I know. I know it looks kind of tricky right? Like you’re going to have to do something slightly unsavory with a cable needle. Or maybe like you’re going to find yourself doing a lot of counting and murmuring under your breath. Maybe even a bit of swearing if it’s been a particularly challenging sort of day.

But I promise it’s not.

That delightful little faux cable is actually shockingly simple (if you’ve done basic decreases like an ssk or a k2tog, you’ve totally already got the skills you’ll need, and the stitch diagrams will walk you through it so you won’t ever feel lost). In fact, the whole fancy bit is only five stitches wide and two rows high. That’s it…one teeny tiny fancy bit that you’ll have memorized in no time. Then you just stack it up, and it looks kind of amazing.

It’s that most magical of things…auto pilot knitting that manages to look really impressive!

Oh and you absolutely do not have to tell anyone how easy it is. You can just let them go on and on about how tricky it looks while you stand there feeling smug. Feeling smug is one of life’s little pleasures, and you can totally indulge!

General information

This is a quickie (only 12 pages long and only one page of charts), but I promise it’s all you need. And of course that gorgeous little stitch is explained in detail, complete with illustrations of exactly how it goes together!

Skills & scope

This is a perfect example of how you can take a really simple framework (a ribbed hat), and add one tiny bit of fancy business (a spiffy little stitch) and end up with something kind of spectacular. If you can work in the round and do basic decreases, you can totally do this.

The pattern uses charts, so you will need to know how to follow a knitting chart.

Yarn, gauge & sizing

The hat comes in twelve sizes (from a 60 stitch cast on to a 115 stitch cast on) and is written for seven gauges (from three to six stitches per inch in half stitch increments).

That means you can use just about any weight of yarn from dk up through super bulky, and there will be a size to fit pretty much anyone’s head. Basically anything that will give you a fabric with a drape you like somewhere in that range of gauges will work.

The hat in the pictures took about 125 yards of super bulky-weight yarn. If you’re using thinner yarn, you’ll need more yarn! I’d recommend having 175 yards for bulky yarn, 225 yards for aran or worsted, and 275 yards for dk, just to be safe!

Tools & supplies

You’ll need needles that let you work in the round (circulars or DPNs) in whatever size lets you get a solid fabric with your chosen yarn plus the general knitting tools you need for most projects (scissors to cut your yarn, a darning needle to weave in ends, the occasional stitch marker).