Another Wee Liesl…with Beret!

I’ve gotten too far behind on my blogging to go back and update you on all the goings-on around here so I’m moving forward. Suffice to say that life has been full, with a family excursion to Maine, beautiful early fall weather and lots of outside time, and new skills learned by Miss Alice…like walking! My goal for September, which I can now proudly announce that I met, was to not spend any money on knitting or sewing. Happily, I have a large stash of supplies and was able to still create several unnecessary items.

I decided that Alice’s wardrobe needed another version of the Wee Liesl pattern since we got so much use out of this one, and I wasn’t going to miss an opportunity to knit a matching beret this time around. I went for the 12-18 month size and made no changes to the pattern. It’s such a quick and easy knit, but when people see it they always assume it took great skill. “It has no seams!” a woman at church recently marveled. It really is a lovely pattern.

I scrounged around in my yarn baskets until I found several balls of this pretty wool a family member gave me years ago. It’s a DK weight washable wool and it ended up working well, although I’m already noticing that it picks up every bit of lint or dog hair that it encounters. Alice has also taken to using her sweaters like swiffers on the wood floor, so I predict that I’ll be very happy the wool is machine washable.

Last time I went for short sleeves, but this time around I kept on going for a three-quarter length. I think three-quarter length sleeves are underused in babywear- they are less likely to get in the way and annoy the baby and are also less likely to get dragged through plates of lentils and mashed butternut squash.

I almost put on some basic pearl buttons but then decided to spice things up by making some fabric covered buttons. I made myself a dress out of this fabric a few years ago and saved all the scraps because I loved it so much. Making covered buttons is so satisfying and I think they look very charming on the sweater.

The beret is just a top-down circular repeat of the same feather-and-fan pattern with an inch of ribbing along the bottom. Alice wore the beret to babytime at the library yesterday and she kept it on the whole morning. Of course when I tried to get pictures of it on her this morning she was having none of it. Ah well.

Shortly after modelling this she whipped off the sweater and crawled off into the kitchen where she proceeded to joyfully empty a bag of spinach on the floor.

I keep saying this, but I really think Alice has enough knitwear to last her for the season. Our house is littered with the stuff. Meanwhile, I recently opened up my suitcase of winter things and discovered that several of my sweaters have been devoured by moths…including my favorite bright pink fairisle that I’ve had since freshman year of high school. I really should shift my attention to my wardrobe. We’ll see.