Being on strike, I’ve had more time than usual to crochet lately. I decided to make myself a light, lacy hat to wear on the picket line - something I could pull over my ears to keep them warm but that wouldn’t overheat my head. I started going through beret patterns, but couldn’t find anything that seemed quite what I wanted. At some point the following thoughts went through my head: “beret round… doilies round… use doily pattern to make lacy beret?”

Note: blocking makes a major difference in getting the doily part of the beret to lie flat instead of puckering. I blocked mine by dampening it and stretching it over a large plate.