Advice on Stitch Counts

So I’m attempting my first project using stranding … Yikes! :teehee:

I’m planning on making an earflap hat for my husband and incorporating this charted pattern. My issue is that the charted pattern is 30 stitches wide, and the hat pattern calls for a total of 112 stitches around. Obviously, 30 does not divide evenly into 112. So, it seems that I would have to either cast on 120 stitches to have the pattern repeat 4 times around the hat or cast on only 90 stitches to have 3 pattern repeats.

Which would you all suggest? Or is there a much simpler solution that I’m totally missing (which is quite possible)??

My first instinct is to cast on 120 stitches since it is only 8 stitches more than the pattern calls for rather than casting on 22 stitches [I]less[/I] than called for. I still want to make sure that it’s going to fit though.

Any insights from you more experienced knitters would be much appreciated! :muah:

CO the 112 and put 7 sts plain between 3 chart repeats; one of them will have 8 sts but it won’t make that much of a difference.

Thanks for the advice! I’m sure the one extra stitch won’t be too noticeable. Now that that’s figured out, we’ll see how well the stranding goes! I may be back for more help before long … :rofl:

cool motive!

Do you knit Continental or English style?
If you answer “both” then check out the video at http://www.philosopherswool.com/Pages/Twohandedvideo.htm

If you knit Continental: I will do a video about how to catch the strands on the inside without dropping the yarn every time. But this weekend I will most likely not get to that video.
There are videos for all knits of knitting out there.

Just make sure you use a technique that does catch the strands on the inside at the latest after 2 stitches. Otherways the inside of the hat will not be practical or pretty on the inside.

Thanks for the advice Hyperactive!

I’ve been following your progress on your Spongebob sweater in the “Watcha Knitting” section … your colorwork looks great, so it sure sounds like you know what you’re talking about on this topic! I’ll be sure to keep that in mind as I begin. Since this is my first time using this method I’ll definitely be checking out lots of videos and such before starting :thumbsup:

ETA: and to answer your question, I knit using the English method.