Slouchy hat

[Kateh77]

Hi,
Im not sure if this has been posted before but.... How can I knit a slouchy hat on straight needles? Ive not been knitting long and havent got any circular needles. Ive tried knitting a hat and I do ok until I get to the shaping of the crown, it never seems to have the right amount of slouch and the cables look a bit messy as I couldnt find a pattern to follow so I ended up making my own up. Any ideas or help would be appreciated! Thanks

[salmonmac]

Try an advanced search on Ravelry (free to join) or at Pattern Central for a beret and see if you can find a pattern you like and one that has the right amount of slouch. If it's not written for straight needles, you can adapt it to straight needles by picking a point for the seam, somewhere between cable columns. Add in an extra st on each side of the break for seaming and when you read the directions, remember that you'll be knitting back and forth on the straights and not all on the outside of the beret as you would in the round. Knit sts will be purls on the back, purls will be knits.

[suzeeq]

Usually you can adapt any pattern for circs and knit it on straights. You probably need to add 2 sts for the seam, so any stitch pattern actually starts with the 2nd st and ends with one plain st left. The decreases would be worked just the same. With cable patterns all the crosses are done on the RS anyway. The WS would be done like ribbing - knit the sts that look like knits and purl the ones that look like purls.

[anlazy]

I've knit this hat on straight needles with an explanation from one of the forum members here. It has a simple cable to follow.

http://www.garnstudio.com/lang/us/pa...d=4281&lang=us

If you like it and want me to add word row by row instructions, I can do that.