FO: Cable & Eyelet Hat

[auburnchick]

Beautiful hat!! I love those cables!! GREAT job!

[kittykins]

Hi kmaclean!
I have fallen head over heels for this hat! Just love the pattern and you did a beautiful job of knitting it. Here's my question: In all the years I've been knitting I've yet to try circular needles or dpn's. For the life of me, I don't know what's been holding me back. (What's the worst thing that could happen....maybe do a bunch of frogging? Good grief I've certainly done plenty of that in the past.) Well that's about to change after the holiday season is over. No more procrastinating! I don't think I'd have any problem with this pattern itself,(cables. etc). If I did, I know I could come here for help. I'm just wondering if I should maybe start with something like a simple beanie to sort of get used to knitting in the round first?... Feedback from you and anyone else would be deeply appreciated! Thanks! Jeanie

[kmaclean]

Hi kittykins!

This really is a very pretty hat ... and the pattern itself is not difficult, I haven't done many intricate patterns before and even I had this pattern memorized after one or two repeats.

As for knitting in the round ... It really isn't as difficult as it seems. It sounds like you've had a fair bit of experience with knitting flat, so I would definitely give it a try. I much prefer knitting in the round to having to seam things at the end! It's probably not necessary, but you could always do a small "test" project (such as the simple beanie you suggested) to practice the technique first. That way you could try out a couple of different methods of circular knitting to see which is most comfortable for you - for example, I favour the Magic Loop method for most of my circular knitting (less needles in the way and I only have DPNs in very small sizes) but I know there are lots of people here who hate Magic Loop and would much rather use DPNs.

[kittykins]

Thanks for the advise! One of my (many) flaws is that I tend to "over think" when it comes to anything I haven't tried before. Making something much more complex than it is.Then when I finally do it, I could kick myself and wonder what the heck was the big fuss about. I'll probably end up being one of those knitters that totally gives up straight needles! Seaming is not one of my favorite things to do, so learning this is going to make me a much happier knitter.

[kmaclean]

Definitely! I mean, it's only knitting ... right? Worst case scenario, you end up having to rip it out and try again!

[Ronda]

Great hat! You did a great job.