The next item I worked on is a long pompom hat, the Cabled Triangle Hat.
The main body of the hat is worked in the round and in a lace cable pattern. The bottom edge is worked in a 2(knit)x1(purl) ribbing pattern. The cables are worked in four panels. Two of the panels have minimal shaping and continue from the brim to the top with minimal change in width. The other two panels are decreased in a much greater rate, resulting in their merge before reaching the top. This technique in shaping results in a triangular shape. The decreases are worked in such an interval that the hat is elongated. At the top of the hat, a generous pompom is attached.
The yarn used is a dk weight blend of wool, baby alpaca and polyamide. It is quite lightweight, soft, fuzzy and features some elasticity, but not too much.
It took me a while to figure out how to work with this piece. I knew I wanted to use embroidery to highlight the cable pattern, such is done already on the Black Arrow Hat, but I was not sure which yarn and which embroidery stitches to choose.
Regarding the yarn, there were several shades in the leftover pile that would match the light beige-brown. The issue was, which I discovered after lot’s of trial and error, that most didn’t fit due to their thickness and texture. Smooth or thin yarns were getting completely lost in the fuzziness of the original yarn. Any stitch I would work with them, would be barely visible. That’s why in the end, I opted for a yarn that has enough color contrast, is also fuzzy, and is similar to the thickness of the original yarn (but still a bit thinner).
Then I experimented with stitches. Tried to highlight the curves of the cables with the stem stitch; was not visible enough. Tried highlighting other lines in the stitch pattern; also didn’t work. In the end, the only stitch that worked well was the fly stitch, worked in the center of opposing cables. This stitch offers more body and it’s width can be easily adjusted according to it’s placement on the knitted fabric. It is easy to work and results in a nice bud-like appearance.
I avoided embroidering around the ribbing section in order to preserve the ability of folding over the brim. If I had added embroidery stitches, one side would not look as nice and probably would be used as a facing side at all.
Lastly, I added a crochet edge at the bottom of the ribbing. A few rounds of single crochet and a final round of reverse single crochet provide some extra stability to the brim and a good hold that counterbalances the weight of the pompom in the back. There is now less of a danger of the hat falling off due to the back weight.
In the end, I am quite happy with the result. There were several frustrating moments when I was trying to figure out how to make the embroidery visible, but it seems keeping it simple and going for similar texture and high contrast worked well. 🙂
The elasticity of the fabric is retained and the hat can be worn in various ways; either with the brim folded or unfolded.
The Cabled Triangle Hat is now available for purchase in my e-shop. 🙂
