Obsessed with Hats (Part 3)

For hat number three, I decided to try the warm pom-pom hat pattern I had based Erich's Monkee's Hat from, but sans pom-pom. And this time, it'll be really warm since it's alpaca and kid mohair yarn. For my snowboarding-goddess friend Kate, I wanted to make something warm and cute for her next snowy trip.

Kate's Cute Cable Hat

Kate with her new hat at happy hour

I started with Bernat Alpaca yarn in natural so it would be warm and also used Habu Textiles silk mohair yarn in a sage green. I pulled from both balls of yarn and loosly cable cast-on 72 sts.

First knit round and round in a rib, K2 P2 until the work is 2".

Next you switch to the moss stitch:
Row 1: K1 P1 the whole round.
Row 2: P1 K1 the whole round.
You always knit over a purl stitch and purl over a knit stitch.

Knit 25 moss stitches, then the cable diagram under, followed by knit 26 moss stitches. Continue like this until the work measures about 7.25".

I just recently learned how to read these diagrams. It's actually very easy! You just start with the bottom right corner as your first stitch in the pattern and work left. Once you finish that row, just move to the next one above. So after you knit the moss stitch for 25 sts, begin with the purl in the bottom right corner, moss stitch for 5 sts and then work into the cable pattern portion.

Now here is the tricky part. The pattern says to: Knit one row while you’re decreasing every third stitch = about 56 stitches left then Knit two rounds. But I didn't want to switch from the moss stitch so early since I thought it may look weird without the pom-pom. Instead I fudged the moss stitch and then went right back into it for 2 rounds.

After that, you decrease in three different places to avoid decreasing in the cable pattern, as it would look terrible.

Start the round by knitting two stitches together. K 10, 2 stitches together, knit until you’re 10 stitches past the cable diagram, knit 2 stitches together.
Continue to decrease in the same spot 10 times in total (10 rounds).

Cut the yarn and pull a needle through the rest of the stitches. Tighten!
To view the original pattern click here.