new here and have hat question

I am making a hat for my son--very simple little pumpkin hat on double pointed needles for his Halloween costume. I made one for my younger son, but the directions I have are only for a small child. I cannot find one for an adult size head. My oldest son is 4 years old and has a rather large head (21"). I'm making the hat out of an orange bulky-weight yarn on 10 1/2 needles and getting a gauge of 4 stitches per inch. My question: Is there a rule-of-thumb for how big to make a hat based on the stretch factor? In other words, I don't think I would necessarily want to make his hat 21" but a bit smaller to allow for the stretch. If this is correct, is there a general rule-of-thumb for this or a percentage of stretch I should allow for? I realize that K2, P2 ribbing is much stretchier than stocking stitch. The hat I'm making is just a roll brim in stocking stitch, though. How does one go about factoring in the stretch when planning a pattern? I would love to make more of these hats and not feel tethered to a set of instructions every time. I hope I've worded this properly. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated!

thanks

karlisa

Reply to
karlisa
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You could do the percentage method. If the pattern is for an 17" head,

21" is about 1.24 larger. Or 1¼ to make it easier. So you'd cast on one fourth more stitches for the larger hat.

sue

Reply to
suzee

"karlisa" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@i3g2000cwc.googlegroups.com:

i would make it 21". you don't want a 'stretch factor' in a stockinette hat, because it will be too tight if you knit it less than head size. actually, if i was knitting a stockinette hat for a 4 year old, i might just add another half inch so he doesn't outgrow it in a couple months (unless he's only going to wear it once on Halloween). if you were knitting a ribbed hat, then you could knit it a half inch less than head size, but still, on a kid's hat, it's better to make it a tiny bit big than a tiny bit small. most people dislike tight hats & kids are a lot less polite about it than adults ;) and really a 21" head on a 4 year old doesn't seem out of the ordinary to me. i think my 6 year old's head is close to 22" now if i measure over his ears for a hat.

lee

Reply to
enigma

On 9 Oct 2006 06:13:18 -0700, "karlisa" spewed forth :

Desired circumference minus 10% is a good place to start but it's a number that will vary with the fiber, the knitting method, the stitch used. Caps made with less-elastic yarns will probably need to be knitted on 100% of stitches, caps with ribbing should be started on C-10% or have the ribbing knitted tightly on smaller needles than the main cap is made on. Stranded knitting is less elastic than one-color stockinette, different ribbing (1x1, 2x2, 3x2, etc etc) all vary in their elasticity. Some pattern stitches are very stretchy horizontally, others actually take up and have no elasticity at all.

Caps are good vehicles for learning how different fibers and stitches behave. They don't use much yarn, they're handy gauge swatches for larger projects, and they're portable.

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Reply to the list as I do not publish an email address to USENET. This practice has cut my spam by more than 95%. Of course, I did have to abandon a perfectly good email account...

Reply to
Wooly

Hi Karlisa,

I have a machine knit pattern for a roll brim hat that is made in worsted weight with a gauge of 4 stitches per inch and sized for a child age 3-6, child age 7-10, and adult. It's a stocking stitch pattern, because that's what this KM produces, and you cast on 70 stitches for the child 3-6, 78 stitches for the child 7-10, and 86 stitches for the adult size. That means the adult roll brim hat is about 21.5 inches around, just a little larger than you said your son's head is, while the child 7-10 should be only about 19.5 inches around, and the smallest child's only 17.5 inches.

Also, the knitting machine's basic book has instructions for their doubled earwarmer, and the child 3-6 calls for 58 sts, child 7-10 is

66 sts, and adult is 76 sts cast on.

So, the pattern seems to be add about 8 sts/2 inches for each size increase when working with worsted weight at a gauge of 4 sts per inch with no ribbing involved. If it were me, I'd probably go with the older child's (7-10) size and knit a good sized swatch in scrap yarn and try it out on his head for fit and comfort before committing to the entire project.

HTH!

Leah

Reply to
Leah

Thanks, Leah! It's always been difficult fitting my son for hats, especially when he was a little baby (head always measured in the 90th percentile) and getting his head through openings in shirts and sweaters that don't have button plackets is a challenge still. I'll experiment and see what the child 7-10 measurement produces. If it doesn't fit, I'll just add it to my growing charity hats collection. Fortunately, this hat knits up fairly quickly!

lisa

Reply to
karlisa

This is handy information for me. Thanks! Although I knew that fiber content could effect how stretchy the final fabric turned out, I didn't know that stranded knitting was less elastic. I do try to learn as much as possible so I can spend less time ripping out my work! I appreciate your help.

lisa

Reply to
karlisa

My son has always had a very large head and he never even got to wear the sweater I knit for him last winter because the blooming thing wouldn't fit over his head! So rather than rip out the jewel neckline (my first mistake choosing a pattern with a jewel neckline), I abandoned the project and it now sits in my sewing room waiting to be assembled. I'm going to assemble it and give it to my younger son instead.

Thanks for your input, Lee. I think I'll try to make the hat slightly smaller (maybe 1/2"), and go from there. Since the hat is screaming orange with a green stem and leaves, I don't think he'll wear it again after Halloween. :-) If it doesn't fit, I'll just put it with my charity caps to donate.

lisa

Reply to
karlisa

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