Monday, October 27, 2008

Braided Cable Hat


Who says boys can't wear braids?

I've been going through my stash, looking for nice heavy yarns to make into hats and mitts for the nieces and nephews and came across a few random balls of Lion Brand Homespun. There's enough in one ball for a child's hat and mitts, and here is the hat pattern- mitts to follow.

Notes:
-The small and large sizes are made with needles in size 5 & 7, and the medium & extra large are made with needles in sizes 6 & 8, so gauge is very important to get the right size of hat.
-The small size makes a toddler size hat, medium child size 4-6, large child size 8-10, extra large, adult size. (this is a rough guide as my head fits the large size but then I have a small head and have always worn boy's large size.)
-The hat is worked from the crown down. If you tend to bind off tightly, either use a larger needle for your bind off, or consider working the hat from edge to crown instead, reversing the shaping. I use a Kitchener rib bind off on hats to keep the lower edge stretchy. The only place I know of that has instructions for this bind off (which is really very attractive, professional, and stretchy) is in the book Big Book of Knitting by Katharina Buss. It takes some time to master but it really is worth the effort.

Materials:
1 skein Lion Brand Homespun, any color
1 set of 5 size 5 (3.75mm) and 7 (4.5mm) double pointed needles if you are making the small or large size hat
1 set of 5 of size 6 (4mm) and 8 (5mm) double pointed needles if you are making the medium or extra large size hat
pompom maker

Gauge:
on size 7 needles: 14 sts / 4 inches in stocking stitch
on size 8 needles: 12 sts / 4 inches in stocking stitch

Abbreviations:
c4b: slip 2 stitches onto cable needle & hold at back of work, k2, knit stitches from cable needle
c4f: slip 2 stitches onto cable needle & hold at front of work, k2, knit stitches from cable needle
m1L: insert left-hand needle into the horizontal bar between the last stitch worked and the next stitch from front to back and knit into the back of it.

Cable braid:
over 6 sts
Row 1: k2, c4b
Row 2: purl
Row 3: c4f, k2
Row 4: purl


Instructions:
Crown:
(changes for large are in brackets)
Cast 6 sts onto 3 size 7 (or size 8 for med & xl) needles. Join and knit 6.
Round 1: *k1, m1L* 6 times
Round 2: Knit.
Round 3:(mark the beginning needle) *k2, m1L, k1, m1L, k1* 3 times
Round 4: Knit.
Round 5: *k3, m1L, k1, m1L, k2* 4 times
Round 6: Knit
Carry on in this manner until you have 66 (72) stitches. Do not bind off.

Braided Cable Band (Knitted on as you go):
Using an open cast on (so the stitches can be grafted later) cast on 12 sts onto same size of needles. (If you don't want to graft, you can always cast on and off in the usual way and sew the ends together but that does leave a bulky seam and tightens the hat a little.)

Foundation Row: (back of work) k1, p1, k1, p6, k1, p1, purl last stitch of band together with the next open stitch of the crown.
Row 1: (front) p1, k1, p1, make cable, p1,k1, p1
Row 2: k1, p1, k1, make cable, k1, p1, purl the last stitch of band together with with next open stitch of the crown.
Row 3: k2, p1, make cable, p1, k1, p1
Row 4: k1, p1, k1, make cable, k1, p1, purl the last stitch of band together with with next open stitch of the crown.
Row 5: slip next stitch of crown onto left-hand needle and knit it together with the first stitch of the band, k1, p1, make cable, p1, k1, p1
Row 6: k1, p1, k1, make cable, k1, p1, k1
Row 7: slip next stitch of crown onto left-hand needle and knit it together with the first stitch of the band, k1, p1, make cable, p1, k1, p1
Row 8: k1, p1, k1, make cable, k1, p1, purl the last stitch of band together with with next open stitch of the crown.
Repeat rows 3-8 around the crown of the hat.
Last Row: Insert needle into first stitch worked from crown & pull up a stitch, knit together with first stitch of band, k1, p1, make cable, p1, k1, p1. Do not bind off. Graft the cast on row with the final row.

You will make 3 rows of band for every 2 stitches of the crown. Small: 100 rows. Large: 108 rows.

Ribbed edge:
With smaller needles, pick up 3 sts for every 4 rows on the lower edge of the band. sm: 75, lg: 81 Pick up on more to make an even number of total stitches. K1, P1 in rounds until you have 1.25 (med. 1.5, lg 1.75, xl 2) inches and cast off.

make a pompom if you like and attach it to the crown.

6 comments:

NoniKat said...

Hey Tangle(d) :)

I think I just found what I was looking for. Beautiful, just great.

I'll be subscribing to your blog to follow your work. I'm Kathleen, theblissfulknitter.blogspot.

Not as talented as you, but working on it :P

Thanks so much,
Kathleen

holla said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
holla said...

I'm confused, it took me a really long time to figure this pattern out. I have never made anything like it before. I've been having a hard time making a beanie for my bf because he has and xxl head. So I hope this pattern will be sucessful. Anyways, to the question....how do you propose to pick up 3 sts every four rows? Do I increase on just one row three times? My yarn is gauged for 9 but I'm knitting with 8 in hopes of getting a bigger hat. I love this pattern and I finally think I figured out the cable part. Please respond asap I would really like to finish this beautiful hat.

holla said...

This cable doesn't make any sense your directions don't say to cable n the wrong side or if I dllow the directions and only work the six in the middle then nothing happens to the last three stitches I'm soooooo lost!

Tangle said...

michelle,
without seeing your work I'm not sure how much assistance I can give you. "make cable" means to follow the instructions for the row that you are on in the cable, so all the WS rows are purled, not cabled. To pick up three stitches for every four rows, you pick three stitches up in each row you come to and then skip the fourth row. The last three stitches are worked; there are instructions for them if you look back at the hat portion, not the cable portion.

holla said...

Thank you for the reply sorry I was so confused but I figured it out also in the pattern row 6 the last stitch should be a p1 or else the k1 makes a purl on the opposite side. I've been knitting for six years and I've never made a hat like this before thank you!