I made this hat for my friend, Lydia who also knits and crochets.

Ekaterina (Katy) Filippova-Blanchard designs the cutest accessories for all ages - babies through adults. I’m always honored to test for her. This hat is unisex. The stitch is interesting and has a thermal quality that will keep you warm even with a DK weight yarn. It’s a fun and easy “weekend make!” I plan to knit more of these.

This pattern calls for sport weight yarn, but worked out just fine using this DK weight. In fact, I can see making this hat with a worsted weight yarn and larger needles as long as you can somehow keep the ribbing nice and tight. If you do the latter, you may have to eliminate one or more of the Body Chart rounds in order to wear this as a beanie. If you are knitting the largest size, it’s very important to have a gauge of AT LEAST 5 stitches per inch for the “swell stitch.” The cables tend to compress this stitch quite a bit, so heed this warning unless you prefer an very tight fitting beanie.

Gauge:

23 sts and 36 rounds = 4”/10 cm in Rib 2x2
20 sts and 28 rounds = 4”/10 cm in Swell Stitch

Needles used:

Size 2 US - Ribbing

Size 4 US - First 1.5 repeats of swell stitch body chart

Size 5 US - Next 1.5 repeats of swell stitch body chart

Size 6 US - Remainder of swell stitch body chart

I started panicking that this was not going to fit a large size head which is why I transitioned gradually to the larger needle size. Also, sometimes it’s better to transition gradually from a very small needle (as in the ribbing) to a larger needle. However, if I knit this again, I would probably just use the size 6 or even a larger needle for a slouchy, loose fitting hat instead of a beanie. The ribbing should remain a size 2 at my gauge for a snug fit in this area.

I did one less repeat of the Body Chart because I wanted a beanie fit for Lydia. Her head is smaller than mine, but I had to make this large enough to fit me in case I had to model for photos before the deadline on 10/16/24.

Lydia’s beanie on Instagram

Alternate Cable Cast On Video
Recommended in the pattern

Tubular Cast On in the Round (Jogless)
How I did it

Video Tutorial - How to do cables without a cable needle
It’s the same when doing it with a 4-stitch cable, only easier. Pinch the released stitches to keep them in tact during reordering the stitches.

Here’s another way of doing a 2 2 LC Cable Without a Cable Needle