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Unspun yarn felted beret Design and pattern instructions © 2013 Elena Berezinskaya
Translation from the Russian © 2013 Katharina Sokiran

Felted beret from un-spun yarn

by Elena Berezinskaya

So many people do knit beautiful shawls, wraps and shawlettes from gradient yarn.
But what to wear them with? With a color-coordinated beret, of course!

A simple felted beret in plain stockinette does not only enhance the beauty of any shawl but will
look nice worn just by itself, too.

Felting will cover up any irregularities in the knit fabric and other minor infractions so that the
resulting beret will be a long way from the dreaded “homemade” look.

The yarn amount needed is minimal – just 50–80 grams (1.8 to 2.8 ounces), depending on the
size of your beret.

Im my search for the ideal beret, I used up many an ounce of yarn, spun and un-spun, made a lot
of mistakes and also had to send a few unfortunate “pancakes” away to serve as sauna hats.

Today, I would like to tell you how to make such a beret from un-spun 2-ply yarn.

1. It all started with a 110 gram spool of un-spun thin grey-orange yarn.

The beret used up just 70 grams of it.

2. There are two repeating color sections within the spool, so we are dividing the spool into two
halves before we start.

Reach into the center of the brown section and pull out the center portion of the spool as seen
here. It’s hard to do this neatly, some yarn will always spill in the process. Don’t worry about
how it looks, the main thing is to pull it out slowly and accurately to avoid tangles.
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Unspun yarn felted beret Design and pattern instructions © 2013 Elena Berezinskaya
Translation from the Russian © 2013 Katharina Sokiran

When we start knitting, we’ll carefully straighten out the stray strands, trying to avoid jerky
tugging. This way, the yarn won’t break.

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3. After this, wep
e abeginsmooth
slightly the yarn. p
r e - u to knit from the center of the spool because I
I started
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wanted rmye beret to with a t
noas well if the color repeats suit youabetter
brown section.
You can start fromD theo y athat way. Which wat
outside
you start doesn’t matter, but both ends have to be turnedin s k
z the same direction.
a B e r e
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To cast on, I used nickel-platedl3.5
E e nmm Addi circulars,
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Short circulars are hard to foldD in half for casting on, much easier will be using an additional
second circular (shown in photo with red cable) for the cast-on.

Cast on, remove additional circular (here with red cable), join to round on short circular.

4. Knit the beret in stockinette stitch rounds as shown at the end of the pattern instructions.

5. When there are not enough stitches left any more to comfortably fit the circular, change to
DPNs, or to longer (100 – 120 cm) circulars, using the magic loop technique: Divide stitches
into two equal portions, knit in the round, first the first half of, then the other. The long circular
is forming two loops, which in turn are dividing the knitting into two sections.
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Unspun yarn felted beret Design and pattern instructions © 2013 Elena Berezinskaya
Translation from the Russian © 2013 Katharina Sokiran

s k a ya
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to1 3 Elepart in a beret?
6. What is the most important
R a vetail or elegant point, of course!
Its spiffy
This is not hard0
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accomplish.
om work asisfollows:
2 only 9 sts leftrnon thefrneedles, h . (k2to, k1)* – repeat 3 times.
When there
tt e
paall 6 sts on ta short - b l
pu as seen in the picture:
6 sts are left. Gather
F r e e o r e circular

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7. The point works up really fast – just work a 6-stitch-i-cord
e n 6 sts, but notR v l r y
6 rounds.
eto avoid breaking the yarn.
E l
Do not bind off. Pull tail through remaining tooahard

© to2pull01the3end insidernthe cord.

f r om ish.
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8. This is what we’ve got so far:

Flat round berets with a tiny tail, diameter before felting 28 cm (11 inches).
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Unspun yarn felted beret Design and pattern instructions © 2013 Elena Berezinskaya
Translation from the Russian © 2013 Katharina Sokiran

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9. For comparison,1 let’s have a look
f r o
at m
a second beret in Red 8/2 yarn, before felting.
. felting.
©gauge, the diameter
Note the
t t e r n l i s
for both berets is identical
b hbefore

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10. This picture was taken after one round in the wool cyclez ofin s k a
a
The diameter of the berets has not changed, neither B e
the r e
one from
l r
un-spun y. c onormthe one from
the washing machine.
yarn,
e n fluffier. Rave
ready-to-use 8/2 yarn. Just the fibers lturned
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11. Now the most important thing is going to take place. Let’s start felting!

Felting by hand takes a long time and is not very pleasant for one’s hands, but it gives more
precise control over the shrinkage.

I usually felt berets in the washing machine using a regular (not wool) cycle with regular (not
wool) detergent at 40ºC = 104ºF and 800 revolutions per minute.

The berets from 8/2 yarn did felt just a little bit, but the one from un-spun turned into the most
fluffy thing.
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Unspun yarn felted beret Design and pattern instructions © 2013 Elena Berezinskaya
Translation from the Russian © 2013 Katharina Sokiran

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a
Please excuse the rather unfocused picture.
n B eWhen
l r y .
the c omfrom the washing
berets
machine, I hurried and forgotle
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to check whether the photo e I had taken was indeed good enough or
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to take additional ones just in case.

pa
The most important
e e
thing can be seen: The
r - u of the 8/2 yarn beret changed to 24 cm,
pdiameter
whileF r
the e
diameter of the
n o
un-spun t yarn beret turned out significantly less than that.
D o k a y a
z n can
12. There is indeed good reason to hurry up – while the iberet s
omwhile the beret is
is still wet, it has to be put into
B e r e y . c
shape by be pulled over a cardboard template.
l e n a This template
a v e l rbe prepared

13 E
tumbling in the washing machine.
o m R
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To accommodate 20 t e r
a head circumferencen f r
of 58
l i
cm, I prepared s h .
a corrugated cardboard template
with a diameter of 28 pcm.a t -p u b
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The incision and the bends in the circle will make it easier to insert the template into the beret.

When you follow the usual advice and try to pull the beret over a dinner plate or saucepan lid,
the brim gets stretched out too much. Even if you now smooth out the stitches – upon removing
the plate, it’ll get stretched out again.

13. Stretching out the beret.

Right after removing it from the washing machine, we pull our beret over the cardboard
template. This has to be done somewhat forcefully since it will not be very compliant!

14. While being pulled over the cardboard, the opening of the beret gets stretched out a great
deal. This has to be reversed by gathering the rim stitches onto a piece of non-stretchable waste
yarn and pulling it tight.
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Unspun yarn felted beret Design and pattern instructions © 2013 Elena Berezinskaya
Translation from the Russian © 2013 Katharina Sokiran

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3 E e with almost
The beret in this picture was lknitted
R a v
no rim eat all and did therefore stretch out a lot
A beret©with2
when being pulled01 over the template.
n f r o mless, and perhaps
h . may not require any threading and
tt e r
a higher rim might
a at all. re-pu
stretch out
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pulling of the rim
e e pstitches
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14. Let the beret dry!
s k a
e r e in but the other
zcircle, c oonemfrom 8/2 yarn I
B
The un-spun yarn beret is left to dry on the cardboard
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need just as is (small, with a tinyle
E rim).
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rdried, o -p the rim stitches may now be removed.
p the thread usedt rtoetighten
F
15. The berets have
Fold the cardboard inside the D
n care not to re-stretch the opening of the beret.
otaking
beret,

Why did they turn out so different?

The un-spun yarn beret was made for a head circumference of 58 cm, entirely rimless.
The red one from 8/2 yarn was made for a head circumference of 56 cm, with a small rim added
and turned out intentionally smaller.
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Unspun yarn felted beret Design and pattern instructions © 2013 Elena Berezinskaya
Translation from the Russian © 2013 Katharina Sokiran

16. Here is the finished beret.

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Important tips:
zin s k
a B e r e
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and head circumference3 but E l en a little for theRstretch.
1. Cast on exactly as many stitches as you would have for
a veYou don’t needaccording
a non-felted beret to gauge

2 0 1 The openingn offrtheoberet

deducting
m will not shrink . thatlatermuch,
to cast on more
©
because it will be felted.
stretched out a little for aa t t fit.rIt is much easieru
e tob l i shit out and it has to be

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snug stretch than to tighten it!
F r e
D
2. A nice flat crown is achievedo by increasing/decreasing 9 sts in every other a
important thing is not to place the increases/decreases atop of eachs a y round. The most
k to avoid creating a
r e z i n other m to
ostaggered
polygon shape instead of a smooth circle. All increases
n a B e and decreases
e l . c
have to be
r y
hide them in the knitted fabric and make the
3 E l e beret as round
R
as
a v
possible.

3. Un-spun yarn will 2 01significantly r o

morefwith
n m h .a beret
© shrink
will be thicker and warmer, andaless tt e r will befelting u b l i s
than spun yarn. A beret from un-spun

e p yardage
e - p
needed than with from regular yarn.
rethe colors from
Fthat o n otendsr of the spool won’t match. The color sections
4. Don’t be afraid
D both
should be of equal length. If one of the color in one portion has changed earlier than in the other,
you can always break the yarn and take out a small section from the second portion until colors
match up again. You won’t need a pharmacist’s precision for matching colors! The extra long
color sections will gloss over any small discrepancies, especially after felting and re-felting.

5. It is not necessary to divide the spool of un-spun exactly in the middle. It can be broken in any
place, depending on what color will look best for the rim. For an average beret, 2.5 to 3 color
sections are usually needed. For tri-colored yarns, there will be 3 repeats of the whole section per
spool. In this case, divide in any spot with your preferred color.

Pattern instructions:

You will need: thin un-spun Aade Long (or Kauni)

Needles and other tools:
– 3.5 mm (US 4) Addi nickel-plated circular knitting needle, 50 cm (20 inch) long.
– 3.5 mm (US 4) Addi nickel-plated circular knitting needle, 100 cm (40 inch) long.
– Tapestry needle or crochet hook for weaving in ends.
– Optional: Stitch markers (for marking the beginning of the round), row counter
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Unspun yarn felted beret Design and pattern instructions © 2013 Elena Berezinskaya
Translation from the Russian © 2013 Katharina Sokiran

Gauge: 20 sts x 26 rows =10x10 сm (2.5 x 2.5 inches) in stockinette

Head circumference: 58 (56) сm (numbers for 56 cm in parenthesis)

1. Rim
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For head circumference 58lcm,
rows in stockinette1 3 E e with shorterR a vecast on 86 sts, join to round and knit 6
circular,

In row © 204 times throughout

stitch.
n f r o mequally distributed
h . = 90 sts in all (divisible by 9)
6, (M1)
t t e r round,
b l i s
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F D
For head circumference o 56no cm, with shorter circular, cast on 81 sts,
k a a to round and knit 6
yjoin
rows in stockinette stitch.
zin s
a B e r e
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l e
The rim is finished, now we are going
E nto widen it byRaddinga v e
increases.

© 2013 tern from lish.

2. Increases – 20 roundsp a t e - p u b
e
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s k a a evenly spaced
yround),
e r e ztheinbar between.ctheostm
For an ideal beret, increase by 9 sts in odd-numbered rounds (=every other
throughout the round. Increases are worked as M1-ktbl
n
just worked and the st on the LN that isegoing a B (lift
v e l r y on the RN you

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to be next and knit through the back of this newly

© 2 0
formed loop). Continue increasing every
rn
other
f r o
round until you have
i sh
180
.
sts (171 for the smaller
size).
a tt e u b l
F
Please note: The M1 r e-pthe back loop to avoid holes. For an even
e p have tonbeoknitt rthrough
eincreases
and ideally round beret, avoidD o increases on top of each other and stagger them instead.
placing

In even-numbered rounds, work even in stockinette.

3. Four rows of stockinette.

4. Crown decreases – 37 rounds (35 rounds for smaller size)

For the crown decreases, decrease by 9 sts, evenly spaced, in every other round (the decreases
have to be staggered, they should not sit atop of each other), until there are only 9 sts left.

Even rounds: stockinette

When there are only 9 sts left, the last rounds doesn’t have to be worked in stockinette stitch any
more, proceed directly to working the point instead.

5. Knitting the point – 7 rounds

At the very end, when there are only 9 sts left on the needles, work as follows: (k2to, k1)* –
repeat 3 times.
6 sts are left. Gather all 6 sts on a short circular and knit a 6 stitch i-cord over 6 rounds.
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Unspun yarn felted beret Design and pattern instructions © 2013 Elena Berezinskaya
Translation from the Russian © 2013 Katharina Sokiran

6. Finishing

Break the yarn, leaving a 6–7 cm (2 to 3 in) tail.

Do not bind off. Pull ending tail through remaining 6 sts, but not too hard to avoid breaking the
yarn. Use a crochet hook to pull the end inside the cord. Don’t forget to weave in the beginning
tail, too, otherwise it would become thick and fluffy from felting and hard to weave in later.

s k a ya
The knitting is all done, ready for felting now!
r ezi n m
n a B e l r y. c o
E l
Measurements for the corrugated
3 e cardboard template:
R a v e
© 282
01
cm diameter forn headfr o m 58 cmh.
Template
Template 26–27 cm
p a t ter for head circumference
diameter
circumference
- p u b lis56 cm
F r ee n o t re
DoWant to make a comment? nskaya
Still having questions?

e r e zi . c om
Visit my thread on the “Osinka” forum.
e n a B v e l r y
E l R a
© 2013 tern from lish.
Successful knitting and best wishes,

Elena Berezinskaya, pat

e - p u b
e
Frethe “GreenDZebra” internetr store
o not
Proprietress of

s k a ya
See you with the next beret, from 8/2 yarn.
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