tulips

 I'm so jealous of Colin right now. Springtime in Holland means tulips and really graphic color!

Maybe I'll live vicariously through this nail polish, OPI Dutch Tulips!

Gezelligheid Hat

I knitted a hat ya'll!

See all those pretty little v shaped cables? 

However hipster I might look in this hat, I did not knit it for myself.

This hat is destined to be mailed to Holland for Colin.

I'm calling it the Gezelligheid Hat because I read somewhere that gezelligheid means cosy in dutch.

And I want this to make his head cosy in cold wintertime weather in the Hague.

 I'm just modeling it to show you how pretty it looks and how many weird faces I can manage.

Glare is what happens when you take pictures with overhead light and a camera flash at night indoors...

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Anyways, I knit this hat in two evenings of stop and go knitting after work this week.

It's an easy project, and I thought I would give you the pattern, in case you love my hat so much that you want to make your own.

If you've never knit cables before, this would be a great little intro pattern to work, since the cables are pretty small and easy to work with.

I found the original pattern on Ravelry. 

It was originally written by Smariek Knits. She calls it a Cap Karma Hat.

Her pattern stops the cable repeats at the bottom, so the top of the hat does not follow the V pattern and is all just knit.

Brooklyn Tweed has written a modification for the crown shaping so that the cables continue all the way to the top of the hat, through the decreases. It's a really clever modification actually.

My hat is a combination of the original cap karma with the Brooklyn Tweed modification added after 4 cable repeats.

Below I've copied the directions I followed, renamed for your convenience.

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Gezelligheid Hat

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You'll need:

-1 skein worsted weight yarn

I used Brae Tweed from Knit One Crochet Too in color 934 Slate

-one set of size 8 ( 5mm) double pointed needles

I used a fifth double point as a cable needle, 

but you could also use a traditional cable needle per your preference.

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CO 96 sts, join with out twisting

Knit 8 rounds of *k2 p2* ribbing

Round 1 - k across

Round 2 - k across

Round 3 - k across

Round 4 - *CB4, k4*

Round 5 - k across

Round 6 - k across

Round 7 - k across

Round 8 - *k4, CF4*

Repeat rounds 1-8 three more times, or until desired length.

Decreasing - 

Round 1 - k all sts

Round 2 - k all sts

Round 3 - *ssk, k6*

Round 4 - *(sl next st to CN and hold in back, k next 2 sts, k st from CN) k4*

Round 5 - k all sts

Round 6 - *k5, k2tog*

Round 7 - k all sts

Round 8 - *k3 (sl next 2 sts to CN and hold in front, k next st, k 2 sts from CN) k4*

Round 9 - *k1, k2tog, k3*

Round 10 - k all sts

Round 11 - k all sts

Round 12 - *(sl next st to CN and hold in back, k next st, k st from CN) k3*

Round 13 - *k2, ssk, k1*

Round 14 - k all sts

Round 15 - *k2tog, k2*

Round 16 - *k1 (sl next st to CN and hold in front, k next st, k st from CN)*

Round 17 - *k1, k2tog*

Round 18 - k all sts

Round 19 - * k2tog*

Break yarn and draw through remaining sts, weave in all ends.

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Abbreviations used above (and how I work them):

k = knit
p = purl
CO = cast on
CN = cable needle
ssk = slip, slip, knit. Slip 2 stitches from the left needle knit wise onto the right needle. Insert you left needle back into those 2 slipped stitches and knit them together as one knit stitch. 
sl = slip a stitch from the left needle to the right needle
k2tog = knit two stitches together as one stitch
CB4 = slip 2 stitches onto the CN and hold in back of work, then knit two stitches from the left needle, now purl 2 stitches from the CN
CF4 = slip 2 stitches onto the CN and hold in front of work, then knit 2 stitches from the left needle, now knit 2 stitches from the CN