Valley Yarns Blake Knitting Pattern

Valley Yarns Blake Cashmere Hat

What is Being Made

The Valley Yarns Blake is a stylish, seamless knit hat designed by Petra Marcelle. This advanced beginner project creates a finished hat with a circumference of 20 inches and a height of 8 inches. The design showcases luxurious 100% cashmere yarn in a quick-to-knit format, making it an accessible project for knitters looking to work with premium materials.

Techniques Used

This hat employs several key knitting techniques that define its construction and visual appeal:

• Seamless Construction: The Blake hat is worked in the round using circular needles and double-pointed needles, eliminating the need for seaming. This technique creates a continuous fabric without interruption.
• Cable Work: The hat features cable stitches that form an attractive border, demonstrating intermediate cable techniques including Cable 6 Back (C6B) and Cable 6 Front (C6F) stitches.
• Crown Shaping: The crown is shaped using strategic decreases (k2tog) worked every other round, gradually reducing stitches to close the top of the hat.
• Flat and Circular Knitting: The pattern combines flat knitting for the cable border with circular knitting for the main body and crown, showcasing versatility in needle work.

Stitches Used

The Blake hat incorporates a focused selection of fundamental and intermediate stitches:

• Stockinette Stitch (in the round): The primary stitch for the hat body, created by knitting every round. This produces the smooth, classic fabric that allows the cashmere yarn to shine.
• Cable Stitches: Cable 6 Back and Cable 6 Front stitches create textured interest in the border. These stitches involve slipping stitches to a cable needle, working additional stitches, then working the held stitches, creating the characteristic twisted cable effect.
• Knit and Purl: The border combines knit and purl stitches to frame the cable pattern, with reverse stockinette sections (purl stitches) highlighting the cable work.
• Decreases: Knit two together (k2tog) decreases are used throughout the crown shaping to gradually reduce stitches and form the hat's top.

Materials and Tools

The Blake hat requires minimal materials, reflecting its quick-knit nature:

• Yarn: 2 balls of Valley Yarns Monadnock Bulky in 100% cashmere (50g/71 yards per ball). The pattern specifies Color 1716 Silver, though the design is adaptable to other colorways.
• Needles: US 10 (6mm) 16-inch circular needle for the main body and a set of US 10 (6mm) double-pointed needles for the crown decreases when the circular needle becomes impractical.
• Gauge: 14 stitches and 24 rows equal 4 inches in stockinette stitch after blocking, ensuring proper fit and drape.
• Additional Materials: Stitch marker for tracking round beginnings, yarn needle for weaving in ends, and an optional pompom for embellishment.

Difficulty Level

Rated as advanced beginner, the Blake hat is suitable for knitters who have mastered basic techniques and are ready to tackle cable work and seamless construction. The pattern requires understanding of circular knitting, cable stitches, and crown shaping, making it an ideal intermediate project that builds skills while delivering a luxurious finished garment.