Knits

After a wash and a gentle tugging into shape, the hat looks really nice. I’ll pop it in the post on Monday most likely. Would’ve been nice if I were to have managed to knit a second at to include, but once again a pattern is baffling me. Well, I think it is anyway.

Last year I had seen this Amelia Earhart knitted cap and thought it was cute. It seemed like something my sister might enjoy as well, but despite the claim at the top that it is actually an easy thing to knit, I stuck to even simpler things. I cast-on for this hat the other day with another of the yarns she picked out - Misti Alpaca which is supposed to be worsted weight - just what the pattern calls for. Except that once it is on the needles, it definitely doesn’t feel or behave like worsted weight. The ball band has no information about suggested needle size or gauge, just some washing instructions, dye lot, and yardage. I could’ve quite easily have gone down another two needle sizes for it to begin looking like a solid looking piece of material.

I considered double stranding, but then I would’ve run out of wool halfway through - as it was it would’ve been cutting it close. None of the other wools she chose are heavy enough. Crap. I do want to knit her things out of the stuff she chose, but she chose such lightweight wools (fingering weight) that I think it’s going to be tough to do anything remotely interesting and not run out of wool. Anyway, the point is I wanted to knit this pattern and she also liked it and asked me to knit it. I remembered some Rowan handknit cotton DK I had actually bought last year to use for a hat for her, but that never materialised. I dug out the cotton, cast-on and away I went. Only something isn’t right…

Row 1: (Wrong Side) *K2, P2* (9 times). (36 st)
Row 2: Inc 1 st (i.e., K1, then K1 into the back loop of the same st), *P2, K2* (8 times), P2, W&T (Wrap, slip the wrapped stitch, and Turn: (37 st; 1 on left needle, 36 on right needle)

After working the last P st, move the yarn between the needles to the back of the work; slip the next st on the left needle to the right needle; move the yarn between the needles to the front of the work; slip the wrapped stitch back to the left needle; turn).

Row 3: K2, *P2, K2* (8 times), P2. (37 st)
Rows 4-29: Repeat rows 2-3 for 13 times more.

[Row 4: (38 st; 2 on left needle, 36 on right needle)
Row 5: (38 st)]

Row 1 no problem. Row 2 - wrapping and turning is new to me, but the little explanation makes sense. What is troubling me is that first item - increase a stitch. I do as I think it is suggesting and K1, move that new stitch onto my right needle, K1 tbl and move that to the right needle and slip the old stitch off so now I have two stitches on my right needle and 35 on my left. I then start the P2K2 repeat (eight times) which eats up 32 stitches which means I have three stitches left on left needle. I P2 wrap and turn, but it seems like I’m actually missing stitch. So I start again.

Again, Row 1, no problem. Row 2 - I K1 to increase moving that new stitch onto the right needle and leave the old stitch on the left needle so I still have 36 stitches on the left needle. I then start the P2K2 pattern (32 stitches), followed by a P2. I have 35 stitches on the right needle and 2 on the left. I wrap and turn and this seems to work as the pattern and the wrap and turn technique suggest it should. However Row 3 seems to be a problem. After wrapping and turning, it means I have 35 stitches on my left needle which means I cannot do the Row 3 pattern completely (namely I cannot finish the row with a P2 as there is one too few stitches). Again, I am following the pattern literally and I wonder if this is a problem again.

Maybe what I should be doing on Row 2 is complete the last P2, bring the yarn forward, slip the next stitch from the left needle (leaving only one on the left needle), and then turn and continue the pattern for Row 3. This would provide enough stitches to complete the pattern. But why do the instructions for how to Wrap & Turn say to move the yarn forward, slip the stitch, move the yarn back, put the stitch back on the left needle AND THEN turn? Am I really not reading that right?

I’ll give it another go, but I think the cotton is too stiff. I have remembered the Rowan Wool Cotton that she chose and I started Shedir with, but didn’t like the look of so I will try knitting this pattern with that and see how I get on.

I did a search for others who have knit this pattern to see why I was having such trouble (I was reading the increase literally) and most seemed to be able to knit it up pretty quickly so maybe between the time I have tonight (which is a lot since I had a very late nap!) and tomorrow, I can perhaps finish a second hat to include on Monday. Or if it is near enough completion that I’d be able to complete it Monday evening, I think I could handle waiting a day! I must add that no one else who I found who knit it said anything about the instructions so once again it makes me think I am utterly retarded when it comes to reading knitting patterns. The only thing several people mentioned was that the fit was funny regardless of whether they met gauge or not.
Anyway, I would just like for once to pick up a pattern, read it, understand it, get out the wool and needles, cast-on, and have things work as it seemed they should when I read and understood the pattern in the first place. It’s really frustrating and kind of gets me down to have several false starts. Admittedly, this pattern has had two false starts completely related to yarn chose (this was before I figured out I was doing something wrong with the stitches) and two due to me reading the pattern literally. Let’s hope when I dig the Wool cotton out and rewind it into a ball and cast-on it all goes smoothly.

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