Knitting Today:Nine Dwindling Cables Hat...Done!

About a month ago I was sitting in the hallway at church with my knitting needles in hand waiting for my husband to be finished his work so we could go home.  A young sister asked me if I wouldn't like to knit her a hat.  Of course I would like to knit her a hat!!!  

SO...to make this project work, I suggested she go to the White River Yarns shop, look at all the beautiful hats that encircle the shop as samples, choose one, ask Karen if the one she wanted was within my capabilities, and, if so, get the yarn and pattern to me and I would make it.

Finally last week all the stars aligned and she got to the shop.  The stars REALLY aligned because our son, who lives just through the block from this young sister, was coming to our house that very night to stay over to be ready to help his father on a flooring project early in the morning. He was willing to bring the project  and she was able to get the pattern and yarn to son number three!  I love it when things go so right.

When I looked at the pattern (called Nine Dwindling Cables) I was not convinced that I could successfully complete the hat but decided that I would give it the old college try. 

That very night I began the band.  It was a bit tricky because on one row you knit through the back loop and on the next you purl through the back loop.  Well, looking at that like that, it does not seem like there would be any problem.  Who could not do those simple "through the back loops"?  Well, I could not keep track of which row I was on and which was supposed  to be through the back loop.

Since I hate to blame my ignorance or something like that for my inability to consistently knit, or purl, through the back loop, I will say that it was because I was coming down with a miserable cold.  This cold was so unpleasant that I did not knit.  I did not read.  I did not cook.  I did not even EAT!  For several days. (That last one is always a good thing....!)

Finally I picked up the needles again and went to town on the hat.  Here is is:

Nine Dwindling Cables Hat, completed.

This is the yarn that was used:

Kenzie Yarn from New Zealand

The pattern really was not hard to knit, though five-stitch crossovers meant you really did need a cable needle rather than knitting the cables without a cable needle....at least I needed a cable needle!  The cables were a bit different from cables I typically knit in that there was a five stitch knit lead in, or walk out (before or after the cable crossing in the row of the cross), which made them look a bit "off" to me at the beginning.

As the cables began to dwindle, they seemed a bit more "normal" to me.  The only glitch was that when I got to row 62, the prescribed number of stitches were not on the needle!  I do not know what happened, but it was not important enough to me to go back and see if there was a bit of pattern errata or if the error was mine. I am rather expecting the flaw was my own.

My flawed center...not as "sharp" as The Yarn Owl's version...

Having said that, the hat looks nice enough, though it probably would be better if I had blocked it strongly, but since I finished it last night and plan to deliver it today, there was not time enough for a good solid, though gentle, blocking.  If the project's conclusion does not work for the sister, I will take it back and work it some more.  Maybe I need more instruction on blocking wool projects...