If you click on “Cabled Earflap Hats” in the left sidebar, the post now includes instructions for the eleven-cable (all-over cable) hat. Huzzah! Thanks for your patience — I just finished test knitting it again, and I didn’t find any errors, but if you do, please let me know so I can correct them. Thanks!
It’s been all earflap hats, all the time over here lately. I bought a bunch of bulky merino from handpaintedyarn.com because I heard a rumor that they weren’t going to be carrying it any more. The only way I could think to justify the yarn purchase was to make a bunch of hats and sell them. This is my absolute fave earflap hat yarn, folks! It’s spectacular and I hope the rumors aren’t true. 😦
I was toying with doing a craft show this fall, but then decided to first put the hats in my etsy shop to see if they would sell there. So if you reached the blog searching for earflap hats but you’re not a knitter…you’re in luck! I’ve got a bunch of them! Head on over to the shop and take a look.
And if you’re a knitter, of course, the patterns are free, check the sidebar. I love that so many people have found them useful. 🙂
An actual exchange yesterday between myself and a very young employee, at a Large Craft Store (that kind of rhymes with Lindsay Lohan):
Me: I’ve looked around, but I’m obviously not looking in the right place…do you know where I could find a darning egg?
Emp: blank stare
Me:
Emp: I don’t know what that is.
Me: It’s a wooden egg-like thing, sometimes with a handle, that you use when you repair socks. I have some handknit socks that I need to repair…
Emp: (looking at me like I have two heads) people…fix…socks??
Me: uhh…yup. I guess I’ll have to find one on the Internet, huh.
Seriously, I would mot have been surprised if she said, “people…knit…socks?” …that’s how incredulous she was. It was pretty humorous. And if she only knew I’d spun the yarn…imagine the reaction then. 😉
I’ve gotten in a decent amount of spinning in the past few weeks…
This one’s for Jenn, who’s been waiting so patiently:
(please excuse the crappy photo. I can’t seem to take a decent photo to save my life these days…maybe my eight year old 2MP camera has something to do with it…that, or I’ve simply lost my mojo.)
And this one just went up in the shop:
Not much new on the knitting front…I finished these mittens for my wee-est one:
(I’m really fond of that photo, because you can see my little handspun-hanknit-socked toe in the corner. Sigh. Those are my favorite socks in the whole world.)
…I’m also writing a new pattern, I think — well, I’m knitting something and taking lots of notes. So I can’t really post about it until I decide if I want to submit it somewhere, or just let it out into the wild. 😉
And timely good fortune at that!
First off I have to say that I’m addicted to the craftzine blog. My brother gave me a subscription to Craft last year and it’s such a fun magazine…and the blog is like having a snippet of the mag every day for breakfast. They scour the web for the coolest crafty things that pop up — patterns, tutorials, etsy items, etc. It’s an amazing time suck source of inspiration.
This week they had a random drawing for a giveaway…a $50 gift certificate from Warm Biscuit, which has the most squee-worthy fabric!! Now, my kid goes to parochial school, folks, so I enter raffles on a regular basis. But I can’t remember the last time I won anything. I just don’t have that mojo.
Or so I thought! How flippin’ cool is that?!
I just want to say, I do bop around and visit the blogs of people who link here, and I try very hard to leave comments. You all make some really cute stuff! But blogger won’t let me comment. The whole google/blogger sign-in thing is a complete fiasco for me, and those who know me will vouch that I’m no technophobe. For crying out loud, I’m an IT person! It’s my job! I just can’t be bothered to jump through 456897589 hoops every single freaking time I want to comment on a blog.
So hey all, I’m looking at your projects and they are fab!
My quilt is coming along nicely too 😀
…to say, I need another crafty diversion like I need a hole in the head.
I blame the Craftzine blog.
Like many I’m sure, I didn’t want to admit that Ravelry was going to mean blog neglect. But it is what it is. I’ve been dyeing and spinning and knitting and adding things to the shop, in case you were wondering. 😉 Oh yeah, and getting ready for the holidays. We like to be done with as much as we can before Advent actually begins — I highly recommend it, if you celebrate Christmas and get troubled by the stress of it all.What’s new…merino from HPY:
I spun this for a Christmas gift — who knows if the recipient is lurking, so that’s all I’m gonna say about that. The merino roving from HPY is amazing — you would think it would be hard to work with because it comes to you soooo compacted, but it’s a dream to spin. This hat was made from another colorway:
Ever since I spun the single I had been going back and forth about plying it…I finally did and wow, what a difference. One of my favorite yarns ever.
I’ve knit this from the pattern several times with no issues, and I haven’t heard back from anyone that the pattern is wonky, so I’ll go ahead and post the first version, the six-cable hat. When the eleven-cable (all-over) variation is complete I’ll post it at the end. (The earflaps are the same for both patterns.) The pattern assumes a general knowledge of knitting and cabling abbreviations…if you’d like a full PDF that contains explanations of the increases, decreases, and cabling instructions, click here.
CABLED EARFLAP HAT
SIZE
Infant (6-12 months)
Finished size: 15” diameter
(if you want it slightly bigger I’d recommend my highly technical sizing method of using heavier yarn on bigger needles. 😉 )
MATERIALS NEEDED
Yarn that will knit to gauge — approx. 50g
(shown in Knit Picks Merino Style [six cable hat, purple] and RYC Cashsoft Aran [eleven cable hat, tan — pattern coming soon, I promise])
16”circular needle and one set of DPNs
(size US6 or size to knit to gauge…US8 for the eleven-cable hat is recommended due to the way the cables pull together)
one stitch marker
tapestry needle
GAUGE: 16 stitches = 4” in stockinette stitch
EARFLAPS
CO 6 stitches (on a DPN, if available).
R1: Knit all sts.
R2: K1, M1, K4, M1, K1
R3: K2, P4, K2
R4: K1, M1, P1, K4, P1, M1, K1
R5: K3, P4, K3
R6: K1, P2, C4F, P2, K1
R7: K3, P4, K3
R8: K1, P2, K1, M1, K2, M1, K1, P2, K1
R9: K3, P6, K3
R10: K1, M1, P2, K6, P2, M1, K1
R11: K1, P1, K2, P6, K2, P1, K1
R12: K2, P2, C6F, P2, K2
R13: K1, P1, K2, P6, K2, P1, K1
R14: K1, M1, K1, P2, K6, P2, K1, M1, K1 (16 sts)
Cut yarn, leaving an 8” tail, and leave the flap on its DPN. Repeat for 2nd flap.
VARIATION ONE: SIX-CABLE HAT
Using a cable cast on, CO 12 stitches on the circular needle. Knit the 16 stitches from first ear flap in pattern (knit the knits, purl the purls), then CO 34 stitches. K16 from second ear flap, then CO 14. (Confused? Here is a video that shows what I’m talking about!)
Place marker and join, being careful not to twist stitches, and begin knitting in the round. As you knit around this first row, you’ll notice four gaps, on either side of each ear flap. When you get to those, you will K2tog to close them up. Knit Round 1 as follows:
K6, P2, K3, K2tog, K2, P2,
K6, P2, K1, K2tog, K4
*P2, K6* 3 times,
P2, K3, K2tog, K2, P2,
K6, P2, K1, K2tog, K4, P2, K6, P2.
At the end of the round, you should have 88 stitches on the needles.
Continue knitting in cable pattern as follows:
R2: *K6, P2*
R3: *C6F, P2, K6, P2* to last 8 sts, C6F, P2
R4-8: *K6, P2*
R9: *C6F, P2, K6, P2* to last 8 sts, C6F, P2
R10-14: *K6, P2*
R15: *C6F, P2, K6, P2* to last 8 sts, C6F, P2
R16-20: *K6, P2*
R21: *C6F, P2, K6, P2* to last 8 sts, C6F, P2
R22: *K6, P2*
(begin decrease rows)
R23: *K6, P2, SSK, K2, K2tog, P2* to last 8 sts, K6, P2
R24: *K6, P2, K4, P2* to last 8 sts, K6, P2
R25: *K6, P2, SSK, K2tog, P2* to last 8 sts, K6, P2
R26: *K6, P2, K2, P2* to last 8 sts, K6, P2
R27: *C6F, P2tog, K2, P2tog* to last 8 sts, K6, P2tog
R28: *K6, P1, K2tog, P1* to last 7 sts, K6, P1
R29: *SSK, K2, K2tog, P1, K1, P1* to last 7 sts, SSK, K2, K2tog, P1
R30: *SSK, K2tog, P1, K1, P1* to last 5 sts, SSK, K2tog, P1
R31: *K2tog, SK2P* to last 3 sts, K2tog, P1
R32: K2tog around so that 6 sts remain, then pull yarn through remaining stitches with a tapestry needle. Pull end through to inside of hat, weave in, and trim.
VARIATION TWO: ELEVEN CABLE HAT
R2: *K6, P2*
R3: *C6F, P2, K6, P2* to last 8 sts, C6F, P2
R4-5: *K6, P2*
R6: *K6, P2, C6F, P2* to last 8 sts, K6, P2
R 7-8: *K6, P2*
R9: *C6F, P2, K6, P2* to last 8 sts, C6F, P2
R10-11: *K6, P2*
R12: *K6, P2, C6F, P2* to last 8 sts, K6, P2
R13-14: *K6, P2*
R15: *C6F, P2, K6, P2* to last 8 sts, C6F, P2
R16-17: *K6, P2*
R18: *K6, P2, C6F, P2* to last 8 sts, K6, P2
R19-20: *K6, P2*
R21: *C6F, P2, K6, P2* to last 8 sts, C6F, P2
R22-23: *K6, P2*
(begin decrease rows)
R24: *SSK, K2, K2tog, P2, C6F, P2* to last 8 sts; SSK, K2, K2tog, P2
R25: *K4, P2, K6, P2* to last 6 sts; K4, P2
R26: *K4, P2, SSK, K2, K2tog, P2* to last 6 sts; K4, P2
R27: *C4F, P2, K4, P2* to last 6 sts; C4F, P2
R28: *K4, P2tog*
R29: *SSK, K2tog, P1, K4, P1* to last 5 sts; SSK, K2tog, P1
R30: *K2, P1, SSK, K2tog, P1* to last 3 sts; K2, P1
R31: *K2tog, P1, K2, P1* to last 3 sts; K2tog, P1
R32: *K1, P1, K2tog, P1* to last 2 sts; K1, P1
R33: *SK2P, P1*to last 2 sts; K1, P1
R34: K2tog around so that 6 sts remain, then pull yarn through remaining stitches with a tapestry needle. Pull end through to inside of hat, weave in, and trim.
FINISHING
Weave in all ends. (I like to leave the tails where I ended the earflaps long so that I can use them to tighten up of otherwise correct anything that looks wonky around the earflap join area.)
There are a few ways you can add straps — pick up 3-4 sts and knit in garter stitch or seed stitch until desired length. OR pick up 3-4 stitches and knit i-cord until desired length. OR, thread through three long pieces of yarn and braid the double-strands until desired length, then tie off and trim.
Block and lay flat to dry.
This pattern is and always will be free! If you extra-specially love it and can’t quite find the words to say thanks, you can always give me a dollar. 😉
Holy cow, I’m in love. Stacee, right up your alley.
You must scroll to the bottom of the page…. little dudes
heyjulie.wordpress.com 