Going through high school and adolescence is hard enough, but what if you had a strange medical condition that meant you could only consume blood? In the Jacob Maresbeth Chronicles, a young-adult trilogy just published by Brandy Schillace through Cooperative Trade, 16-year-old Jacob might wish that he had all the style and assurance of an Edward or a Lestat, but he’s no suave vampire. He’s just an awkward kid with an annoying little sister and a cooler full of O positive.

With the author’s permission, I’ve created a hat for Jacob, his teenage brethren, and really anyone who likes a tweedy, cabled cap. The cable runs up just one side of the hat, making the knitting simple and quick, and the sizing very adjustable. Each part of the hat reflects some aspect of Jacob’s character: the neutral color taps into his desire to blend in; the O-shaped cable at the center puns on Jacob’s preferred blood type; and the diminishing cable at the crown hints at the diminishing supplies that our boy hero encounters several times in this series.

MATERIALS

• Studio Donegal Soft Donegal (100% merino; 210 yds/190m per 100g skein); color: B5211; 1 skein I used 118 yds

• US #7/4.5mm, 16-inch circular needle, or size needed to obtain gauge

• US #7/4.5mm needles to work a small circumference (dpns, a second circular needle, or one long circular for magic loop)

• US #5/3.75mm, 16-inch circular needle, or two sizes smaller than needle used to obtain gauge

• Stitch marker, cable needle, yarn needle

SIZE INFORMATION

• Circumference: 16¼ (18¼, 20¼)“ / 41.5 (46.5, 51.5)cm—shown in 2nd size

• Length: 8½“ / 21.5cm

• Designed to fit with 3–4”/7.5–10cm negative ease