Help! Ladders with Cable Cast On and DPNs

How-to Questions
1

Hi All,

I typically LOVE knitting in the round, on DPNs, circular needles, whatever and have never had an issue with ladders before. However I’m attempting to start a hat that calls for a cable cast on. That’s all well and good until I do the first round of actual knitting – even though I pull tight for the first few stitches of each needle, I’m getting TERRIBLE ladders at the start of the round.

Does anyone have any suggestions? I’ve ripped this out 4 times now :frowning: and it’s a really cute hat.

Thanks in advance!

PS - I had to go buy some new DPNs for the pattern and I’m not thrilled with them; they’re acrylic (I prefer aluminum or bamboo) – could that be the problem? If so, could someone help me modify the pattern for either size 6 or 8 (US) needles?

2

How about a link to your pattern?

What method of joining are you using? Maybe one of these methods would work?

Join in the round" Knitting Example
How to Knit An Invisible Join in the Round

You might knit a row or two flat and then join, using the tail to close the gap. I’ve never started knitting in the round with a cable cast on, I’m just guessing.

3

Here’s a link to the pattern:

I’ll take a look at those links – thanks!!

Edit:
I’d like to make this a bit bigger – maybe a little more like 0-3 months, would i just use larger needles? Also, could I make the brim stretchy enough if I use a long tail cast on over 2 needles instead of one? Thanks again in advance!!

4

I’d do a swatch with larger needles and see if I like the fabric and measure for gauge to see how it would work our size-wise. I’ve not done baby hats but have read on here that they tend to stretch to fit longer than the size indicates. That’s the best I can offer, someone more experienced will be able to give you a better answer, I’m sure. It’s really, really cute! I wonder how hard it would be to make it adult sized if I can’t find a similar pattern for adults.

5

Good idea – I finally got the cast on to work well… thanks so much for your suggestions earlier!!

It’s looking cute so far… I’m hoping to do a larger one after this, so we’ll see how it comes out.