Nancy Beret & Hand Warmers - Knitting Pattern for Women in Debbie Bliss

Nancy Beret & Hand Warmers – Knitting Pattern for Women by Debbie Bliss

This downloadable PDF knitting pattern by Debbie Bliss presents two coordinating women's accessories: a classic Nancy Beret and a pair of Hand Warmers (Wristwarmers). Both pieces are worked using a luxurious double-yarn combination, creating a fabric that is simultaneously lightweight and beautifully textured. The pattern is rated intermediate in difficulty, making it an ideal project for knitters who are comfortable working in the round and managing increases and decreases but who want to develop their skills further with shaped, circular construction.

Yarns and Materials

A defining feature of this pattern is its use of two Debbie Bliss yarns held together throughout, which produces a richly layered fabric with depth of colour and a delicate halo effect.

• Debbie Bliss Angel – a lace-weight yarn, used in Sunset 056; 2 balls of 25g/⅞oz each are required. Angel is a fine, airy yarn that adds a soft, gossamer quality to the finished fabric.
• Debbie Bliss Fine Donegal – a 4-ply weight yarn, used in Strawberry 32; 2 hanks of 50g/1¾oz each are required. Fine Donegal brings subtle tweedy flecks and structure to the combination.

Holding a lace-weight yarn together with a 4-ply yarn is a well-established technique for adding visual interest and a halo without significantly increasing the overall weight of the fabric. The warm tones of Sunset and Strawberry complement each other to create a rich, autumnal colourway.

Needles Required

• 4.5mm (US 7) circular needle, 40cm/16in long
• 4mm (US 6) circular needle, 40cm/16in long
• 4.5mm (US 7) set of double-pointed needles
• 4mm (US 6) set of double-pointed needles
• A pair of 4mm (US 6) straight knitting needles
• A pair of 4.5mm (US 7) straight knitting needles

The Nancy Beret

The Nancy Beret is knitted in one size designed to fit an average adult head. It is worked entirely in the round, beginning at the brim and expanding outward through a series of evenly spaced increase rounds before being shaped back down to the crown with corresponding decrease rounds.

Construction and Shaping

The beret begins by casting on 108 stitches onto a 4mm (US 6) circular needle, which is typically used for a neat, slightly tighter ribbed or lower brim section. The work is then joined to work in a round, with a stitch marker placed to indicate the beginning of each round. Increases are worked using the make 1 (m1) method, which creates a neat, virtually invisible increase by lifting the bar between stitches.

The increase rounds follow a structured pattern, adding 12 stitches every few rounds:

• Cast on: 108 sts
• After first increase round: 120 sts
• Continuing increases bring the stitch count up through 132, 144, 156, and ultimately 168 stitches at the widest point of the beret

Plain knit rounds are worked between each increase round to allow the fabric to settle and the shaping to remain smooth. Once the beret reaches its full width, the pattern transitions into the crown decreases, which mirror the increases. Decrease rounds use K2tog (knit two together) paired with plain knit rounds, bringing the stitch count back down progressively through 156, 144, 132 stitches and continuing until the crown is fully closed.

The pattern instructs knitters to switch from the circular needle to double-pointed needles as the crown decreases reduce the stitch count and the work becomes too small to sit comfortably on the circular needle. This