Too Close for Comfort

I finally finished my Ishbel Beret. It took a few tries to get it right. I'm trying to use as much stash yarn as I can.....and maximize that use so there aren't many leftovers (hmmmm....maybe I've got Thanksgiving dinner leftovers on my mind). The yarn I picked out is J. Knits Softee Alpaca in the color Wyoming - very soft and fuzzy. Unfortunately, it's heavier than that called for in the pattern (DK vice fingering weight)....with only 166 yards per skein, much less than the 215 yards required for the size L beret. [Yes, I have a big head.....or maybe it's just a lot of hair......or a big head AND lots of hair.] So I figured I'd make a size M and, with the thicker yarn, it'd come out to be a size L. A quick mental calculation of the ball band gauge versus the pattern gauge supported my plan (and yes, I usually do knit fairly closely to ball band gauge).

I had to rip out portions to adjust the needle size, fix some wonky looking decreases and, when I realized I really was going to run out of yarn, eliminate two rows (23-24 of the crown), but I finished it with a mere 12 inches of yarn remaining (see the picture for the leftover cast on/off tails). Blocked over a 10 1/4 inch plate, it fits perfectly.