A recipe for a cabled slouch hat
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| Side view of the double cabled version of the hat |
Rather than presciptive patterns I believe in recipes that help understand how projects are constructed and help you make them your own.
Yarn: Sirdar bonus Aran
Needle: 5mm circular (and also a 4/4.5 mm if you'd like a tighter fit).
Notions and skills: working in the round, increasing and decreasing, cablingHat brim
Cast on 96 stitches. Use your smaller needle if you want a tighter fit or for a small size. I have a very little head and find a hat knitted with a 5mm blows off in a breeze! I always circular knit and usually need magic loop this bit until I do the increases, but it will depend on the length of your cable. Place marker on the start of the row.
Next 12 rows work 1x1 rib i.e. K1, P1 to end. Switch to the larger needle on the last row (if using) by simply knitting from one to the other.
Make it your own
Try on you hat at this point - it will probably feel a bit loose but should sit relaxed on your head. Too big? You might need to start again and reduce the stitches by ten. Too small? do the opposite. All you need to do with the pattern is add or take away stitches from the purled area - one from each repeat will give you ten more or less overall. So when the pattern reads purl 11 all you have to do is purl 10 (if you want ten less) or 12 (if you want 10 more).
Needle: 5mm circular (and also a 4/4.5 mm if you'd like a tighter fit).
Notions and skills: working in the round, increasing and decreasing, cablingHat brim
Cast on 96 stitches. Use your smaller needle if you want a tighter fit or for a small size. I have a very little head and find a hat knitted with a 5mm blows off in a breeze! I always circular knit and usually need magic loop this bit until I do the increases, but it will depend on the length of your cable. Place marker on the start of the row.
Next 12 rows work 1x1 rib i.e. K1, P1 to end. Switch to the larger needle on the last row (if using) by simply knitting from one to the other.
Make it your own
Try on you hat at this point - it will probably feel a bit loose but should sit relaxed on your head. Too big? You might need to start again and reduce the stitches by ten. Too small? do the opposite. All you need to do with the pattern is add or take away stitches from the purled area - one from each repeat will give you ten more or less overall. So when the pattern reads purl 11 all you have to do is purl 10 (if you want ten less) or 12 (if you want 10 more).
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| The starfish version of the hat |
Make it your ownThe pattern as written is divided by 10 starfish "legs" or cable sections - 10 repeats of knit 4 purl 11. You can easily change the pattern by doing some simple maths. Just decide on a cable pattern - how many stitches does it have and how many times do you want to repeat it? In another version of the hat I did 6 cables; 3 each of 4 and 8 stitches (36 stitches). If I had used the same basic increase (I did in fact do it slightly differently) it would have left me with 96 purl (reverse stockinette) stitches to distibute between the knit (stockinette) stich sections - so 19 stitches for each of the 6 sections.. The number of rows here is also up to you - add a few more for a deeper, more bag-like slouch, or keep it short for a slouchy beret shape. The pictures as shown and pattern as written are the shorter version. Simply add another repeat (or more than one) of rows 1-6. Keep trying the hat on though to make sure it looks how you want it. You can also throw in more cable rows - every 3 or 4 rows instead of every 6 - if you want a more of a rope effect and less of a starfish leg.
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| This version has six cables 3 each of a simple 4 stitch cable and 3 of a double cable. I used decreases on either side on the four stitch cables rather than just to one side and did more repeats on the cable rows. |
Hat body
Increase row. *K1, KFB (knit stitch forward and back), *repeat 6 times. Then K2 and then KFB all the way round for one round (you should end up with 150 stitches). This then filled my medium sized circular needle and I switched from magic looping to knitting round and round here which prevents any ladders.
Count your stitches when you have completed your increase. If you are anything like me you won't have exactly the number you should have. If it is just one or two over or under just correct by knitting or purling 2 together or increasing by KFB in the next row. It is unlikely to show. If you are a perfectionist you'll have to tink back to your mistake and try again... If you are out by a larger factor, rip it back and start again or simply recalculate the pattern to distribute the stitches you do have evenly (e.g. add or take away another stitch to each - or every other - purl section As long as you take a note of what you have decided you should be fine.Row 1 -5 . Purl 11 knit 4* purl 11 *(repeat to end).
Cable Row Row 6. On the next row I purled 11, *cabled 4 forward (slip 2 onto cable needle, knit two, knit two from cable needle) purl 11 *(repeat to end).
Rows 6-12. Purl 11 knit 4* purl 11 *(repeat to end).
Cable Row Row 13 Purl 11*cable4 forward (slip 2 onto cable needle, knit two, knit two from cable needle) purl 11 *(repeat to end).
DecreasingPart 1
Purl 2 together purl remaining 9 knit 4* , purl 2 together purl 9 *(repeat to end). On the folIowing rows purl 2 together on either side of your cable (the 4 knit stitches, continuing to work until you have only 2 stitches of purl on either side of the knit stitches (at some point during this process you may need to switch back to magic loop if using a longer circular needle). Part 2
Row 1 Purl 2, knit 1, ssk , knit 1 purl 2 *(repeat to end).
Row 2 Purl 2, k1, ssk, purl 2.
Row 3 Purl , ssk, purl 2
Finishing
You should have just a few stitches (10 or fewer should do it) left on each needle at this point and the hole in the crown should be small. If you have been improvising and it's not quite like this yet, keep decreasing until it is. Cut the yarn with a long tail, threaded onto tapestry needle, run it through the stitches, pull them off the needle, cinch the hole shut and weave in the ends
If you used a wool yarn you can use the magic of blocking to stretch or shrink your work at this point if you need to!
Increase row. *K1, KFB (knit stitch forward and back), *repeat 6 times. Then K2 and then KFB all the way round for one round (you should end up with 150 stitches). This then filled my medium sized circular needle and I switched from magic looping to knitting round and round here which prevents any ladders.
Count your stitches when you have completed your increase. If you are anything like me you won't have exactly the number you should have. If it is just one or two over or under just correct by knitting or purling 2 together or increasing by KFB in the next row. It is unlikely to show. If you are a perfectionist you'll have to tink back to your mistake and try again... If you are out by a larger factor, rip it back and start again or simply recalculate the pattern to distribute the stitches you do have evenly (e.g. add or take away another stitch to each - or every other - purl section As long as you take a note of what you have decided you should be fine.Row 1 -5 . Purl 11 knit 4* purl 11 *(repeat to end).
Cable Row Row 6. On the next row I purled 11, *cabled 4 forward (slip 2 onto cable needle, knit two, knit two from cable needle) purl 11 *(repeat to end).
Rows 6-12. Purl 11 knit 4* purl 11 *(repeat to end).
Cable Row Row 13 Purl 11*cable4 forward (slip 2 onto cable needle, knit two, knit two from cable needle) purl 11 *(repeat to end).
DecreasingPart 1
Purl 2 together purl remaining 9 knit 4* , purl 2 together purl 9 *(repeat to end). On the folIowing rows purl 2 together on either side of your cable (the 4 knit stitches, continuing to work until you have only 2 stitches of purl on either side of the knit stitches (at some point during this process you may need to switch back to magic loop if using a longer circular needle). Part 2
Row 1 Purl 2, knit 1, ssk , knit 1 purl 2 *(repeat to end).
Row 2 Purl 2, k1, ssk, purl 2.
Row 3 Purl , ssk, purl 2
Finishing
You should have just a few stitches (10 or fewer should do it) left on each needle at this point and the hole in the crown should be small. If you have been improvising and it's not quite like this yet, keep decreasing until it is. Cut the yarn with a long tail, threaded onto tapestry needle, run it through the stitches, pull them off the needle, cinch the hole shut and weave in the ends
If you used a wool yarn you can use the magic of blocking to stretch or shrink your work at this point if you need to!
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