My in-laws’ neighbor recently gifted me her entire yarn stash. To thank her for the generous gift, I decided to knit her a hat with some of the yarn she gave me.

This particular yarn had no label, but it’s a worsted weight acrylic, probably circa 1990s Caron.

She lives in a cold climate, and acrylic isn’t particularly warm, so I added fleece around the headband for extra coziness.

I knit the cable headband in a US 7 needle but switched to a US 9 for the rest of the hat. I found that a US 7 on top was WAY too tight and dense for this particular yarn, which borders on an aran weight.

There are 38 cable repeats here. I used the 3 needle bind-off - I wasn’t too concerned about the seam, since the lining was going to have a seam anyway. Before picking up the stitches for the rest of the hat, I added the buttons and then hand-sewed in the lining. I figured it would be easier to add the lining if I added it earlier in the process.

I knit 6 inches before starting the decreases. The hat fits perfectly without any slouch.

All in all, I am very pleased with the way it turned out! I think I’ll make another headband with just the cable pattern. Love it!