Shepherd's Cap by Stwist Wool & Nicola Faull

There's a guy I follow on Twitter, goes by the name of @StwistWool, he has a company that collects Irish fleece, hand-spins it and dyes it - fine out more about them HERE.

Anyhoooo, he put a shout out for testers, for both his wool and a pattern by Nicola Faull, who does some gorgeous patterns over on RAVELRY.  (You might need an account to sign in and view).  

Of course, I put my little hand in the air and gave it a gentle wave (bounced up and down shouting ME ME ME!)  Figuratively speaking of course - I really just replied to his Tweet.

A few days later I heard the gentle plopping sound of a skein of wool hitting my laminate flooring.  Excited squeaking followed as I eagerly ripped open the packaging to find the most gorgeous shade of wool in a dusky cloudy grey.   

I didn't get to take a photo of the wool before I started as I was just too impatient to get going.  

Neither did I get a photo of the ever patient Hubster as he wound the skein into a ball for me.

But here is my first photo, two needles, starting on the rib.

Now, clever bum me (not so, as you will find out) scan read the pattern, as I usually do, and worked out that the cabling on the front of the ribbing for the cap, would be inside out when the rim was turned over  (raises eyes with a small "tut").  So I added in an extra row and turned the pattern around when it came to the main body of the cap.

I am more than used to troubleshooting patterns, more than half the patterns I ever read have an error somewhere, and as I kinda think I am ok at knitting (and crochet) I usually just edit in my head as I go and it works out fine.   What I failed to see in this instance, was that the rim didn't turn up at all!  It is designed to just sit as it is, therefore, I now have a back to front cable on the front of the rim - exactly what I was trying to avoid.

Apologies to the designer, Nicola, for doubting your design, I really should learn to trust  ;)

And onto the four DPN's  (Double Pointed Needles).  Four because you have your work on three of them, and you knit with the forth.

Then when you bring in a cable needle too you have a complete prickly hedgehog of a project with pins sticking into everything.  

A few rows in and the cap started to all come together at the crown, finishing with a few stitched to bind off.

And then it was done.

It is a split brim design, with an inside out cabling at the front  ;)

But see, turn it up and it works fine!

Ok, so a quick wool review.   Gorgeous feel to it.  A lot of real wool makes me itch, this was divine, soft and yummy, and did I mention the gorgeous colour?

Only one nit-picking issue I found, and that was that a couple of times the wool very gently pulled away from itself, especially when being stretched on the cable parts - I like to keep my cables tight or I find I get a holey bit at one side - and I often found myself with a tiny bit of wool left which I had to undo to knot the main bit too.  I hate knots in my work and would normally add new yarn at the end of a row, but when working in rounds this isn't possible.

But that's it.  I would heartily recommend it and buy it myself too.  The hat is deliciously warm and cosy and the split rim makes a great gap for my pony-tail when out dog walking!

I know you wanted a photo of me modelling it, but bad luck  ;)