Felted Shetland Beret Pattern

“Be prepared to take requests.”

• about the DESIGN

This simple beret happened quite by accident. We were re-scaling our favorite beret in Shetland dk and it turned out comically large. Hey, we thought, might as well felt it! The result was pretty cool. And remarkably soft after all the washing. Then we thought, wouldn’t finer Spindrift be even nicer felted? And indeed it was. Lightweight. Lofty. Not too warm. We bet you won’t make just one.

Minimum order: three copies per pattern purchased.

• basic DETAILS

FINISHED SIZE
Medium adult: approx. 21"/53cm around band.

YARN
2 skeins Jamieson's Shetland Spindrift (115 yds/105m each); shown lower left in Color 198 Peat, center in Color 101 Natural Black, and right in Color 232 Blue Lovat.
Or approx. 230 yds/210m of an equivalent fingering-weight Shetland yarn.

NEEDLES
US 6 (4mm) 16"/40cm circular and double-points, or size to obtain gauge.
US 5 (3.75mm) 16"/40cm circular, or one size smaller than gauge size.

GAUGE
22 sts/30 rows = 4"/10cm in stockinette stitch on larger needles, before felting.

• NOTES

Customers in our shop are often amazed at this beret. The felted fabric is dense enough to be warm, but not so dense as to be stiff. Felting by hand, rather in a washing machine, is highly recommended. As many of us know from experience, you cannot undo felting that has gone too far!