Cabled Hat

A while back I made a sweater for my mum and bought yarn for a cabled section that wasn't quite the right colour.  It was too gray against the dark blue of the sweater.  Instead of returning the wool, a lovely Italian merino,  I kept it to make a hat. 

Being  a wonderful girlfriend I decided that my man needed a hat that he could wear while out coaching or on the river rowing.  He even approved the pattern aptly titled  A Hat fit for a Fella.    I made the hat and then he proceeded to ignore it and walked straight past it laid out on the hall table every weekend. 

Eventually when he couldn't find his Thinsulate hat, as a last resort, he put it on and now wears it quite dutifully!  So much so it was admired by his Auntie Maura who wanted one but in beige.  Luckily I had Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran in the colour stone left over from this hat Photography Hat  that I made last year.

So out came the 5mm circular needles and this pattern was written with a modification for adult female so all I had to do was cast on and knit away.  The pattern has a ribbed brim which is lovely and stretchy and very easy to do.  The men's pattern is evenly spaced between purl and plain, the women's version has odd numbers to fit the reduced number of stitches so takes a little concentration for the first line or two and then it's just changing stitch as you come to the different sections; easy out!

The cabling is done over 9 stitches and the pattern repeats three times to give a lovely effect.  No cabling at the crown so this was a very quick knit and came together very easily.  I enjoyed making a second one of these and am considering one for myself now!