"I see," said the I-cord, "I see."

Once the cabled scarf was done, I wanted to make a hat. A proper hat, not a rectangle sewn together. I wanted to make a hat to match the cabled scarf, but since I hadn't made a hat properly before, it seemed crazy to start something that had cables to deal with, so I took it easy. I hadn't reduced before, so imagine trying reduce with vertical cables! No thanks.

This hat was made in stockinette using E's size 8, 16" circulars and pink Blue Sky cotton yarn. I wanted to give up as it is SO HARD to make that first row off the tight cast on, but after that first row, it was fine. I told E I wanted to add the letter "I" for my friend's baby Isabella, and she told me to follow the stitch with the other colour. Since we live in different cities, I had no example and made it up and did it wrong. It looks okay. Not great, but okay.

I didn't know how to finish, so E told me how to make an I-cord and it was at this time I realised the more I knit, the more her over-the-phone explanations were starting to make sense. It becomes easier to visualise what someone is talking about the more familiar you are with how things are supposed to look and various techniques.

So I made the I-cord and added a pom pom which I had remembered how to do from grade 2 (second grade, 7 years old). This hat was also great as I did my first ever stitch reductions! It was also the beginning of buying more and more tools as I had to go out and buy double pointed needles to finish.

Baby hat made with Blue Sky cotton yarn.