Decreasing ribbed knit cap help

How-to Questions
1

Hi.

I’m knitting a cap with 5×5 ribbed design (I realized too late that 125 is not in fact easily divisible…) on straight needles

I tried to decrease the cap as best I could but when I finished and sewed the back, there was “extra knitting” that left the tip of the hat a pointy empty space. I tried to decrease those stitches (say 6 rows) but when I closed it again, the pointy tip remained. If I added a pompom to the top it would solve the problem, but my mother-in-law isn’t a pompom person.

Has anyone come across this problem before? And would you have any tips you could share with me?

I suspect it has to do with the way I decreased. I’m open to redoing the decrease, but would then really love/need some help from a pro on how to decrease a 125 stitch 5x5 ribbed pattern.

Thanks so much!!!
Terribly Newby Knitter…

2

Knit a small, flat circle that will cover that area and sew it on? It could be the same colour as the hat to blend in.

3

Welcome to KH!
Often hats decrease to shape the crown by alternating a decrease row with a plain row. You might do this for the initial decreases but then switch to a faster decrease by decreasing every row. This will flatten the top of the hat.
I just finished this hat


which decreases rather neatly on either side of the knit columns. You might decrease first in the knits and then in the purl columns. If you do that you won’t have to adjust the stitch count but should you choose a different method of decreasing you can always adjust the stitch count on the first decrease row, then proceed with your decreases.

2 Likes