this pattern is still in “beta” mode as I add more sizes. while the kinks are being worked out, I’ll offer it free. latest version: december 26, 11:53 a.m. pst.
***
my nephew Noah Booker was born in Salt Lake City, in January, where it is coooold. I wanted to make him some special hand knits so he would stand out from all the other Utah babes. and I had this sock yarn that would make a lovely hat. but would it be warm enough for a little baby’s ears? no. I needed something to bulk it up. that’s when I found the Manos in my stash and made something really cushy, cabley and a tiny bit impish.

while I was knitting the hat, I was going through a cupcake phase (I’m now caught up in honey shortbread, but that’s another story). after considerable taste-testing, I determined the cupcakes at Bakery Bar were the best in the city, and many a day, I could be found knitting and cupcake-ing there. I took a photo while finishing this hat and it ended up on the cover of my friend Larissa Brown’s book, Knitalong. I was thrilled to find my photo on the !cover of a book! but this brought up a small problem: I hadn’t written down the pattern I’d improvised, and the hat was several states away on a sweet little boy’s head.

so at long last I knit a new hat, photos of my process at hand, and wrote it down. the new hat is for my niece Angelica, who is sweetly cold-eared here in Portland in the middle of a snowstorm while I knit.