How to Knit Berets Out of Cotton
Cotton yarn provides an ideal alternative to the often-used wool and wool-blend yarns for knitting berets. Cotton is not elastic and, therefore, tends to sag -- an ideal characteristic for berets, as they are not worn snug to the head, but slouched slightly to the side or back. Another benefit to knitting a beret out of cotton is that it can be worn year-round because cotton does not retain heat.
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Things You'll Need
- Worsted weight cotton yarn, 220 yards
- 16-inch circular knitting needles, size 8
- Stitch marker, large
- Stitch markers, small
- Set of double-pointed knitting needles, size 8
- Scissors
- Darning needle
Instructions
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Cast 76 stitches onto the circular knitting needle. Place the large stitch marker after the last stitch. Make sure the cast-on stitches are not twisted; join the last stitch to the first stitch by knitting into the first stitch.
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2
Create the beret’s ribbed band by knitting in a two-by-two pattern. To do this, first knit the next stitch. You should have two knit stitches to the left of the stitch marker. Purl the next two stitches. Continue alternating two knit stitches, then two purl stitches, until you knit the first row. For subsequent rows in the ribbed band, knit all knit stitches and purl all purl stitches. Stop when the ribbed band is 2 inches wide and you reach the end of the row (as indicated by the large stitch marker).
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3
Slip the stitch marker from the left needle to the right needle. To create the beret’s characteristic wideness after the ribbed band, increase the number of stitches on the needle by adding one stitch after every two stitches you knit; knit the first two stitches in the row and make a stitch by using the left needle to lift the “bar” between your most recent stitch on the right needle and the stitch on the left needle. Treat this bar as if it were a stitch, and knit into the back of it. Repeat these three stitches until you reach the end of the row. Slip the stitch marker onto the right needle. You should have 114 stitches on the needles.
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4
Knit all stitches until the piece measures 6 inches from the cast-on edge. In the next rows, give the beret its flatness by decreasing the number of stitches on the needles.
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5
Prepare your knitting for the stitch decreasing; knit 10 stitches, place a small stitch marker on the right needle, knit nine stitches, and place another small stitch marker on the right needle. Repeat this sequence five additional times until you reach the end of the row. Be sure you can readily see the difference between the stitch marker at the end of the row and the markers just placed. An alternative to large and small markers is to mark with two different colors.
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Decrease the number of stitches as follows: knit two stitches together, knit eight stitches, slip the stitch marker to the right needle, knit seven stitches and slip the stitch marker. Repeat this sequence five more times until the end of the row.
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7
Knit all stitches in the next row. Continue decreasing stitches as before, knitting one less stitch between stitch markers. For example; in this row, knit two stitches together, knit 7 stitches, slip the stitch marker, knit six stitches and slip another marker. Repeat this stitch sequence five more times. Transfer stitches to double-pointed needles when necessary.
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8
Knit all stitches in the next row. Continue decreasing stitches as before. Repeat these rows (one full row of knitting, one row of decreases) until 30 stitches remain on the needles. Knit one row. In the next row, knit two stitches together, knit one stitch, slip the marker to the other needle, knit two stitches together and slip the marker. After repeating this sequence five more times, you should have 18 stitches on the needles. Knit the next row.
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9
Alternate knitting two stitches together with knitting a single stitch all the way around this row. Remove the stitch markers as you go. For the next row, knit two stitches together six times to the end of the row. Cut or break the yarn, leaving a long enough tail. Use a darning needle to sew the tail through the remaining stitches. Pull tight and weave the loose ends through the knitting.
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