"Sewing" questions! and how to decrease a hat?

[uvegotschmail]

first of all, what's the best way to sew(I think that's what you call it) the ends of new balls of yarn and the beginning strand into your project so that they are not noticeable?

Second, I'm looking at starting a couple of projects that would consist of knitting two seperate pieces and sewing them together, and how to do it/what is the neatest looking and best way to do something like that so it isn't noticeable.

Last, I want to make my own kind of hat, and I find a lot of patterns that I could follow, however I want to personalize the hat and make it exactly my size, but I can't seem to figure out what's the best way to go about decreasing a hat if I haven't cast on the same amount of stitches that the pattern says. I just don't want to decrease too much or too little, making it too short, or too pointy.

Thanks for the help!!

[The.Knitter]

first of all, what's the best way to sew(I think that's what you call it) the ends of new balls of yarn and the beginning strand into your project so that they are not noticeable?

*** this is called weaving in your ends, and there are instructions and videos for it on the top of the home page, point your cursor to videos and then to tips, you should find what you need to know there.

Second, I'm looking at starting a couple of projects that would consist of knitting two seperate pieces and sewing them together, and how to do it/what is the neatest looking and best way to do something like that so it isn't noticeable.

*** the best stitch for sewing pieces of knitted material together is probably the mattress stitch; again go to the videos and to advanced techniques and you should find what you need to know there.

Last, I want to make my own kind of hat, and I find a lot of patterns that I could follow, however I want to personalize the hat and make it exactly my size, but I can't seem to figure out what's the best way to go about decreasing a hat if I haven't cast on the same amount of stitches that the pattern says. I just don't want to decrease too much or too little, making it too short, or too pointy.

***as for designing a hat, I am sorry but I can't help you there, although I am sure one of the more knowlegable members will be able to help you.


Thanks for the help!!

Good luck and welcome to KH.

[MerigoldinWA]

Here is a site about making a custom made hat. The gal gives some advice about decreasing, but I might add.... You can do all kinds of things with the top of a hat, but it sounds like you just want a basic well fitting rounded top. Depending on the size of your yarn you may have a lot of stitches to get rid of or not so many. You can follow the formula given, but also you can try it on (run a waste yarn through the stitches and take them off the needles if you have to) and let that help you decide. If you try it on and it is seeming about long enough and you still have a lot of stitches to get rid of, start doing it every round, or whatever to get rid of them quickly if you think you need to. Let your intuition guide you.

[heidi jean]

I too am making a simple hat for my boyfriend, and wanted to decrease evenly to shape the crown. I found a website that has a formula page. You put in your gauge swatch, finished measurements, (size) and it calculates your decreases and number or rows!!!!! The website is http:/www.thedietdiary.com/knittingfiend/tools/knittingHat.html
It is a wonderful tool.
Heidi