Balmoral Bonnet

[Aspiringloser]

It was $6.95 when I downloaded it and worth every bit of it. I'd knit several beanies and I'm working on a simple pattern afghan. I'd never knit in the round. I had to look up the SSK stitch as it wasn't in my book but other than that, it was pretty easy. I wasn't sure how to cast on the two bridge stitches after the three rows of garter stitch for the band. I just twisted the yarn over the needle to mimic knit stitches and it seemed to work out okay. And as Anne mentioned and the instructions as well, don't get machine washable yarn. I didn't want to risk it not felting properly so I didn't even buy a yarn with any synthetic content at all.

[usonian]

Oh, very nice! I picked up a skein of that very color not too long ago with no real purpose in mind; it's just a nice earthy blend of colors. Looks really nice felted!

[Aspiringloser]

The green seems to really come out after you felt it. Note to self: If trying to match the ribbon to the color of the bonnet, take the finished, felted bonnet back to the store with you to pick out your ribbon. The closest match I found in the store using the yarn itself doesn't seem to be as good a match after felting. I made the little "nib" on this one. I had to look up how to knit I-cord. I didn't have any 10.5 DPNs so I used 7's for the I-cord. Seemed to work out okay. Thanks again for posting this pattern!
p.s. I wish they sold that particular yarn in bigger skeins. I had to buy two and barely used the second one.

[usonian]

Not sure if I linked to them in any of my other balmoral threads, but on my hats I used petersham ribbon from Judith M Millinery Supply for the band - it looks like grosgrain but it has a flexible edge that better lends itself to conforming to curves. It has the added bonus of being cotton/viscose instead of 100% polyester, which is pretty much all you can find grosgrain-wise.

Good to know about the amount of yarn needed for a solid-color hat. On my first balmoral, I used just shy of one skein of yarn for the crown; I guess it was the black-white-red dicing that made the difference.

[Thomas H]

Very NICE , Balmoral - wow great job , if you were going to make one and sell it - How much would you sell one for ? just wondering, as I can not knit .
Thank you

[Aspiringloser]

I couldn't knit until I got a book and learned. It isn't that hard. I don't have any interest in making them to sell. Get yourself a learn to knit book and go for it!

[usonian]

Yep, I've said it in my other threads - knitting's not hard, and you don't need crazy skills to make this pattern in particular. I learned how to knit from the book "Stitch N' Bitch" - the book is geared towards an audience of hip women, which I am decidedly not, but it does a really good job of covering the basics... and from there there are hundreds of tremendously helpful YouTube clips with good close-up motion for just about any kind of knitting stitch/cast on/bind off/etc you might need to do. Hats are definitely my sweet-spot as far as attention span goes... enough of a project to give you a sense of accomplishment, but not a big time commitment like a sweater.