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. 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.
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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!