A Hat for Hiking

I finished another hat this weekend to add to the gift basket!  This is the Irish Hiking Hat by Jo Blackhorse.  I thought the this pattern would look great in a nice sturdy tweed.  I found Harrisville Tweed at my LYS and chose this nice chocolate brown.  As it turns out Harrisville Designs is a local NH company, so I also was pretty pleased to be able to shop local, on Small Business Saturday even!

I think that this pattern was more of a guide than an actual pattern and it had several small mistakes.  I certainly have knit enough that I was able to navigate my way through though.

It was suggested to knit the body of the hat somewhere between 5.5-7".  I stopped just shy of 6".  It fits my 15 year old son pretty well, but it's a little short for my husband.  One more cable repeat would have been better for him.

I did like how the decreases happen from the rib section of the pattern and then move into the cable section.

My hat used exactly 100 yds. With many yarns you could get two hats from one skein of yarn, which makes it an economical knit too.

My skein did happen to be a bit underweight, so I won't be able to make a second hat from the skein.  I might be able to get a set of fingerless mitts though, as long as I keep the cuff short.  But for now?  Time to start a new hat!