Cozy cabled hat

The hat is complete and the pattern is ready for download! It was actually complete on Friday, but I had work to do (what the hell?) instead of updating my virtual logbook. Over the weekend I encountered some big-headed people (literally--I can't say in regards to their opinion of themselves) and I had them test drive it. They confirmed the fit and feel were fabulous! Ahem, pardon my alliteration. I covet the fabric, as always seems to happen when I knit something for someone else. So soft! I did find two minor errors in the pattern going through it. I got those corrected, and my copilot made the file into a pdf. Here, he's modeling it (though he has about a M size head):



Another angle:

Photo taken moments before the crowd of screaming women jumped on him, insatiably turned on by his sexy hat.

Since it's a bit large for him, you can see some puckering at the top, sometimes referred to as a nipple. Or as a knipple (another portmanteau! Isn't it so wonderful how we have all these new made up words to save time???? Ouch I just popped another capillary in my eye) by the TECHknitter, whom in the previous link gives some good advice how to avoid this erotic region. Aside: LOVE the TECHknitter. I use his/her advice constantly.

So without further ado, here's the Cozy Cabled Hat. Click the link, and it should be download-able as a pdf through Ravelry. You don't have to have an account.

Please, try it out! Let me know if there are errors, you like it, you hate it, etc. If you're on Ravelry, you can check out the two that I have finished. Screen name: agcertain. I'm one of those boring people who is too afraid to choose a screen name other than a derivation of their actual name. Look, I got burned back when everyone was first getting email and I chose something that was a combination of a nickname and a sport I played, and it turned out to be very close to a euphemism for a sex act that I was unaware of. One letter away, in fact.

An update on my cheap-ass double-pointed needles: I received them, and am thoroughly enjoying them so far. They haven't punctured any of my vital organs, or mangled my hands (or more importantly, yarn) with splinters, and I love that they have the size laser etched onto the sides of each needle. I'm forever holding and weighing the feel of dpns, trying to make a guess what size they are. I do miss the slight coating that the Clover bamboo needles have--the yarn doesn't slide quite as well on these, nor the needles past each other. They may smooth out over time, though. However--the set of US 5 that I need to continue work on my sweater have disappeared as mysteriously as they came. More mysteriously even, since I think they came by UPS (a dark and clandestine organization for sure, but it's hard to stay covert with those big brown trucks). I know it was in the pack, I saw it, set it out to use, and now it's gone. So to conclude:

Pros

• cost


• sizes laser-etched on needles


• fairly smooth bamboo

Cons

• no coating


• intermittent invisibility