Staghorn Cable Hat

This is pattern 1 of 2 based on a square in a sampler afghan book my grandma gave me when I was a tiny human

Warning: The crown of this hat is kind of poorly-defined because I didn’t write down how I did it as I went and do not actually remember precisely what I did. Sorry about that.

Yarn: Cascade Eco+ in Satine

Needles: Size 10 circular needles, plus cable needle

Stitches:

BC: place 2 sts on cable needle and place behind work. K2, then K2 off cable needle

FC: place 2 sts on cable needle and place in front of work. K2, then K2 off cable needle

SC: place 1 st on cable needle and place in front of work. K2, then K1 off cable needle.

Pattern:

CO 60 sts. Join and work in K2 P2 rib for 1-2 inches.

Row 1: SC, P1, K2, P2, K1, BC, FC, K1, P2, K2, P1, SC, P4, SC, P3, K2, P1, BC, FC, P1, K2, P3, SC, P4

Row 2: K3, P2, K1, P2, K10, P2, K1, P2, K3, P4, K3, P3, K2, P1, K8, P1, K2, P3, K3, P4

Row 3: K3, P2, K1, P1, BC, K4, FC, P1, K1, P2, K3, P4, K3, P3, K1, BC, K4, FC, K1, P3, K3, P4

Row 4: K3, P2, K1, P1, K12, P1, K1, P2, K3, P4, K3, P3, K14, P3, K3, P4

Row 5: SC, P2, BC, K8, FC, P2, SC, P4, SC, P2, BC, K8, FC, P2, SC, P4

Row 6 (and all subsequent even rows): K3, P2, K16, P2, K3, P4, K3, P2, K16, P2, K3, P4

Row 7: K3, P2, K4, BC, FC, K4, P2, K3, P4, K3, P2, K4, BC, FC, K4, P2, K3, P4

Row 9: SC, P2, K2, BC, K4, FC, K2, P2, SC, P4, SC, P2, K2, BC, K4, FC, K2, P2, SC, P4

Row 11: K3, P2, BC, K8, FC, P2, K3, P4, K3, P2, BC, K8, FC

Row 13: SC, P2, K4, BC, FC, K4, P2, SC, P4, SC, P2, K4, BC, FC, K4, P2, SC, P4

Row 15: K3, P2, K2, BC, K4, FC, K2, P2, K3, P4, K3, P2, K2, BC, K4, FC, K2, P2, K3, P4

Repeat rows 5-16 until hat has reached desired length (I did 4 repeats, for 5 total cables before crown decreases)

This is where things get hairy. What I did, approximately, is divide the hat in half - you’ll note that the hat consists of 2 repeats of the same approximate pattern. I put one on a stitch holder and knit back and forth on the other one (using the row 6 repeat for the wrong side by changing out all the knits for purls and vice versa) and k2tog a couple of times every wrong-side row in wherever it looked least likely to distort the pattern. I did this until I had about 4 stitches left, then bound off and did the same thing on the other half.

To close up the top, I used a three-needle bind-off, flipping the hat inside-out and then picking up stitches along the diagonals left by the row ends (and the bound-off stitches on the top) with one needle on each side.