Help with hat

I’m still fairly new to patterns but haven’t had trouble with stockinette stitch before. I’m knitting an (easy) hat and I thought it would be quite straightforward to work the continuous stockinette stitch until the piece measures 9 inches. However, after knitting the round with the two increased stitches (following the 5 1/2 inch rib) and continuing the next with a purl round, then knit round etc I find the resulting pattern is more like garter stitch and definitely not stockinette! Please can someone tell me where I’m going wrong. I was puzzled as to what (K every rnd) means in this context and suspect it has something to do with my mistake.

In stockinette stitch knitting in the round, you literally knit every round. It had told you to place a marker so you know the beginning of each round. In doing this the right side looks like the little “v” stitches and the inside has the purl bumps. You don’t knit any rounds of purl stitches. Hope this helps and I understood what you were asking

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Oh I didn’t know that! Thanks very much…now for the unravelling, sigh! Btw I didn’t bother with a marker as the yarn tail where I cast on shows me the start of each round.

You got that right. I usually also use a marker as insurance that I won’t miss it. I can get distracted.

I finished the rest of it quickly but find that even though I’ve got the right gauge the hat stretches quite tight and I’d prefer a looser fit. As it’s a simple pattern would it be possible to knit a larger size by increasing the number of cast on stitches and if so what adjustments would have to be made for the rest of the pattern? (Or maybe I should just find a pattern for a larger size hat!). Many thanks for your continuing help…much appreciated.

Yes, increased by a multiple of 6 stitches. 46 ( 52, 58, 64, etc. ) depending on your swatch to tell you how much those stitch counts will increase the size.

Another alternative would be to use a larger needle and a new swatch.

Finally, you could combine both of the above methods to reach a size in between what you can get by only increasing co count by multiples of six.

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If it’s only a cast on or bind off edge that feels tight (which happens easily) you may not need a different size hat but rather a different CO or BO method. I think your hat was bottom up so it would be assessing the amount of stretch in your cast on edge and if you are happy with it.

Some CO edges are very stretchy and allow the rest of the fabric to then stretch out to their fullest. If it’s this we could suggest some alternative type of cast on for you to try.

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In case the cast on is the real problem here’s a video on making a long tail cast on stretchy. I picked this one since it’s so commonly used. If this doesn’t help fix the current problem it’s good good for future reference.