Lots of bloggers are using January to commit to Make Nine, or to do the Pattern Review Sewing Bee or SWAP challenges, or just to finally get their wardrobe sorted.

I think I have sorted mine. I am still in uniform, although I have branched out a tad. I now have three pairs of corduroy trousers – navy, bottle green and pinkish brown (not my colour, but I bought them in the sale thinking I could dye them but then came to like them as something different). They are far enough away from my face to look OK. I wear these soft, slightly baggy, artisan type strides for work everyday (unless a formal meeting requires more effort). I wear them with a Uniqlo T shirt, a hand knitted jumper, a down jacket (navy, green or brown), and navy trainers. I have a down coat, lots of hand knitted hats and a ruck sack that needs replacing as the zip is broken. I think I look fairly stylish, but by international standards very casual. I work in social housing and I feel the look is appropriate, so I am happy and I now have a tiny wardrobe. Summer will bring more variety and colour and style, but comfort and warmth are the top priorities for me now.

The Transform T challenge didn’t really thrill me. Here is my effort. I just pleated (Gres-style) one of Nick’s T shirts, right along the shoulder line from neck to sleeve cuff. I didn’t like wearing a baggy T shirt even though the structure was quite nice. I like my tops to cling – at least the underlayer. It’s not just the vanity of revealing the feminine shape – I actually dislike air billowing against my skin (unless the weather is really warm). My two sewalong friends – Helene and Sue Stoney – did much better than me. Do check out their Instagrams.

After a difficult year at work I returned after Christmas full of joy and enthusiasm for the next stage of our merger. I am still very busy and a little bit stressed but we have broken the back of it and are starting to make progress. I have to admit the job has really stretched me and I have spent my spare time less `’productively” in terms of making nice things. I have been knitting, but in a relaxing, somewhat mindless way. I have made things for family and friends as it gives me pleasure. I am doing lots of physical activity – walking, swimming, yoga, dance and even Tai Chi. But I need to focus intellectually on the job and I am developing staff and researching what sort of management we need for the 21 century. I have a blog about management and work and I am using this to develop my ideas.

I am also going to write a short memoire of a 1974 road trip. We travelled from New York, Montreal, through Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia, Vancouver Island, Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania and back to New York. Mainly hitchhiking. Remembering all the (sometimes hair raising) details is difficult after so many years. But once it is done I am considering retracing my steps. Here are a couple of the pictures – the Indian block printed T shirt was red, worn with a maxi skirt and wooden clogs.

But the long and short of it is I am going to recognise the inevitable and park the blog and associated social media. This is my 970th post and I am not sure I have much left to say! I am here for you if you want to get in touch, meet up or ask anything. I will post from time to time if I have something to share but I’m done with the regular schedule. I feel loved, and love you, but I am going to take a break: I know you will understand.

I have been thinking about hats for a while, because I love them. I really feel dressed in a hat. I like to wear them in summer, to protect me from the sun. And I love to wear them in the winter to keep my ears and head warm. I enjoy millinery, and one day I will do a serious course and make a hat with a lobster, a shoe or a telephone.

I like classic hats and spent some time on a course where I made a few turbans. And then, more recently, once I learned to knit I knitted a warm, ear covering hat. So, over Christmas, I dedicated myself to another classic hat – a hat I love – the beret. My Dad used to wear a French beret, and he looked amazing. The photograph is of a very cool French fisherman in the 1940s. When my father was older he never wanted anything for his birthday or Christmas, claiming quite correctly that he had everything he ever needed, but he did admit he would like a French beret. So Nick and I found ourselves in a beret shop in Brittany. Literally – a shop which sold berets in every shape and size. What was interesting was the varying depth of the crown – some were very wide – more in the Basque style I would say. We bought a lovely, authentic, very deep navy woollen hat, with a soft leather band, and a nice French label, sewn in. My Dad loved it.

The beret has so many associations – school uniforms, the military, French chic, and radical movements from Che Guevara the Black panthers. Men’s headwear that women, from Coco Chanel onwards have appropriated. Traditionally made by shaping naturally waterproof felt, the two main ways you can easily make one at home is using a pattern, or knitting one.

I knitted a few, taking my basic instructions from Elizabeth Zimmermann, who calls these a Tam O’Shanter. The difference is that the Tam is a Scottish bonnet, worn straight and features a pom pom. A beret is usually worn to the side, and it has a rats’ tail.

In summary the pattern is as follows:

Using 5mm circulars (or the right size for your gauge and yarn), and DK weight, cast on 90 stitches (100 for a man, and 80 for a child). Knit ten rounds in stocking stitch, knit one round in pearl, ten more rounds of stocking stitch. Increase K2 M1 (or K3, M1 if you want less fabric, but I don’t recommend). Now knit 25 rounds, then decrease regularly (ever other round) until you get to the last 20 or so stitches, then decrease every round so you don’t get a point. When you have 7 stitches left thread the yarn through and pull them up. Darn it nicely together and finish the ends.Once it is complete soak it and block it on a dinner plate. This gives it a nice clean line. Add a pom pom or rats’ tail. To make the rats tail I crocheted the yarn, folded in two then stitched together, and inserted it in the hole at the centre.

You can of course include colours and patterns, on the brim or the hat, and you can do a firmer or floppier version depending on your stitch density and yarn of choice. If you do colour work it will be warmer and a bit firmer. I made all my hats from left overs – most of them are cashmere, just because I don’t want anything scratchy near my face. If you use a smaller needle and four ply yarn you can do fair isle patterns, but I wanted quick results.

I may make a few more. Ideal as presents, always wearable. I managed to squeeze a little one out for my Grandson.

Even when its cold you can just pull them down over the ears. I like a beret much better than a beenie, and if you have an angular face (like me!) then the strong straight line across the hat is more flattering than a head hugging, round look.

If the hat comes out just a tiny bit too loose then sew in a piece of millinary gros grain, measured to fit you head exactly, around the inside of the hat band easing the knitting in to make sure it fits. If you beret is a bit too floppy you can include a circular piece of interfacing across the brim. This means you can wear it with more of a halo-like look. And finally if you want to make your beret more hat-like use the sewn pattern at the top of this post to make a fabric lining. Lovely.

Elizabeth Zimmermann’s Knitter’s Almanac  gives the knitter a project a month, for a year. I wouldn’t recommend most of the projects – knitted Christmas decorations, polo shirts and tights for babies? I do’t think so. However I really liked the look of the jumper that sits at the bottom (centre) – a funnel-necked, raglan-type, hemmed sweater. I liked even more that this was a quick knit. It is the December project and the chapter is called “Hurry-up Last-Minute Sweater” which is a bit twee. I can certainly knit a jumper in a month and so this didn’t seem anything special. But I had a go at it and I like the design very much. 

Here it is in delectable black and white. The thing I don’t love about the sweater is that I think the sleeves are a bit baggy. What is really nice, and not that obvious from the photo is that the shoulders are created by decreases along the shoulder line. The funnel neck is nice too.

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I started knitting at the beginning of December and finished it in about ten hours. I used some heavy, thick, slightly glossy viscose yarn I got from Colourmart, and I used it double. It had tremendous definition and you can see that one of my stitches in the inverted V yoke is a bit uneven. I have learnt my lesson and would go slow on this part of the journey. 

As a change, for me, I made this one long – hip length. I thought the colour lent itself to a fisherman’s jersey look which necessitated a roomy look. In general I go for a slimmer fit, but I have enjoyed wearing this jumper alot, including over other jumpers. It works well with my Uniform suit which I wore for whole of December – so something like two and a half month (washing the trousers ever week). The ribs of hand knits go so well with the corduroy whales. 

I made it up exactly as specified, but I didn’t do hems at the base or cuffs. I just left them as they were. It rolls a bit at the hem but the sleeves are pretty stable. 

Zimmermann says you cannot make this sweater in a smaller gauge, and I am not sure I would want to. But I think I might like to make a narrower sleeve. On the other hand it operates like a true raglan (compared to her seamless Raglan pattern which is just an adaptation of a yoke sweater. A Raglan is designed with a much more comfortable fit, so it can be worn (usually as a jacket) over something else. So something to bear in mind if you are thinking of making this jumper. 

I won’t give instructions on how to make this, but as you can see it is exactly the same as for the seamless sweaters we have made before – the colourful yoke sweater and the seamless raglan. When you join the sleeves and body you decrease at the body side to create the inverted V. Once the body stitches together (front and back) equal what you have on one sleeve you decrease from the middle of the sleeve (on the shoulder line). Might be a nice one for a knitalong next year.

Anyway I hope you had a lovely Christmas break. We spent it with my Mum and some of the family. On New Year’s Eve I imagine I will be having an early night. But Happy New Year to all my friends!

I had the great privilege of visiting the Anni Albers exhibition at the Tate Modern, with my friend Bridget – the one who also taught me to weave. I fell for weaving immediately – deciding that one day, perhaps on my eventual retirement from work, I would ask for, or buy, my own loom. With more time on my hands I felt I really might achieve something marvellous.

As a Tate member Bridget was able to get me in after work, to see an exhibition of Bauhaus textile designer Anni Albers. Many of you know that the Bauhaus was a radical art school, established by Walter Gropius in 1919. Something you may not know is that his London home – where he came to flee the Nazis – is the Isokon building, which we – Notting Hill Genesis – own. In July English Heritage put a blue plaque on the flats, and Wolf Burchard (front row beige jacket) gave a moving speech about his Great Uncle Walter.

Anni Albers (1899 – 1994) was a German Jew who became a leading member of the Bauhaus school, and eventually head of the Weaving Workshop. Although she started life as an artist, she was drawn to weaving as it was one of the few areas open to women at the time. She left Germany with her artist husband Joseph in 1933 and went to work at the newly established Black Mountain college in North Carolina. They moved later to Connecticut where their Foundation continues.

Many see Albers as one of the most important female artists of the 20th Century, but perhaps one who is not well enough known due to either her sex, or her medium (textiles) or both. Much of her art work was based on horizontals and verticals (Matisse inspired), often in neutral colours and sometimes in interesting materials such as metallics, cellophane, flax and cotton. Bridget, and some other experienced weavers she spoke to, attested to the amazing technical skills that some of this work required. 

Bridget was mesmerised and fascinated by this red work “With Verticals”  She said it was exceptionally hard to achieve this effect and she could only guess how it was done. For me it was a beautiful textile. I really liked the way the subtle, almost ghostly, verticals worked against the obvious ones which interrupt and rearrange the twill patterns in the cloth. 

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There are many wall hangings to be seen – most of them are like paintings actually – and I felt this was an artist working with yarn rather than a weaver, but of course the distinction between art and craft is rather superficial. I loved the work especially when she created colourful, lumpy weavings.

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The Albers made many trips abroad for inspiration, mainly to Mexico, where they sought out ancient buildings, but also bought and studied woven and stitched textiles. There are a number of fascinating and priceless Mexican and other artefacts in the exhibition, and we can see how the strong colours begin to influence her work. 

It’s almost Christmas. I have knocked off work for about ten days, and I will be very glad of the rest. I have found this year stressful and hard going. I have spent much of my spare time recuperating in the country, and I haven’t done a huge amount of making or blogging. I think things will ease off next year and I am very much looking forward to new and interesting challenges. 

Let me finish with some absolutely joyous jewellery, designed by Anni Albers. Just the sort of present anyone would love to receive, made from ordinary but beautiful things. And may I thank you for your support, your wise advice, following the blog and joining in with the various challenges I have set myself, reading the book, meeting up with me, and may I wish you a very Happy Christmas. 

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