Last Minute Watchcap by Sophy Lewis

Last Minute Watchcap

Knitting
February 2013
Bulky (7 wpi) ?
16 stitches and 24 rows = 4 inches
in Woven Cable - 1 pattern repeat = 1.25"
US 9 - 5.5 mm
120 - 140 yards (110 - 128 m)
fits Adult M (20") to Adult L (22") (stitch patterns used are very stretchy)
English
This pattern is available as a free Ravelry download

My husband is a golf fanatic. If he isn’t watching golf on tv, his smartphone or the Net, he’s reading about it or on the course. No weather deters him from his appointed rounds, although I must say that where we live, y’all, it’s the heat rather than cold that is most often a challenge (to the pretend “golfers” - the real golfers feel no pain - or rain- on a course). So when Hubby announced mid-week he’d be worshipping God one Sunday morning starting at 6am, when a very rare temperature of 29F with 15mph winds were forecast, I knew I had to make him a lovely, warm, wool watch cap.

The stitch pattern is very easy, but not so simple as to bore the knitter to tears.
Woven Cable pattern - 8 st repeat (worked in the round):
R1 - knit
R2 - knit
R3 - k2, C6B that is, slip 3 sts to dpn and hold in back of work, k3, then k the sts on the dpn
R4 - knit
R5 - p2, k1, p4, k1
R6 - knit
R7 - knit

Method
CO 80 sts.
Work K1b, P1 ribbing for 2”. The twist to the knit stitch gives the ribbing additional elasticity. If you do not want to fold over the ribbing, you may reduce this to 1” to 1.25”.
Increase 8 sts evenly around cap while working st st (88sts)
Work in st st one row.
Work woven cable (this first iteration of pattern, begin on R3).
Continue in woven cable until cap measures 7” from the beginning (six pattern repeats, plus the first three rows of the next repeat).
Decreases
First dec row: k2tog, k6. 11 sts dec; 77 sts remain
R2- p1, k1, p4, k1
R3 - k2tog, p4 k1 11 sts dec; 66 sts remain
R4 - k2tog, k4 11 sts dec; 55 sts remain
R5 - k2tog, k3 11 sts dec; 44 sts remain
R6 - k2tog, k2 11 sts dec; 33 sts remain
Switch to dpn if not already using them.
R8 - sl 2 sts to dpn & hold in back of work, k1; then k2tog fr dpn 22 sts remain
R9 - k2tog 11 sts remain

Cut the working yarn, leaving a length of 12”. Using this yarn and a darning needle, run this yarn through the remaining 11 sts. Pull the working yarn through to the wrong side of the cap and tighten it to close the hole at the top of the cap. Weave several inches of the yarn into the cap fabric to secure it and trim off the rest.