Cantaloupe Hat

This is the last knitting project from our big trip – I cast on this hat on our last day, between Cleveland and home. The yarn is Plucky Knitter Rustic (100% wool) in the color “Princess Phone.” I only had a single skein. It was a gift that Plucky sent when the yarn for my Vodka Gimlet took longer to arrive than she expected. Great gift, huh? The pattern is Chelsea Market Hat. Once I got into it, I realized it wasn’t that different from the Squall Hat pattern I knit on the first day of the trip – both feature a single cable surrounded by a mostly garter stitch crown. So these hats serve as the knitting bookends of our trip.

I’m calling this the Cantaloupe Hat because I blocked it on a cantaloupe (wrapped in plastic wrap). The pattern said it would need to be blocked in order to attain slouch, and it did. The mostly garter stitch body is relieved by some ribbed spines which decrease like spokes on a wheel: And here’s a closeup of the big cable, which is a big different than the usual ones. This one is achieved with a 6x2 cross that steps across a column of stitches.

I’m not sure what this hat’s destiny is. It’s not really my color. I’m sure its owner will reveal her or himself to me, though. Handknits have a way of finding their way home.

I’m officially caught up with sharing my trip knitting with you. I took five projects along; I completed 3 and started 1 more:

1. Squall Hat – for Pam
2. Canyonlands Shawl – for my mom
3. Sebastian Gloves – for me
4. Cantaloupe Hat – for ??

I have begun the fifth project since arriving home, so that will be the next thing to share!