TL;DR: 1-2 sk bulky yarn, in the round, with cables, up to 24” head, instructions are BOTH written-out AND charted.

If you’re a fan of Idris Elba’s Luther, you probably noticed that his terrifying partner in crime, Alice, had a couple of sweet hats. I’ve reverse-engineered one of them for you, mostly because I make my own fun.

Alice’s hat is pretty simple: alternating narrow and wide cables, a ribbed brim, knit from the bottom up. It’s got a fairly standard star decrease on the crown. It should be an easy knit for anyone who already has knit, purl, simple decreases, and knitting in the round down cold and isn’t afraid to try cables. There’s one round where you’ll work a cable twist and a decrease at the same time, but that is literally the most complex thing in there.

There are two versions included! The first is the slouchy version, similar to what Alice wears on screen. It’s knit at a slightly finer gauge and isn’t quite as large; if you have a lot of hair to get around, you may want to size up your yarn and needles. The second version (“Free Hugs Version”) is a skullcap beanie. It’s not terribly deep (hits just above the ears on the largest skull we tried it on), so you can add an extra repeat of Rounds 1-8 to add more depth if you need it.

Both versions have a lot of stretch and can fit up to a 24” head. We passed them around my Stitch ‘n Bitch to confirm this. (We’re craniologically diverse, we are.) If you want the slouchy version, be prepared to block AGGRESSIVELY -- I put it over a dinner plate and used the steam function in my dishwasher for 20 minutes, then let it air dry overnight with the plate still in place, packed full of clean tea towels.

Huge thanks to MY partner in crime, Buddy Hall (and his big cranium), for test knitting three versions of this hat!