cable hat | Alaska Knit Nat

During inauguration time in January you had to have been living under a rock to not notice all the glorious pink pussy hats women (and men) were wearing all over the country.

I particularly took notice when a fellow knitter posted to her Facebook page a cabled version of the now-iconic cap. I’ll now turn over this post to Amanda who has knitted a nice stack of these adorable hats.

I love knitting hats. They’re quick, gauge isn’t really a huge issue, they don’t require a lot of yarn, and they can be knit on circular needles. And since winter has returned to Alaska again, we have lots of opportunity to wear them.

In December and January, pink hats starting popping up in my Instagram feed a lot. I saw so many posts of the original pussy hat being made and worn (if you don’t know the story behind these hats, well, first, where have you been? And second, find out more information at www.pussyhatproject.com). The project gained so much momentum there were actually pink yarn shortages in shops across the country. Pink yarn shortages! When has that ever happened? I was set to make a few, and then I ran across a photo of a cabled pussy hat that I just loved the style of. I haven’t been knitting for that long, and cables are something I’ve always wanted to try. I assumed they would be very difficult so I’d wait until I could take a class…but the pattern was free until the Women’s March, so I went ahead and downloaded it.

The pattern is so simple! Easy to follow instructions (there is also a chart for those of you that prefer to follow charts) and even photos illustrating exactly where to pick up and make those darn knits for the crown. Between the size 11 needles and the super bulky yarn, it knits up pretty quickly. Oh, and those cables? Way easier than I ever thought, and there are lots of helpful YouTube videos out there for the extra assist. I did buy a cable needle, which I highly suggest just to make life a little easier. I’ve made several now, and I must say this hat gets people talking! The Women’s March is over, but there are more events planned starting as soon as March 8th – so don’t let those cables hold you back! Solidarity, sister!

Continue reading Guest Post: Cabled Pussy Hat →

Rachel, my best friend from childhood, has been asking me to knit her a hat for three years. When I visited her in Seattle in 2012 we even picked out the yarn and everything.

She requested a cable hat and I’ve never had such a hard time finding a pattern I liked. I started three different patterns including the classic “Stitch ‘n’ Bitch Nation” one, but I just didn’t like them.

So I tucked the ball of purple yarn away in my stash and temporarily gave up.

Three years later I called Rachel to tell her I was coming back to Seattle for a work trip and asked if she would like me to bring her anything from home. She reminded me of my hat promise. I was determined this time that I would have a finished hat by the time I reached The City of Flowers.

I went back to Ravelry and found just what I was looking for. It must not have been posted when I last looked up cabled hats.

Presenting the Mermaid Hat:

I used Blue Sky Alpaca’s Worsted Hand Dyed yarn in Mulberry. The downside was I only bought one skein and ran out of yarn two rounds before the end. Luckily I had left a long tail when I started so I had to Frankenstein the yarn toward the end, but it all worked out. PHEW!

I really loved the little braided stitch going up the hat between the cables. It is a good pattern for folks who have gotten down cables but are still not ready for anything complicated.