The huge variety of colors available in worsted weight yarn makes this a good go-to pattern for gifts or to accessorize any outfit you might have in mind.

The simple cable, small amount of provisional cast-on and special knit/purl grafting technique make it a good project for trying methods that may be new to the less-experienced knitter. Line-by-line instructions make the grafting a breeze.

There are two easy ways to purchase this pattern for $1.99.

1. I’m grateful to Knit Picks for adding the Braided Cable Hat to their Independent Designer Program. There are lots of good things to say about ordering from Knit Picks. I used their terrific Swish Worsted Yarn for the pattern. It’s knits nicely, offers good stitch definition that makes the cabled braid stand out, is made of 100% superwash merino for easy care, and comes in dozens of tempting colors. The yarn is affordable, too!

 Knit Picks makes it so easy to make this hat – you have the option of buying a kit, which means that in one simple press of the button you can buy the pattern download plus the yarn colors shown in my photos. They also make it easy to buy your own colors, or even substitute one of their other worsted weight yarns. It’s all listed right there on the pattern page.  Or you can buy the pattern download alone. I love the flexibility Knit Picks offers. Brilliant!

2. If you’re logged into Ravelry, you can purchase the pattern from my AudKnits Store.

 I want to thank Susan Claudino, of Ravelry NoKnitSherlock fame, for knitting the hat samples for me. She went way above the call of duty, knitting her little fingers off in time for the photo shoot.

I have a Japanese Maple that leafs out red in the spring. Doesn’t it look like fall?

I appreciate Knit Pick’s including me in their Independent Designers Program. You can read more about it and see other patterns here.

Many thanks to Susan Claudino for doing an awesome job knitting the sample for the Knit Picks Smock Top Sweater! She’s a talented knitter, and you can admire her work on her NoKnitSherlock Ravelry page.

For anybody who’d like a refresher on how to knit smocking, I’ll remind you I’ve posted a YouTube video that demonstrates the technique.

Then I put it down for about a year, as I allowed Life and other projects to divert my attention. Big mistake.

When I picked the project up again, it was as if I’d never laid eyes on it, let alone contributed countless hours to its existence already. I studied the diagrams. I looked at my previous work. Still, the squiggles on the charts meant nothing to me. I previously thought that after knitting about 16,000 of the same stitch, I would never have to look it up again. But no. And I kept forgetting the silliest things, like doing the “pass over” part of “psso”.

I discovered some nifty techniques along the way that I thought I’d share with you. Maybe you’ll find them handy too!

One thing that helped me get back on track was my own chart I had created (and even saved – yay!) right in the beginning. I used Stitch & Motif Maker to replicate the chart from the book. As you can see in the photo below, I put little numbers in the stitch squares before a long-ish series of knit stitches. I did this because I found that when I’m following a chart and run into a series of blank squares representing knit stitches, I get hung up having to think about how many stitches are coming up. I can glance at any chart and my brain immediately registers seeing one, two, or three stitches in a row. But any more than that and I have to mentally pause, especially when it gets to be six or seven. Which is it? Six? Seven? Four?  The little numbers I put in the squares tell me “knit four” or “knit seven” – whatever the case may be. One glance and I can chug along without pause.

Another thing that made it well worth the charting effort is that Stitch & Motif Maker puts the stitch numbers along the bottom of the chart. Unfortunately, the charts in Victorian Lace Today do not include the stitch numbers. To me, it makes it cumbersome to keep track of how many stitches I should have on the needles at any given point. Making my own charts allows me to quickly see the stitches I should have; considering how frequently I make mistakes, this is a very good thing!

By making my own chart I could also make it plenty big enough to see easily. I print it on cardstock paper so it doesn’t slide around in my lap. The post-its I use to mark my place stick better, too.

To keep track of which stitches are to receive double and triple joins, I put two different colors of  removeable stitch markers in the stitches. I used turquoise to indicate a double join, and orange to indicate a triple join.

I’m determined to get this shawl completed before my next birthday, which is right around the corner. (Honestly, without deadlines I’d atrophy altogether.) With luck, I’ll be wearing this to my birthday dinner!