Infinite Cabled Hat

It was Mahatma Gandhi who once said, "Sometimes you just have to crap or get off the toilet." (OK, maybe that wasn't Gandhi.) I've had this hat pattern on my hands for too long, and it's time to release it into the wild and see if someone can wring some joy from it. Without further ado,

Infinite Cabled Hat - click for free PDF


"The Infinite Cabled Hat is a fabulous project for those who are familiar with cabling, and want to make something that looks complex without actually straining the brain too much! Two needle sizes are used to account for the tension change between the brim and the body (where the cables are introduced). The cables put a twist on the conventional roll-brim by ruffling the edges, nicely framing your face. A clever decreasing scheme keeps the cables going all the way to the top."

Enjoy!

Ski gaiter

I recently made a gaiter for my copilot (a scarf was deemed not manly enough) for skiing. The objective - fit snugly around the neck, but able to stretch over the chin.

I chose prime rib stitch (brioche stitch) because of its elasticity and thickness. Also, I love beef, and who doesn't like a juicy prime rib? I decided to knit flat rather than in the round since prime rib naturally makes a nice selvage edge for finishing and after the set up round, the same round is repeated ad nauseum (for nice mindless knitting).

I determined my gauge by knitting a swatch in pattern and measuring it in its relaxed state. I converted that to neck circumference, with the idea being that it would lie relaxed next to the neck, but be able to stretch over the chin and mouth in case of snow flurries. I cast on with a much larger needle (size 8) and bound off with a size 11 in an attempt to ensure the edges didn't hinder the stretchiness. I held two strands Touch Yarn 4 ply to increase the thickness. One could also just use an 8 ply yarn, if one were so inclined.

I can write up a pattern if anyone is interested, but prime rib stitch is fairly simple:

CO even number of stitches
1st row (set up) +K1, YO, sl1 purlwise, rep from +
2nd row (and all subsequent rows) K1, +YO, sl1 purlwise, K2tog, rep from + until last rep end on sl1 purlwise

When you K2tog, you are knitting one stitch and one diagonal loop (created from the last row’s YOs) together. The upshot--you're knitting every other stitch, while simultaneously increasing a stitch (YO) and decreasing a stitch (K2tog). This is what gives it the nice thickness that I was looking for.

Thick! Soft!

Stretchy!

As far as functionality it was deemed good--warm, quick drying, clingy, though slightly less wind-resistant than a conventional ski gaiter--that is, after the struggle of getting it over one's head. Even casting on (CO) with a needle five sizes larger than the one I used, and binding off (BO) with one eight times larger, the ends were still the limiting factors on stretchiness.

"The knitted discomfort is here, and here, Doc."

Granted, the prime rib stitch gives you a fabric similar to that knitted with a needle twice it's size (due to all the stitch slipping), but even accounting for that, the CO was two sizes larger and BO 5 sizes larger at the least. The photo doesn't quite do it justice, but the edge is pretty messy by my standards. Using a larger needle may give it more room to stretch, but it's just going to keep getting uglier and uglier. I need a stretchier method. I've never been very creative in my COs and BOs--if the pattern recommends something, I'll do it, if not, I almost always use the "knitting-on" CO, and the "basic knit" BO. This problem has inspired me to do a (psuedo)scientific experiment on the relative stretchiness/appearance of COs and BOs when done on ribbing (K1, P1 is what I'm thinking). The plan: knit 5" x 5" swatches using 'complementary' COs and BOs, with the assumption that 5" of fabric in between them ensures that one will not limit the stretchiness of the other. I'll have to consider what the actual stretchiness test will be.

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