Cable Chevron Hat

Cable Chevron Hat

The inspiration for this hat was simple: our neighbors keep blowing the snow out of our driveway, and my husband suffers from a monumental guilt complex about it. So he asked me to make a hat for the man across the street, presumably to keep his head warm while he's taking care of our snow... 

Update 12/24/2014: I have had a few comments that this hat has ended up on the small side, when finished. As a cabled hat worked in large yarn, it will definitely get a bit tighter than gauge. Therefore, I highly recommending working it on size US 11 needles if you're making it for a large head, and to double-check gauge! Furthermore, this yarn is very sturdy and chunky, and doesn't compress much. If you're working with a fluffy fiber, you may need even larger needles to produce the correct result. Or, you could simply cast on 12 extra stitches, for a total of 84 rather than 72. This modification will change the finished appearance of this hat very little :)

Yarn: Berroco Blackstone Tweed Chunky (65% Wool, 25% Superkid Mohair, 10% Angora Rabbit Hair; 60 yards [55 meters]/50 grams); #6656 Narragansett - 2 skeins

The back. Pretty, no? (in a manly way of course)

Needles: One 16" circular needle in size 9, one 16" circular needle in size 10.5, one set of double-pointed needles (dpns), also in size 10.5, and a cable needle (cn) or double-pointed needle for cabling

Notions: Tapestry needle, stitch marker or scrap yarn to mark row

Gauge: 13 stitches = 4 inches

Using your size 9 needle, cast on 72 stitches, place marker, and join in round. Knit six rows in a k2, p2 ribbing, and then switch to your size 10.5 circular needle. Now, we'll get started on the main pattern, which is Cable Chevron from page 290 of Barbara G. Walker's A Treasury of Knitting Patterns. And it goes like so:

Row 1: knit

Row 2: * slip next three stitches to cn and hold in back, k3, then k3 from cn; slip next stitches to cn and hold in front, k3, then k3 from cn; rep from *

Rows 3 - 8: knit

Knits rows 1 - 8 three times, and then knit rows 1 - 4 once more. Then, it's time to begin the decreases, which go as follows:

Decrease Row 1: * ssk, k8, k2tog *

Decrease Row 2: knit

Switch to your dpns whenever you're ready.

Decrease Row 3: * ssk, k6, k2tog *

Decrease Row 4: * ssk, k4, k2tog *

Decrease Row 5: * ssk, k2, k2tog *

Decrease Rows 6 & 7: * ssk, k2tog *

Clip tail, thread through remaining 6 stitches, and pull tight. Thread to inside of hat and knot. Tuck in ends.