Hi all! I'm relatively new to the knitting world, I think this is my first post in this subforum. 
I'm having a great time, so far I've done a bunch of scarves in various patterns and yarn types, and some cool hats, and I have some half-finished socks on the go too.
Anyway, I've got a huge pile of very natural wool -- I bought it directly from either the lady who owned the sheep or she knew the sheep-owner, or something. Might even have been from the MDC trading post... I bought it years ago and haven't touched it yet.
I don't know for sure if it's hand-spun, it looks very regular and even. It's also very slender... I don't know it's precise weight compared to the 'standards', but I tried knitting up a sample with size 6 needles and it seemed kind of gappy... I think size 5 would be the best size... didn't check the number of the gauge when I stitched it, since I was trying a fairly complex cable pattern. Anyway, just looking at my stash, it's probably comparable to a "3" weight... not chunky at ALL... I'm guessing probably a 20-24 stitch per 4" gauge.
So I'm trying to figure out what to do with it. The obvious thing is some kind of Irish cabling... I'm not feeling up to doing a whole sweater yet. I contemplated a cable scarf... but I think I want a HAT.
The problem is, all the hat patterns I can find are for chunky weight yarns. This affects the overall look of the cables too, not just the finished size... and a fitted hat with cables is too complex for me to just add more stitches to make it fit, anyway.
Anyone know of a nice, simple kind of cable knit hat, designed for lightweight yarn?
I have found this one: http://d-made.com/knitting/patterns/Winter_Femme.pdf
But my head is a bit bigger than 22" and I don't like snug hats... and ideally I'd like a nice thick brim too.
I like this one: http://www.headhuggers.org/patterns/kpatt04.htm and might make it with some other wool, that's just an example of how I like my brim.
I'm having a great time, so far I've done a bunch of scarves in various patterns and yarn types, and some cool hats, and I have some half-finished socks on the go too.Anyway, I've got a huge pile of very natural wool -- I bought it directly from either the lady who owned the sheep or she knew the sheep-owner, or something. Might even have been from the MDC trading post... I bought it years ago and haven't touched it yet.
I don't know for sure if it's hand-spun, it looks very regular and even. It's also very slender... I don't know it's precise weight compared to the 'standards', but I tried knitting up a sample with size 6 needles and it seemed kind of gappy... I think size 5 would be the best size... didn't check the number of the gauge when I stitched it, since I was trying a fairly complex cable pattern. Anyway, just looking at my stash, it's probably comparable to a "3" weight... not chunky at ALL... I'm guessing probably a 20-24 stitch per 4" gauge.
So I'm trying to figure out what to do with it. The obvious thing is some kind of Irish cabling... I'm not feeling up to doing a whole sweater yet. I contemplated a cable scarf... but I think I want a HAT.
The problem is, all the hat patterns I can find are for chunky weight yarns. This affects the overall look of the cables too, not just the finished size... and a fitted hat with cables is too complex for me to just add more stitches to make it fit, anyway.
Anyone know of a nice, simple kind of cable knit hat, designed for lightweight yarn?
I have found this one: http://d-made.com/knitting/patterns/Winter_Femme.pdf
But my head is a bit bigger than 22" and I don't like snug hats... and ideally I'd like a nice thick brim too.
I like this one: http://www.headhuggers.org/patterns/kpatt04.htm and might make it with some other wool, that's just an example of how I like my brim. 
