Well, I was going great guns with the sweater…

...when I discovered two problems.  The first was a matter of stitch count but it was weird.  I did have exactly the right number of stitches for that point in the increases - but the arrangement was off.  Somewhere I had goofed when placing the markers (or implementing the increases) and the result was somewhat lop-sided.  Chalk it up entirely to operator error :) It took me some of Saturday night and most of Sunday morning to figure out how I had managed to foul up basic counting so badly, but I did, eventually, realize what mistake I had made and can watch out for it next time.

The other issue is a little more grave.  The pattern (Licorice Whip) calls for a size 8 US (5mm) needle to get a gauge of 3.5 stitches/inch!  You’d think I’d have noticed that, wouldn’t you?  And did I swatch beforehand?  Erm....

Anyway, it occurred to me to check the gauge Sunday morning and lo and behold, 4 sts/inch.  Well, I guess I wasn’t as annoyed as I might have been because by then I already knew something was seriously wrong and it was all going to have to come out anyway but man!  I’m going to have to go up seriously in needle size and hope I don’t wind up with lace after all!  And for those of you following along in the Robbyn starts and dumps yet another sweater game, this one is still in the running :)

To give the sweater a rest and to give myself something to do so I wouldn’t feel like a perfect idiot (don’t be silly girl, nobody’s perfect!), I started a hat and, if I do say so myself, it came out pretty well :)

I did use a size 10 needle for this one as the yarn was chunky weight.  Start off by casting on 64 stitches and working in 4x4 rib for 8” (I wanted a generous fold-over allowance).  Then work 5 rounds of stockinette and at the end of the last round, place a marker one stitch before the end of the round, K2 and place another marker.  Begin decreases now like this:

Round 1: (beginning immediately after second marker) K2tog, knit until two stitches before second marker, SSK, slip marker, K2, slip marker.

Round 2:  Knit

Repeat this pair of rounds just until the hat is about level with the crown of your head.  This doesn’t have to be pinpoint accurate - you’ve got a lot of leeway because of the generous brim - just somewhere in the ball park. 

When the body of the hat is as long as you want it, commence decreasing on every round.  This line of decreases will be the back of the hat. When you’re down to 6 stitches, cut yarn (give yourself about 12” of length) and thread through a tapestry needle.  Run the needle through the remaining stitches and pull tightly to close.

If you prefer to leave the hat plain, weave in the ends and you’re done.  If you want a pom-pom or a tassel or a decoration of some sort, make it now and use your yarn tail to attach it to the tip of the hat.  I wanted something to keep the point of the hat from sticking up and making me look like a demented elf, so I added a short, fat tassel to it which both keeps the point hanging down where I want it and also looks pretty cute (IMHO - hehe...) Then weave it in (the yarn tail, that is, not the tip of the hat!).

This made a very comfortable hat for my head but my head is larger than average.  However, downsizing shouldn’t be a problem and there are many ways you could handle that:

* Use lighter weight yarn and smaller needles, i.e., Bulky yarn and size 9 US (5.5mm) needles, worsted weight yarn and size 8 US (5mm) needles, etc.

*Vary the stitch count - the only consideration here is the ribbing and you can basically do anything you want.  I did a 4x4 because I wanted the ribbing to lend some holding power, but not be constrictive.  However, 4x3 or 3x3 or whatever strikes your fancy is perfectly fine.  Hmmm, the thought just occurred to me - we use it for stripe patterns - how about a mirrored Fibonacci sequence for ribbing?  Heheh… Yes, I am a geek :)

It’s easier (for me anyway) if the stitch count is even (2, 4, 6, 8) but again, that’s entirely up to you :)

And that’s what I did with my weekend :) I hope yours was as much fun!

Note:  All the entries are in for the Dulaan Kick-off Contest and the winners will be announced tomorrow :) Go look in the Gallery (click the word, right underneath the contest button on the side-bar) to see what beautiful things people have made - wonderful, wonderful stuff!