Pattern Support: Noel a Paris

Pattern support available for Noel a Paris! This adorable beret is available to purchase on Ravelry and Etsy. It is written for Worsted and DK, and we are working to translate it to Sport and Fingering.

This is considered an intermediate pattern, not because it's inherently difficult, but because there are a lot of skills, and a lot of little things you need to stay aware of while working the pattern. The ribbing and body is great for social knitting or watching TV, but for the crown and colorwork, we recommend a quiet room, a closed door, and a pencil.

In this post, you will find:

• Alternating Cast-on

• Lifted Increase

• Set-up row and Crown decreases

• Tips for these charts in the round

Alternating cast-on

Did you know when you do a long-tail cast-on, you are basically doing an e-loop cast-on and knitting your first row at the same time?

But, when you use the long-tail, you will have one row of knitting done. So if you don't want ridges or purl bumps on your ribbing, you need to find a better solution.

The Alternating cast-on (called a variety of things by different people) is a way of alternating knit stitches and purl stitches during your cast-on. Once you join in the round, you'll see very clearly which stitches should be knit, and which should be purled. You'll have the cleanest ribbing edge you can get (outside of maybe a tubular or Italian cast-on).

Check out this video to learn how to do it.

Lifted Increase

In this pattern, we use the left lifted increase. That means we're picking up the left leg of the stitch below the one you're supposed to work. It's the closest thing we've found to an invisible increase. No twisting, no wrapping, no holes, no extra purls sticking out where you don't expect.

Step 1: Identify where you want your increase. Knit to the stitch where you'll put your increase. If you are doing a left lifted increase, you'll lift the left leg. If you're doing a right lifted increase, you'll lift the right leg.

Photo 1: The orange leg is the stitch from the row you just knit. See the loop coming out of it? The red leg is the row before. You'll pick up one of those legs. For this demo, we're doing a left lifted increase, so we'll pick up the left leg. If you were doing a right lifted increase you would not knit the stitch first, so you could pick up the other leg.

Step 2: pick up the left leg of the row below, and place it on the left needle.

Step 3: Put your right needle into the loop and knit the stitch. Note you are working it through the back loop to keep it from twisting.

This is what it should look like!

Set-up row and crown

You can absolutely use stitch markers in the traditional way for this project... but we found it more confusing, because you have to move all six of them every 2-4 rounds. It's actually easier to learn to read the knitting, and put the markers in the fabric instead of on the needles.

In this video, Haley will show you:

• How to do the set-up rounds

• How to place your markers

• Why the first panel of the chart lies on a decrease round!

• How to do your central double decrease

Colorwork Tips

In this video, Haley will show you:

• Why float tension plays by different rules for this project

• Adding Ladderback Jacquard and working around the decreases

• How to finish the hat when you get to the end

When working colorwork in all six panels, you will want to catch your floats or use ladderback jacquard. (video demonstrated above) However, if you are only working one panel, you can absolutely anchor your yarn one or two stitches past your last CC stitch, then just pull it back to where you want it for the next round. There are no thumbs or ears going through this hat, and it doesn't need to stretch because it lays flat on the top of your head, so the likelihood of the floats getting caught and pulled are very low.

Strawberry chart:

To add beads to your chart, slip a bead onto a small crochet hook. Slip the stitch onto the hook, and pull the stitch through the bead. Place back on the left needle and work the stitch.

That's all for now! Any errata found will be added to this page, and pattern will be updated.