This sweet little hat was inspired by the movie based on the book Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. It’s the prefect marriage of substantial cables and and feminine lace – perfect for transitional weather. The top of this hat features unique decreases, resulting in a beautiful snowflake effect when viewed from the top. Even if you’re not a Harry Potter fan, this is a hat even the most discerning wearer will love!

Clarification notes on decreases: I get many PM’s about how to continue decreases as established, and, sadly, I’m not on Ravelry very often. If you have trouble continuing the decreases as established after they’re spelled out in the pattern, I hope the notes below will help. Additionally, feel free to PM me, but I’d highly encourage you to seek help at your friendly neighborhood LYS as many (many!) knitting problems are easier solved when both the knitter and helper can look at the piece.
So, first off: look at the decreases you’ve done so far. (Always a great first step. :) ) You should notice that they’re stacked neatly on top of each other, starting to form that nice snowflake shape as they draw nearer to each other. Secondly, if you look at the instructions for the decreases written in the pattern, you’ll notice that the number of stitches between each decrease reduces by one on each row. That number reduction is what makes the decreases stack so nicely, and is what I mean by “decrease as established”. If you keep working one less stitch between decreases, you’ll be working within the established pattern of one less stitch between decreases. Hope this helps!

If you take an upside-down picture like I did for the pattern, message me and I’ll feature it on my gallery!

Now available in English and Spanish! Many thanks to MJinBarcelona for volunteering to translate my pattern, and making it accessible to so many others!

Happy knitting!