trouble making "an easy peasy hat"

[jla721]

hello all,
this is my first time on this forum and i am a relatively new knitter. i was knitting scarves up until now and have only just now ventured into the world of hats. i've been working on a hat for my nephew. it's more of an educational experience than anything. first of all, i think two heads could fit into this hat. i thought i had read the pattern correctly, but i guess not. so, that might be my first question. the pattern says, "measure the numbers of stiches per inch and multiply your head measurements in inches by that number". so, i got 4 stiches per inch, and my sister reported that my nephew's head was 22 inches. that would be 88, correct? that's how many stitches i make?
then i moved on to follow the rest of the directions: "knit in the round until hat is 6-7 inches long", "place a stitch marker every 8th stitch", "knit until 2 stitches before marker and k2tog", "continue all the way around for every row". i did fine with all of that, but here comes the second question: "when top of hat is too small to continue decreasing comfortably, you can pull small loops of the cable out in order to keep knitting". what does any of that mean? i'm knitting in the round on circular needles. things are getting difficult and it's gigantic! what did i do wrong? is it a big deal if i didn't use the yarn they suggested and used the needle size that fits the yarn i did use? sorry for the lengthiness of this and the multitude of questions. any helpful suggestions would be much appreciated.

[Jan in CA]

Please post a link to the pattern if possible when asking questions because it helps us help you.

You will probably have to frog (rip it) back and start over unfortunately. It can be a pattern breaker to use a different weight yarn and needles. For instance if the pattern calls for sport weight yarn and you use worsted it'll be a lot bigger. What weight (sport, DK, worsted, etc) and needles did the pattern call for and what did you use?

What they are suggesting as far as pulling the cable out is doing a modified magic loop method. I prefer to use two circular needles or double pointed needles myself.

[suzeeq]

Sounds like you did it right, but because hats stretch, especially with ribbing, you need to make it a couple inches less than the actual head measurement. So your CO should be 80. As for the right size needle, as long as you measured your sts/inch accurately, then multiply by the size, it works. The trick is making a large enough sample to see how many sts/inch you get. You might actually be getting 3½ or 3.75 per inch, which over 88 sts would actually make it 24 or 25" around.

[jla721]

thank you for getting back to me so quickly. i don't have my needles and yarn with me right now, but the pattern calls for: cadena (70% peruvian highland wool, 30% superfine aplaca; 110 yds/100g) and US 10 (6mm) 16"circular needles. i'll have to get back to you about what i actually used. but i do really appreciate your help and i will try to provide a pattern link.

[ArtLady1981]

Re: using yarn that was not a part of the pattern:

If the pattern used dk weight (aka sport weight) yarn...and you changed up to worsted weight yarn...but the same formula...it would make the hat gigantic.

It sound to me like you have a pretty good grip on your pattern!

I agree with Jan: I prefer to use two circular needles for the top part of the hat when the stitches are reduced to such a small number that they will no longer fit onto one circ!

Here is a good YOUTUBE video about using two circs:
PART 1:

YouTube Video

PART 2:

YouTube Video

If you can suffer through Cat's illustrations and her (to some people) irritating voice, you will learn a lot, and never forget how to use two circs in the round for tiny spaces!

[suzeeq]

I don't mind her voice, it's the cutesie way she describes things...

[Jan in CA]

I don't mind her voice, it's the cutesie way she describes things...

Absolutely. I don't listen to her anymore unless I have to for some reason.

I think it's good to explain something to someone completely rather than assume knowledge they may not have, but you don't need to baby talk them. We aren't 8.

[suzeeq]

Yeah, that was the tone, and maybe that's just her personality, but....