Decreasing at top of a hat -- K2tog or SSK?

[tatankagirl]

What is the best way to decrease at the top of a hat? Some patterns call for K2tog, some for SSK. Some say to knit a round between the decrease rounds. Also, how do I know how many more inches my decreasing section will add to the length of my hat? I'm looking for some guidance from all of you about what you find works best when you've made hats.

[salmonmac]

I tend to use k2tog for all the decreases but ssk would work as well. And I knit a round between decrease rounds. You can get an idea of the depth of the total decrease rounds by figuring out how many rounds you'll need plus alternate rounds knit even and checking with you row gauge.

[suzeeq]

You can use one or the other, just use it for all the dec - it's more a matter of personal preference than 'best'. Most hat patterns have the decs on every other round until you get to 3 or 4 sts between the dec, then every round. To see how much length you get, see what your round gauge is, and how many rounds it will take to get down to the k2tog round with no sts between them.

[dturner]

I had a similar question recently. Jan provided a great link. I printed it out. Here it is: http://www.earthguild.com/products/k...at/hatcalc.htm out.

[Jan in CA]

I also use K2tog for all basic hat decreases simply because it's the easiest, fastest and looks the neatest for me. The only time I've used another is if the pattern or design calls for it. Anything you use consistently would probably work though.

I always have a plain knit row until I'm down toward the end.