Help! My hats are stretching

NYMomette · 04-07-2009, 05:03 PM

I've been making chemo caps out of Chinchilla for some near and dear folk and they all stretch out of shape really quickly... any ideas on how to prevent this? Or a suggestion for another really soft yarn to use that will hold its shape better? I love the Chinchilla, but it needs to be dry cleaned (pricey) and I'm not even sure how that would work.
Thanks!

Jan in CA · 04-07-2009, 10:12 PM

Chinchilla? What kind of hat are you making? How many are you casting on? Does it have ribbing?

I always use a soft acrylic or acrylic blend for chemo caps. The last several I made I used Berroco Comfort. I usually use a ribbed edge although one of them had a garter edge.

You can see them here.

ETA: Oh I see... I looked up Chinchilla and see it's that fuzzy stuff. I prefer my stitches to show so I've never used it.

joyuna · 04-10-2009, 06:35 PM

I don't know what kind of pattern you're using for the caps, but ribbing will keep the hats elastic. 2x2 ribbing is the most elastic of them (for the reason why, check out this post at Techknitting: http://techknitting.blogspot.com/200...1-tale-of.html).

Consider knitting at a tighter gauge (either larger yarn or smaller needles) to make a firmer fabric, that will be less likely to stretch out on you. You could also knit the hats just a little bit smaller, to allow for stretching over time.