This pattern (along with most of my earlier work) was retired in the summer of 2022. However, it may be available for a few days once or twice a year. Read on for details!

In the summer of 2022, I realized that maintaining a back catalog of hundreds of patterns was kind of overwhelming. I couldn’t do it and still release new things. So I took my old patterns down so I could keep doing new work.

Since then, a handful of my favorites have come back, and lovely new things have come out. But the vast majority of the old patterns are retired and will no longer be generally available.

However, enough folks have asked about some old favorites that I’m planning to make many of the retired patterns available for a few days once or twice a year (most likely in late spring and then again in the fall around Thanksgiving).

• If you see the buy buttons on this page, you’ve caught it on one of the days it’s available, and you’re welcome to grab it!
• If you don’t see the buy buttons on this page, then it’s not currently available.
• If you want to hear when the retired patterns will be available, subscribe to the mailing list or patreon, or keep an eye on my instagram.

Interlock verb to connect so that the motion of a part is constrained by another

I have a confession to make. I am occasionally overwhelmed by the urge to take a marker to my knitting (especially when I’m knitting cables). I don’t actually think you should do this (it’s messy, and doesn’t work as well as you’d think it would, ask me how I know). But you can get the same vibe (but with less swearing) if you’re willing to work a little bit of knitterly magic.

It’s not even very complicated magic. Just hold a contrast strand along with your main yarn while you work some of your stitches. That’s really all there is to it. It will feel weird for about the first three rows, then it will click, and you’ll feel like a magician.

I included a photo tutorial to walk you through the whole thing in excruciating detail. But really, you’ll have the hang of it in no time. If you can knit cables, you can do this.

The pattern officially includes the hat I show in the pictures, the one that uses one contrast color. Unofficially, you’ll find that I have a tendency to experiment. So I swatched up a three color variation and included charts and some general guidance for intrepid knitters who want to do some experiments of their own.

The hat is written in six sizes (castons of 86, 94, 102, 110, 118, 126 stitches), and you should feel free to adjust your gauge a bit to fine tune the fit of the hat. Just be sure that you’re working at a gauge that gives you a fabric you like with your chosen yarns!

I recommend working at something around 4.5, 5, 5.5, or 6 stitches per inch, and I’ve included a table to help you figure out what gauge you’ll want to use for your size. With that range of sizes and gauges, the hat will fit a head between 17.5 and 25.75 inches (with lots of points in between).

Oh, and just to help you plan, I used about 175 yards of the main yarn (the light gray with speckles) and 50 yards of the contrast yarn (the pink one on the cable) to make a hat for a large adult. If you’re making a bigger or taller hat (or if you use a skinnier yarn), you might want more like 250 yards of the main yarn and 50 yards of the contrast yarn yarn.

This is perfect for you if:

• You feel a sudden urge to color on your knitting
• You’re suddenly in the grip of an irresistible desire for rainbow cables

It’s not for you if:

• You don’t like charts (the pattern uses charts)
• You hate swatching (you need to swatch to check your needle size)