you can read the first 2 parts of the hat to head series here and here.
so. i promised tam talk this time, but instead i’m going to show you the mistake that i made and tell you how i might fix it. witness – i have finished the hat.
but – the height of my hat is actually a bit too long. why? well… my row gauge was actually 8 sts/in (2.5 cm), not 7.5. doh!
this hat, since i started knitting it, has become ben’s and he would like the hat a bit shorter. mind you, it does cover his ears here, but it seems a bit long, no?
so, it is due for some surgery. you can see the original decreases in hat to head – part 2 – here.
first, i ripped it back to row 16, 48 sts (8 sts per section) and start picking up the pace of the decrease there. i need to make the total hat .25 in. (.6 cm) less.
8 rows = 1 in. (2.5 cm), 2 rows = .25 in. (.6 cm)
so the new one should be 20 rows high rather than 22. this is not super precise, if i had made it 19 rows it would probably have still been okay, but we’ll be exact and go for 20.
row 17: k2, k2tog – 36 sts
row 18: k1, k2tog – 24 sts
row 19: k2tog – 12 sts
row 20: k2tog – 6 sts
the main difference between the first set of decreases and the revised set is that the revised set brings the top in faster and makes it a bit more bubbly on the top. if you want it to still be smoother, you’ll need to rip out more and keep more knit rows between the decrease rows. for instance, you could go back to row 12 – 60 sts (10 sts per section) and re-work as such:
Row 13: k3, k2tog – 48
Row 15: k2, k2tog – 36
Row 17: k1, k2tog – 24
Row 19: k2tog – 12
Row 20: k2tog – 6
it’s easy to fix if the hat is too long, now the question might be what if the hat is too short? this is a more difficult issue, especially if so much of your hat is decrease like mine is. personally, i would rip back the decreases and add more length, add earflaps, or find someone the hat does fit or someone who likes their hats short. that said, it can also be helpful to know that you can have more than one knit row between decrease rows. that will be something you’ll have to experiment with though, since i’ve already told you what i would do :)
p.s. here’s the pattern link on ravelry for this tutorial.