Bobble Thing

*** A free hat pattern by Savida ***



Materials
Yarn: I used 1 skein Zara in beige together with a partial hank of unknown-origin alpaca from my stash. The alpaca was a fingering/sport weight. As a single-yarn substitute, anything that knits up on a US 9 needle (like, say, Cashmerino Aran) should work. Or, do a chunkier/thinner yarn with less/more repeats of the cable pattern.
Needles: US #7 and #9 16" circulars.
Notions: 1 yard of 1/4" wide ribbon, tapestry needle.

Stitch Abbreviations
Make Bobble (MB):
K1, YO, K1, YO, K1 into next st, turn.
P5, turn.
K5, turn.
P2 tog, p1, p2 tog, turn.
Sl 1, k2 tog, psso.

Front Cross (FC):
sl 1 st to cable needle and hold to front. P1 from left needle, then k1 from cable needle.

Back Cross (BC):
sl 1 st to cable needle and hold to back. K1 from left needle, then p1 from cable needle.

Cable Pattern
Worked over 18 sts and 14 rounds. Cable Pattern repeats 5 times around the hat.
Round 1: K1, p1, k1, p9, k1, p1, k1, p3
Round 2: FC, FC, p7, BC, BC, p3
Round 3: p1, k1, p1, k1, p7, k1, p1, k1, p4
Round 4: p1, FC, FC, p5, BC, BC, p4
Round 5: p2, k1, p1, k1, p5, k1, p1, k1, p5
Round 6: p2, FC, FC, p3, BC, BC, p5
ROund 7: p3, k1, p1, k1, p1, MB, p1, k1, p1, k1, p6
ROund 8: p3, k1, p1, k1, p3, k1, p1, k1, p6
Round 9: p2, BC, BC, p3, FC, FC, p5
Round 10: p2, k1, p1, k1, p5, k1, p1, k1, p5
Round 11: p1, BC, BC, p5, FC, FC, p4
Round 12: p1, k1, p1, k1, p7, k1, p1, k1, p4
Round 13: BC, BC, p7, FC, FC, p3
Round 14: k1, p1, k1, p9, k1, p1, k1, p1, MB, p1
Repeat rounds 1-14 for pattern.

Hat
With US 7 needle, CO 75 sts.
Join into a round, being careful not to twist sts, and place marker.
Round 1: *K1, p1, k1, p2, repeat from * to end of round.
Repeat Round 1 five or six more times (or to your taste) for ribbed border. For the last round, switch to US 9 needle.
Eyelet Round: *K1, p1, k1, p1, YO, P1, repeat from * to end of round. You should now have 90 sts.

Work Round 1 of the cable pattern, then work rounds 1-14 twice (29 rounds total).
Work decreases for 6 rounds: Round 1: *K1, p1, k1, p2 tog, p5, p2 tog, k1, p1, k1, p3, repeat from * to end of round (80 sts).
Rounds 2,4,6: K the K sts and P the P sts.
Round 3: *K1, p1, k1, p2 tog, p3, p2 tog, k1, p1, k1, p3, repeat from * to end of round (70 sts).
Round 5: *K1, p1, k1, p2 tog, p1, p2 tog, k1, p1, k1, p3, repeat from * to end of round (60 sts).
BO all sts in pattern, leaving a long yarn tail.

Finishing
I have no idea how to explain this but I will do my best. I actually used the three-needle bind-off to close my hat into the same shape, but I can't even begin to explain that so I will describe it this way. If you've been knitting for a while you can probably figure out what I did from my terrible description. You could also use Kitchener stitch.

Choose one stitch of BO edge to be #1. (The stitch with the yarn tail hanging out of it would be a good choice.) Counting around, figure out which stitches are numbers 21 and 41. Thread yarn tail through the tapestry needle, and sew those three stitches together. You will be left with three loops of 20 stitches. Fold each one in half and seam together. The top of the hat ends up looking like a Y. Boy this was a bad explanation.

Anyway, when you're done closing the top of the hat, weave in all your loose ends. Then take the ribbon and thread it through the eyelet holes. There are an odd number of holes, so the two ends of the ribbon will be sticking out of the same hole when you're done. Tie the two ends into a bow, trim the ends, and you're done!