The Story of Knitting a Hat

One really lovely thing about instagram is how the pictures tell a story. This is the story of knitting a hat for my friend Grant.

I looked at a lot of patterns, and finally settled on Father Cables by Yarn on the House. I I cast on on Saturday, feeling very tense. There was a series of earthquakes in New Zealand, where I’m from, and I felt very far away. The quakes didn’t affect my family, and caused minimal loss of life, but it was midnight New Zealand when they struck, and 2 and 3 and 4 in the morning when I was worrying, so of course I didn’t know that.

A photo posted by Rachel (@amiguru.me) on Nov 13, 2016 at 7:26am PST

Knitting and hot chocolate helped a lot though. I’ve written before about how knitting is so helpful for my mental health. 

I knit the pattern mostly as written. The only mods I made were casting on fewer stitches, and working four repeats of the pattern instead of five. I had a busy week, but found chunks of time to knit, staying up late after French class. In two days, I was halfway done.

A photo posted by Rachel (@amiguru.me) on Nov 16, 2016 at 5:55am PST

I was not overjoyed with the progress! I felt the cables looked muddled, and maybe the yarn was wrong? But it was too late to rip back so I pressed on.

Progress report: I’m up to the decreases of Father Cables. My friend is coming to visit TONIGHT – can I finish and steam block it before he arrives? 14 rows to go! Pattern by @yarnonthehouse, some of my favourite cable hats at the link in profile.

A photo posted by Rachel (@amiguru.me) on Nov 18, 2016 at 5:41am PST

Suddenly, the cables came together, and the pattern started making sense! I finished the hat and steam blocked it by about 10pm Friday. Grant’s birthday wasn’t until Monday, but as I said to my fiance, Jesse, who was also visiting, “Grant doesn’t have a hat, does he?”

“I’m sure he has a hat. He lives in Glasgow, that’s even colder than London.”

I frowned. “I just have a feeling. I’ll steam block it anyway, so it’s done. If I wet block it it won’t be dry until Monday.”

A photo posted by Rachel (@amiguru.me) on Nov 19, 2016 at 5:50am PST

Grant was due to show at midnight, but didn’t come until 1am. Despite the chill, he was wearing a baseball cap, not a beanie. We said “hello” and “goodnight.”

I gave him his hat the next day: he’d forgotten to pack his beanie! Call it intuition, or call it “knowing Grant quite well.” He put it on at once. I was pleased with the fit, even though he pushed it back off his forehead, instead of snugging it down over his ears as I’d intended.

We went to Winter Wonderland, to ice skate and drink mulled wine, and we each wore hats I knitted. That’s why I’m smiling so much, even in the rain. Look at how wet our jackets are!

That’s the real story of knitting a hat. It’s not cables and yarn, it’s how it keeps a friend warm, even in the rain, even far from home.

Grant’s Beanie

• Pattern: Father Cables by Yarn on the House
• Modifications: knit four repeats of the pattern instead of five.
• Needles: 4mm (ribbing) and 4.5mm (rest of hat!)
• Yarn: Cascade 220
• Ravelry link