SCORE!

First off, Cole wants to know where I got the pattern for the cable baby hat. Um, in my head. I just kind of made it up as I went along. But if you stick with me, I'll figure out what I did and jot it down at the end of this post, mmm kay?

***If you came to this post looking for Cole's Favorite Cable Hat pattern, it's there. Go down, down, down to the end of this post and you'll stumble across it. Enjoy!***

But first, I have got to show you my score!

See, my neighbor across the street, Erly, was a prolific Knitter. Born and bred in Norway, she was a fiber artist of the first caliber. She did it all--a "kung-fu" crafter if ever there was one. Though her crafts were definitely less craft and more art. She knit, and did she ever knit. She spun. She quilted beautifully. Heck, she probably had a loom over there, I don't know.

Erly passed away a little over a year ago after her second bout of cancer. I've told the story about how I learned to knit when she got sick the second time out of a sense of urgency. And how to this day I feel like she comes to me and fills my head with designs and patterns and ideas to the point that I have to tell her to go "bug another knitter" for awhile, I've got enough projects for now!

Her husband, Jack, has lived on High Street more or less forever, like my dad. His parents (Mary and Harold) bought the house he grew up in and lives with now, and like my dad, when they passed he inherited it. His house is a duplex and his folks lived in one side and he and Erly raised their three boys in the other side. I've know the boys (now quite grown men) my whole life. My mom and Erly were pregnant with Sister and Shake at the same time and had them a month apart. So when I say that they're like brothers, it's really true.

Anyway, after Erly passed, Jack got kind of mean. Not with me at all, but with his family. People grieve in different ways and to see him show one face to me and another to those he claims to love has been really hard. But I do know that when I learned to knit, I'd see Erly from time to time and she would always ask how the lessons were going and did I love it and was so pleased that I was loving it like she did. I think that it tickled Erly pink that I became a knitter, and I know it made Jack happy to see Erly happy.

Yesterday, I stopped and chatted with Jack on the way home from the bus stop and he mentioned his new car. (He bought a Mustang.) He joked that he didn't have time to drive it because he had to go to work to pay for it, and I said that I was getting into spinning and if he had any spinning wheels just gathering dust that he wanted to unload I'd be happy to help him out.

So today I'm on my home with Bobo and Jack is out loading his truck for work and I stopped by to admire the new wheels. He says he has something for me to borrow and comes out with this.

I have no idea how to use it, but you can bet I'm going to figure it out, and soon.

But first, that hat. I really should write these down and I make them so I know what to do if I want to make them again. It would save me having to figure it out, wouldn't it?

Cole's Favorite Cable Hat (Because Cole was the first to ask for the pattern! If you suck up to me, I might name a pattern after you too.)

For starters, I used a size 5 circ, 16", and with the Madrid yarn I got 4.5 sts to the inch.

Cast on 18 sts.

Row 1, 3, and 5: K3, p3, k6, p3, k3.

Row 2, 4, 6, and 8: K6, p6, k6.

Row 7: K3, p3, put 3 sts on cable needle and hold to back of work, k3, k3 from cable needle, p3, k3.

Repeat rows one through eight 14 times. Bind off and join cable band into a circle with a grafting stitch. (If you have the know how, you could use a provisional cast-on and kitchener the ends for a seamless band. Just an option.)

To make the top of the hat, pick up 56 stitches around one edge of the cable band. I used a solid for the braid and a variegated for the crown. Knit even for 8 rows, or until the hat measures 4 inches from the brim, whichever comes first.

Top decreases:

Row 1: K6, k2tog around.

Row 2: Knit around.

Row 3: K5, k2tog around.

Row 4: Knit around.

Continue decreasing in this manner until you have done a round of k2tog's and you have 7 stitches left on the needles. K2tog around with one left over so that you have 4 sts left on the needles. Slide the stitches onto one dpn and work i-cord for about 3 or 4 inches. Fasten off the end and tie the i-cord into a loose knot and tack it down with waste yarn. Secure your ends and all that.

Fits a newborn to 6 months. For larger sizes, I'd add more cable repeats as necessary, pick up added stitches for the crown, and make it deeper by adding more rows before starting the decreases.

I know, it's a bit of a slipshod pattern as it is, but it's how I operate. Seat of the pants, that's me.

I am going to go learn how to spin now. Have a nice day!