After learning stranded knitting last month I decided to undertake another new knitting challenge: cables! It looks all fancy-pants and complicated but actually is a deceptively straight forward technique.
The pattern is called "close cables hat" by Anna and Heidi Pickles and like my fingerless gloves it's a free Ravelry download (update: arrghh, the pattern has been removed, sorry! I must have got it in the nick of time.) I came across the pattern through Elise, so thanks Elise! It was a very satisfying knit as it only took a couple of evenings to make. It also gave me the opportunity to make a pom pom which I haven't done in YEARS. Man I love a big pom pom.
(After seeing this photo I'm wondering whether I should have trimmed it better, haha.)
After reading other knitters comments about the hat being too
small/short I went a half size larger with my needles and added 4 extra
rows of K6, P1 after row 10 in the decrease section. I'm happy with the finished size as it easily covers my ears (I hate having cold ears!) and has a little slouch. My only worry is that it's already on the large side and it will likely stretch with wear as I used an acrylic/wool mix yarn (Hayfield Chunky with Wool in Olive.) Worst comes to worst I can always thread some elastic through the ribbing.
In
the meantime I have an exceptionally comfy hat which can easily be pulled
on or off without disrupting my hair clips. This is a big positive for anybody like myself who is in that awkward phase of growing out their fringe. I'm also
loving how zingy the green looks next to my orange coat.
On a side note, it's really difficult to take photoraphs of yourself in a massive hat whilst holding a camera. It's an entertaining work out to achieve the composition you're after!
Yay I love it! And they just changed their site - all the free patterns seem to be gone so you got to it just in time! It's the best hat pattern I've found for fit, yours looks great :)
ReplyDeleteAhh noooo! What a shame, it's a great pattern. I must have downloaded it just in the nick of time. Thanks for letting me know, I'll update my post.
DeleteBoth hat and pom pom are lovely!!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Sarah! I've worn it loads already :)
DeleteYou're on a roll with mastering new knitting techniques! I can definitely understand about it being good that it doesn't dislodge your hair clips - that's a must for me too!
ReplyDeleteCheers! I'm really enjoying trying new techniques at the moments :)
DeleteLovin that hat Jo - the colour (I love green), the knit style, the pon-pom (the last time I made one was when I was a child with my Grandma, so far too may years ago to count!). And best of all it's home made - it really is lovely :-)
ReplyDeleteAngela x
Thanks, Angela! I used to make pom poms with my Granny too :)
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