Star Hat Pattern

My copy of Nitsuto ni koishite shimada... arrived from yesasia.com today, sealed in cellophane and wrapped in bubble wrap and packed in a sturdy box. It is one of the most beautiful knitting books I have ever seen. Wow. The CIT KAL is going to be spectacular!

For Helen, the pattern. (H, do you still have that heart cable written out? I'm not sure where my copy is and I have it on a swatch somewhere but it would be lovely to see the pattern, please pretty please?)

As I posted earlier, I used Wool-Ease (worsted weight) in a soft medium blue to make the cable work subtle, and the hat is short because DD's teacher is fully adorned with piercings and I doubt he's fond of snagging. The cables would have better definition in a yarn with more body and either more or less depth of shade. My gauge is a bit loose and this is definitely a large size hat -- plenty big for me with all my hair.

I knit this swatch last night as quickly as I could so the tension's off and I didn't block. Apologies, but I've got a bunch of deadlines and couldn't spare the time to do it properly. I isolated one repeat, sort of, to show the mutant cables. It drove me nuts leaving that blank bit of stockinette in the middle, but then I never expected to repeat this -- it's just a hat for a teacher. It's US 5's and PH Wool.

There's a stitch that's messy to write out but easy to execute. I don't know whether there is an easy name for it, so let's call it C(F or B)dec2 for now. {If anyone knows the name, please post the reference in the comments! Thanks.} The goal is to decrease two of four stitches in a faux C4 cross. The first few CBdec2's lose the p2 ditch under what becomes the dominant rib in that arm of the star. I did these without a cable needle, but you could use one (or a yarn needle) if your yarn is slippery.

CBdec2: Without slipping any stitches, knit the third stitch from the end together with the 1st/end stitch in a k2tog, and catch the second, in between, stitch with the left needle when you slip off the 3-1 stitch. Knit the remaining two sts (#4 over #2) together and slip.

CFdec2: A little more fussy because it is two ssk's instead of the k2t's of the CBdec2. Stitch #1 (end stitch on the left needle) goes over #3, and #2 over #4. Slip 1 knitwise, drop next stitch (#2) and hold to the front (pinch if you need to), slip next stitch (#3) and knit those two stitches together. Pick up dropped stitch (#2) with left needle and ssk (#2 and #4).

Draft of Star Hat
{This pattern has not been tested yet -- these are just my notes I wrote yesterday while knitting.}
Yarn: At least 45 grams of Wool-Ease worsted weight, or more of something else.
Needle: 4.5 mm (US 7). I used two 32" Addi circs since they were on the top of the pile. Four US 5 dpns.
With the larger needles, cast on long-tail (or whatever you prefer) 100 sts. [100]
Knit 2, purl 2 ribbing for a minimum of 40 rounds. {The hat measured 6" x 6" relaxed and flat at this point.} [100]
(K2p2 x 3, k2, CBdec2, p2) x 5. [90]
Knit 1 round in pattern. (K2p2 x 3, C4B, p2) x 5. [90]
Knit 1 round in pattern. (K2p2 x 2, k2, CBdec2, p2) x 5. [80]
Knit 1 round in pattern. (K2p2 x 2, C4B, k2, p2) x 5. [80]
Knit 1 round in pattern. (K2p2, k2, CBdec2, C4F, p2) x 5. [70]
Knit 1 round in pattern. (K2p2, C4B, k4, p2) x 5. [70]
Knit 1 round in pattern. Tink 2, (CBdec2 x 2, k2, C4F) x 5. [50]
Knit 1 round (no purls left). (C4B, k6) x 5. [50]
Knit 1 round. Switch to smaller needles. [50]
(K2, CBdec2, C4F) x 5. Knit 1 round. [40]
(CFdec2, k4) x 5. Knit 1 round. [30]
(K2, CFdec2) x 5. [20]
(Ssk, k2) x 5. [10]
Ssk x 5. [5]
Run end through. [0]