Here are some thoughts about how to solve this problem:
For a perfect finish, check out my golf club covers –
done exactly like a hat top, using a garter bar to make nicely even decreases, here:
That’s part one, and then
YouTube will offer you part 2 – it’ll pop up in the suggested videos on the
right.
The other way to do the same job is to take it all off on waste knitting, then put the
stitches back on with the necessary spaced decreases, unravel the waste yarn, knit a
bit, take it off on waste yarn again, etc. Tedious but you can get that
same perfect shaping.
There are other ways to do
this, as well – none quite so perfect as the method I show in the golf club
covers –
1. I did a watch
cap in the Goldilocks Book that shapes beautifully at the top of the head
because I disguise the decreases in among some latched cables.
2. You can transfer
every fourth stitch to its neighbor, take the empty needles out of work, tighten
the tension some, knit a few rows, then transfer every second stitch to its
neighbor and take those needles out of work, tighten the tension as much as you
can, knit a few rows and sew the stitches off and gather up. This is
smoother but not as pretty. This is how I did the monkey hats in the KnitLeader course. They're still a little gathered, but not much.
3. You can make the whole
hat ribbing, which gathers better than stockinette stitch, especially if you
gather the knit stitches and then gather the purl stitches. Here's a ribbed hat that I think looks very professional: http://youtu.be/y0QFPYzDqhA
4. You can make your hat sideways and short-row the crown, as I did in this short-rowed baby hat, pictured in shades of light blue and green.
4. You can make your hat sideways and short-row the crown, as I did in this short-rowed baby hat, pictured in shades of light blue and green.
Recently, a lady asked in a FB MKing group for a beanie on the standard gauge, using a decrease method like HK beanies. I suggested converting a HK pattern. They didn't think they could do that. This might be a good project for you--and not using the garter bar, or the changing tensions styles. I'm frequently telling knitters that they can design their own items, like hats and fingerless gloves, by the simple math of a gauge swatch and desired measurements, but they don't seem to believe it and think there's something magical about commercial patterns. It is a pain to move the stitches over if you only have a 3 prong tool, but if that's the look they want, they'll do it (and they were looking for kid sizes). I like the sideways hats, but I haven't done an adult one on the standard gauge, just on the LK150.
ReplyDeleteThose videos and instructions are perfext. Thank you.
ReplyDelete