The Shilling Hat

I'm always trying to think of projects I can knit for other people as gifts. I love giving hand-made and knitted gifts, but I want to be sure they are items the receivers of the gifts will actually like and use. I've been noticing my father-in-law does wear stocking caps quite often so I thought, I am going to knit him a nice warm hat! Well, after all the Christmas festivities I found myself in Eugene, OR for a few days. I managed to leave Bend without my active knitting project so I needed to get some “emergency” knitting supplies, as my husband called it.

I headed over to The Knit Shop, in Eugene. I was sad to see they don’t carry my current favorite yarn, Cascade, so I settled for the Lamb’s Pride worsted instead. The pattern is free on Ravelry and it's called the Shilling, by Chris Terramane. I loved the look of the basket-weave type pattern and the cabling. I'm trying to conquer my fear of cabling so I'm attempting projects that have a bit a cables to get my feet wet. I’m so pleased with how this turned out! I was a bit worried when I started that it would be too small. I cast on 110 stitches for the size large as I always manage to knit tight. This thing was so dinky when I first started it looked like an elf hat! I kept questioning the size 4US needle for the ribbing as called for in the pattern. My husband kept asking me, “Are you sure that’s going to fit Dad?” Despite some initial doubts, I pressed on with the pattern recommended needles sizes and I’m glad I did. After blocking, it fits Hubs great (I figure he and FIL have about the same size head.) It’s a bit big for my head and looks kind of slouchy on me, but I think it’ll be perfect for FIL.

This was my 2nd cable project and I’m happy to say I’m no longer intimidated by cables. What was I ever scared of?? Jeeze! It’s a breeze to knit and most of it I did while watching Netflix with Hubs and only referring to the pattern every once in awhile. I love the look of the texturing and I hope FIL enjoys it.

BTW, it was 9deg F in Bend when I took this photos and my head felt nice and toasty warm! Way to go, Lamb’s Pride!