Pattern Review: Cairde Hat

My most recent project for my weekly charity knitting was the Cairde Hat, by Meiju Kallio. I set out expecting this pattern to be a fairly standard, cabled hat pattern that would use up some aran weight yarn I had leftover from another project. Boy, was I wrong!

The Cairde Hat is a richly cabled watch cap with a deep, ribbed brim. Interestingly, it is not symmetrical, with a lattice weave cable taking up about two thirds of the hat, and two side-by-side twists taking up the rest. What makes the cables interesting and unexpected, though, is their construction. The lattice weave is made using two-part cables. For the right twists, you slip five stitches (three knits and then two purls) onto a double ended cable needle held in back, knit the next three stitches off the left needle, move the two purls from the cable needle to the left needle and purl them, and then knit the remaining three stitches from the cable needle. 

For the left twists, you slip three knits to a cable needle and hold them in front, slip two purl stitches to a different cable needle and hold them in back, knit the next three stitches from the left needle, purl the two stitches from the back cable needle, and then knit the three stitches from the front cable needle. I've never encountered this kind of cable work before! It's and interesting and engaging technique, if a bit finicky to do.

The pattern was well written, and good explanations are provided for all the cables used in the pattern. The overall cable pattern for the upper part of the hat includes both row-by-row written instructions and a chart. The decrease rows are not charted, but the written instructions are clear. My only criticisms are that 

1. No photo is included of the top of the hat to show how the decreases look or of the hat laid flat, with the brim unfolded, and 
2. I found it counterintuitive that the chart for the cables was put before the instructions for the hat.  I would have put that page after the page with the instructions for the rest of the hat. 

Those are pretty minor concerns, so overall, I'm very happy with the pattern. The hat itself was fun to do, even if it did require some concentration, and the decrease rounds were a bit tiring for my hands. I love the look of the deep brim, and that's something I plan to emulate in other hats in the future. 

Since the hat is made in fairly thick yarn and the top is heavily cabled, it is a pretty thick and heavy hat, suitable for very cold weather.

This post has been linked to Busy Monday, Happiness is Homemade, Senior Sunday, WITS, Wonderful Wednesday, The Stitchin' Mommy, and Thursday Favorite Things.