Pattern Review: Finished Frick Frick Beret

Photo by Caro Sheridan, borrowed from Ravelry

Confession: I finished my Frick Frick Beret a while ago, but I've been dragging my feet on writing this review. Why? Because I don't love the finished hat. I loved the photos on Ravelry, I loved knitting it, but when I put it on my head, I hate the shape. I don't think I'm made for berets. Once I'm over the heartbreak (yes, a bit dramatic for knitting, I know), I'll re-block it into a regular slouch hat. I still love the pretty leaf design, I'm just not at all sold on the shape.

So here are my final thoughts. The pattern is clever yet simple. I used the charted instructions rather than the written ones and found them to be very easy to understand. It's the kind of pattern where you figure out the logic after a few rows, so you don't have to be glued to the chart constantly.

However - I do think I found a small error in the second to last row of the crown. In the body of the hat, there is a point where you need to move your stitch marker and turn the first stitch of the row into the last one by slipping it onto the right-hand needle. I believe we need to do the same at this second-to-last row, even though it's not noted in the pattern. I tried it at first as written in the chart, but the design ended up off by one stitch. When I slipped the first stitch to the right needle, the chart worked perfectly. If any of you try this pattern, I'd love to hear your thoughts when you get to this part!

So what have you been making lately?