I made two variations of the hat pattern. The first (the cuffed hat) has a delicate braid and keeps the “rough” back of the cable away from baby’s face. It does require more yarn & more knitting time, as you are essentially knitting an extra 1 ½ inches or more of stockinette stitch for the cuff.

The second variation I call “Scalloped”—it has a wider braid (16 stitches instead of 12) which serves as the band for the hat. With a single purl stitch on the edge of the braid, the edge looks more defined. As long as you use a soft baby yarn, there shouldn’t be any issues with discomfort. I used Dale Baby Ull in pale pink & lavendar and size 1 needles. Baby Ull is a fine gauge fingering weight wool. Other baby weight yarns are fine, too.

My Gauge—22 stitches per 2 inches (5.2 cm). Row gauge doesn’t matter, since the majority of the pattern is given in lengths. If your yarn or needles create a different gauge, I give instructions to make adjustments when you pick up the stitches from the cable.

Note: The current free pattern has been edited for errors. If you downloaded your pattern prior to October 12, make a note of the Errata.

Errata: Scalloped Edge Hat should begin with

cast on 11. Row 1—wrong side row—k2, p8, k1.

Row 2—right side row—p1, increase in each of the next 8 stitches (or make 1, k1 8 times), p2.