I had so much fun making the Smoked Orange Cardigan, and I had a bit of yarn leftover, so I decided to knit a hat. And then I had a little more yarn leftover and I STILL didn’t want to stop playing with the combination of stitches, so I made another.

And now you guys have either a hat or a sweater (or maybe even both) to knit! A hat is the perfect way to try out this motif if you don’t want to jump right in on the sweater. Maybe you just prefer smaller projects, or maybe you have one perfect skein of yarn on hand. Either way, you’ve got options!

I love the contrast between the delicate leaves and the thick, elegant cables in this motif. I also love how the negative space here adds such squish to the fabric. Since I’ve knit a sweater and two hats thus far, you won’t be surprised to know that I also think this is really fun to work - the detailed leaf, then the big easy cable, then another leaf and another cable.. Once you get into the rhythm of this pattern, it’s almost impossible to put down!

The design is written so you can either knit your hat with a flat brim (as shown in the natural gray), or you can modify the pattern to add the deep folded edge (as shown in orange). Either way, this motif is great on a hat. It is happy either to remain squishy or to open up beautifully if you like a more fitted cap. The flat brim option is designed so the design comes right out of the ribbing, and the folded hem is just a big, cozy 1x1 brim. Both options feature crown shaping centered above the larger cables.

Cable pattern instructions are both charted and written out, and notes are included to modify for size.

If you find this pattern in the future after this batch of the Midwinter Black and Blue is gone, a number of alternate yarns are noted above, and know that Estelle does get more of this yarn in stock from time to time when she can get her hands on the yearly clip!

Sizes

18(21)”/45.75(53.25)cm hat circumference
8(8.5)”/20.25(21.5)cm deep from cast-on edge to center of crown. Folded brim version is 10(10.5”/26.75cm deep, unfolded.

Hat will stretch to fit when worn.

Yardage needed

150(200)yds/137(183)m for flat brim version.
200(250)yds/183(229)m for folded brim version.

Easily available substitute yarns are suggested above and you can also check the test knits for other suggestions. For a hat, I really love a wool with a bit of memory.

If comparing the hat and sweater patterns, you may notice I’ve gone down a needle size for the hat, just to add that much more density and memory to the fabric!