipedia
Coming Next . . . Chuflín
As referred to in Patagonian colloquialism ‘ chuflín’ . What I have here are ‘dos chuflines’.
And what is coming up next, I can’t wait for you to see !
Just Hanging Around Knitting . . .
Last Friday was the Independence Day holiday here, and we went on over to my brother’s as there was quite the party happening in his little Appalachian-esque neighborhood. Well, there I am knitting, you know ‘on-the-go’ , with the knitting bag slung over my shoulder and knitting as I always do. My youngest niece, Miss Eleven-Years-Old knows how to knit, and is getting better, so I said “Lets get you some knitting ! ” … so we walked down to her house and raided her mom’s stash & needles, and found a darling knitting bag and we set her up to knit-on-the-go too. So there’s the two of us among the wild & crazy dancing & feasting folk outside, she and I knitting together near the whole time, while walking about here and there with knitting satchels slung over our shoulders, swaying to the music … knit-dancing ! … and thoroughly enjoying our peaceful & productive selves ( stopping only to munch cake and other wonderful things ) . She got nearly half of a garter-stitch cotton dish cloth finished, and I made great progress on my hat band. I knit until it was too dark to knit any longer, however, Miss Eleven carried on knitting into the darkness which totally killed me, her eyes like a hawk’s .
Backstory over. About the forthcoming big Autumn Thing, this year I’ve got some ideas, I may either come up with a whole new design from which I will write & submit a pattern, but I best not dawdle. The motif I have got going here, about a wide and shaped band for a hat, and playing with some 2ply (Starmore) wool, I’m on a roll. I’ve got most of my big chores out of the way for the week, so looking forward to just hanging around knitting !
Azure
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!
