Hi,
We had discussed this poncho and hat pattern before. I would like to make the hat first, and I was wondering, if I decide to make the hat in the round, do I knit instead of purl, or should I do the purls then just turn my work inside out? It just seems more logical to me to make it in the round instead of seaming it. https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/cabled-poncho-and-beret
Hat/Poncho set
The sounds like a good idea for this hat.
When you knit in the round, every round will be a RS row. Work the RS rows as given in the pattern and for the WS rows, knit the purl sts and purl the knit sts. You’ll be able to see the pattern fairly easily once you’ve worked the first couple of rounds.
Thanks!
There are 7 rows of ribbing, so row 8 is a wrong side- is that correct?
Maybe. It looks like there will be 4-stitch and 8-stitch cables with maybe 2 purl stitches between cables. Look at the next row and see if there are more knits than purls indicating a RS row. If there are more purls than knits then likely a WS row. You can also check on which row the cables cross. That’s usually a RS row.
I am knitting along, and this is turning out beautiful- I am using the ice cream roving yarn from Lion Brand and the color is Shirley Temple! Anyway, I have cast off for the neck edge, and then it says to decrease 1 stitch at neck edge for next 8 rows- so decrease will happen where the cast off stitches are right? And what is the best way to do the decrease? Just knit two together?
Yes, the decreases all look like they occur at the neck edge, the same edge as the cast off.
A k2tog or a purl2tog will work. If you prefer the slant of ssk then a purl2tog through the back loop pairs well with ssk.
You could use mirrored decreases, k2tog on one side and ssk or skp on the other. Moving them in from the edge a stitch or two makes for a neater edge and makes picking up stitches or seaming better too.
So I am almost finished the poncho, but I was looking ahead and wondering about the seaming for the shoulder and neck- I had intended to just knit the neck rib in the round, but then it was talking about shoulder seaming, and frankly, this is not black and white for me and I am afraid I don’t get it… seaming isn’t my thing, but also, I was wondering if I could maybe pick up some stitches or something so I don’t have to seam it? Honestly, even though I don’t like to, I can seam it, but I just can’t picture how.
***Nevermind! I looked at the picture again and I figured it out- If I didn’t want to seam it I would have to do a 3 needle bind off - so forget that- I now understand how to seam it and I will- I can’t wait until it is finished, it is going to be so cute!
Nothing better than answering your own question. We’re looking forward to seeing this poncho when you finish.
I have to admit that I go out of my way to use 3-needle bind off. It just doesn’t work for you or you don’t like the resulting seam?
I don’t like to do it- I find it tedious and would just rather not. Now that I have figured it out though, I am really looking forward to finishing this project.
So I am near the bind off of the poncho, but the pattern says to change to 3.25 mm needles and k 3, k2 tog, k1, k2 tog, k2- but it doesn’t say if this is done on the right or wrong side. - does it matter in this instance? After I patterned to the same amount of rows, I am on the wrong side…
Take a look at the knit piece and see if the k2tog stitches will fall on the knit cable pattern. This may be on the RS but it’s difficult for me to count sts. K2tog is often used to bind off cables in order to prevent flare.
The other possibility is to put in the lifeline and work a couple of repeats from your current ws row and see if you like the look.
You are right, the k2 tog(s) will be in the cable area- so I can do this on the wrong side-
Another option for a shoulder seam is Russian grafting. It’s not a graft like Kitchener stitch and has less stretch. It’s also tedious but if you haven’t done it before you’d at least be doing something new.
I think I might just mattress stitch on the wrong side so I have a nice seam. Anyway, I am now doing the neck edge and it says rib for 3 cm! 3 cm? I have 1 and it is almost looking right- The most I will go is 2 cm, because babies don’t have necks! (especially at 0-3 months!)
Sounds like a good decision on the neck length. You’re so right about baby necks.
Mattress seaming with the wrong side facing? Usually the mattress stitch is worked from the right side so the seam bumpy join is hidden.
I was thinking if I seamed it inside out, then the seam would be hidden- is that backwards? Anyway, I started making the hat in round, but it didn’t really work out- so now I am a bit confused. The second row of the beret says to p5, increase in next stitch purlways, p5, increase, p4, (8 times) - This is where I am confused, do I repeat the whole row 8 times? I didn’t see an area that shows the repeat.
If you seam using mattress stitch with the outside or RS facing, the seam will be to the inside. Try the mattress stitch on 2 small swatches to see how the seam sits.
The repeat is (p5, increase in next stitch purlways, p5, increase, p4) 8 times. There’ll be 2 increases per repeat around this row of the hat. Work the repeat over one row. The comparatively large number of increases are because of the change from rib to the multi-cable main pattern and because of the beret shape to the hat.
The pattern does not work for the second row. I have tried it several times. I started with 94- then each repeat is 18 stitches (6 repeats not 8) On the final repeat, there are not enough stitches to do the whole repeat (I am supposed to have 110 stitches, but I only have 106 so I am 4 stitches short. I don’t know how to fix this and frankly I am quite frustrated- I have frogged and retried about 4 times! Any ideas on how to fix it?
The 6 repeats work out to 108sts. If you have 106, then increase 4sts on the next round. You can start the pattern stitches but at 4 places put in another increase. Try not to work it right where the previous increases were worked. Increase at about 1/4, 1/2, 3/4 and near the beginning of round marker. These increases don’t necessarily have to be precisely located. You just need enough sts (110) to work the main body pattern stitch.
There’s so much going on with the cable pattern that it won’t be noticeable.