Knot Knecessarily Known Knitting

I took a little time over the weekend to swatch. I used size 10.5 (i.e. 6.5 mm) needles. I used two strands of yarn together at the same time. At first, I tried 1x1 ribbing over 20 stitches with a 3x3 Lily Chin ribble in the center. Not bad, but the knit stitches of the ribbing just don't do anything for me. I like cables set against a wavy reverse stockinette stitch background. The problem for me with the ribble technique is that you can't get the purl background. Changing to purl 1, knit 1 for the background doesn't make the purls jump forward and the knits recede backward. You can see on the swatch that I tried it, just to be quite certain. (And as I write this, I'm suddenly wondering if doing the background in garter stitch would have worked.) I do, however, like the thickness and double-sided quality of the ribbles. Especially in this fuzzy yarn, cables need to be big and burly to show. Stitch definition in this fuzzy alpaca? -- see Myopia or Astigmatism. The Lucy ...

I just came off working 8 of 9 days in a row. Tuesday was a 14-hour day. Not fun. So, time to get back to fun and back to the knitting. For the Cuddly Hubby Hat, start the bottom band with a small tubular cast on. Cast on 72 sts provisionally. At this point, the pattern multiple = 12 sts. Join in a circle, being sure not to twist. Knit all sts for 3 rounds (or longer if you like a deeper tube). Place sts from provisional edge on a spare circ. Fold so the knit side faces outward. Line up wales. Working across in pattern: *ptog from both needles 2x, ktog from both needles 4x, ptog from both needles 2x, (k1 from front needle, p1 from back needle)4x, repeat from * 6x. 96 sts total. The pattern multiple now equals 16 sts and there are 6 pattern repeats in a round. This may be the point where you wonder what was that all about? You'll recall the pattern is a rib and a cable. The first eight sts are the rib -- 2p 4k 2p. They are not worked reversibly. Thus, you simple purled or knit a sti...