Melt the ICE Hat
January 28, 2026
Project recap
- Ravelry: PurringYarn’s Melt the ICE Hat
- Time spent: 11 hours
- Yarn: MacAusland’s Woollen Mills 2-ply fine (Fawn)
- Needle: US 8/5.0mm, US 6/4.0mm
- Duration: -2d
- Pattern: Melt the ICE Hat by YarnCultMN
Knitting for a cause
This is a good cause to knit and show some support given the recent events happened in Minnesota. The pattern is designed by a LYS in Minneapolis and the proceeds of this pattern will aid those who impacted by ICE.
Modifications
Cast on
Use Alternating Cable Cast On for 1x1 rib. I usually do Italian tubular cast on for ribbing but I wanted to try something new this time. I referred this YouTube video Alternating Cable Cast On for Perfect Ribbing, but used a crochet hook when setting it up.
Hem and body
Knit 1x1 rib for 4" with US 6 and change to US 8 to knit plain stockinette for 2" before starting decrease.
Decrease
- Divide the stitches into half with markers
- Row 1: At BOR, k1, ssk, knit to 3 sts before the marker, k2tog, k1. Repeat. (4 sts decreased)
- Row 2: Knit, but use better ssk method: when it comes to the previous SSK stitch (aka the 2nd st after the marker), ktbl
- Repeat 1 and 2 until there are 52 sts left. Then repeat row 1 only until there are 8 sts left (I have to the latter because I don’t have enough yarn; otherwise I could have just continue the 2-row repeat to the end). Comparing to the original pattern, this 2-row repeat makes a pointy hat.
- Continue with the pattern. I used this YouTube tutorial to add the braid tassel.
The journey of winning the yarn chicken
The first attempt
The pattern is easy enough but I ran out of yarn in the first attempt. Yes I lose the yarn chicken :( When nearing the top I noticed I won’t be able to finish it during half way of the decrease, even though I already did some mods like decrease 6 sts per round, I just don’t have enough yarn. And because I was using stash from MacAusland Mills, there’s no way for me to buy it again (let’s talk about the shipping cost in Canada…)
Win the yarn chicken
So I have to start over (almost) and unravel to the point of folded hem. Here is what I did to win the yarn chicken as I’m really short on yarn:
- Use US 8 instead of US 6 for the body. This is mainly for a looser row gauge.
- Plain stockinette instead of 1x1 rib after folded hem, as ribbing eats up yarn faster than stockinette.
Project timeline
- – Cast on.
- – Lost the yarn chicken and unravel. Finished the hat in the 2nd attempt. I won this time!
- - Block and add tassel.
New techniques learned
- Alternating Cable Cast On. I like this cast on method! It looks neat and stretchy. I won’t say it’s way easier than Italian CO though, I think the amount of work is almost the same, but I do find counting the CO sts are defeinitely easier!
