Why am I doing this?

I mean, I already have too much on my plate. But lately I've been surfing other people's knitting blogs and I feel compelled to put my own stuff out there on the web. It has felt like cheap voyeurism to snoop around other people's blogs while remaining completely anonymous.

Partly, too, I want to be part of a community of knitters to whom I can blab about what I'm working on. All my "real life" friends are engineers, and simply don't get why I knit. (One exception is my friend who quilts -- she appreciates the need to create, at least, but can't really appreciate the beauty of a well done sock toe.)

And partly, I want to become more accountable for the quality and quantity of my knitting. If I'm posting stuff on the 'net, I want to make sure it looks good.

And with that -- my latest FO:


It is a beret for my new niece, because all babies should have interesting hats. I love the way the yarn showed the stitch definition, and I love the way the cotton drapes. This was knit on the way to/from and at a family reunion at which much beer was consumed, and I'm especially pleased that I only had to rip back once, and only for about 6 rounds when I realized I didn't like the way my decreases looked.




Yarn: Shoeller-Stahl Mama Mia, mercerized cotton

Source: my stash

Needles: Addi circulars I didn't make a note of size, but somewhere around 3mm

Pattern: my own, with help from reference books

References: The Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns by Ann Budd for basic beret pattern

The Knitting Stitch Bible by Maria Parry-Jones for a fan lace pattern which I modified to fit in 6 repeats



And one more picture, from my garden. It has been an absolutely glorious spring in Texas (aside from that nasty Easter freeze):