Knitted hat in the round

I am hoping someone can help. I have a pattern for a football helmet hat and it starts off in the round but when you start the stripes, you knit around then purl back. I end up with the non-stripe needles being taller than the needles where the stripes are. I have tried this pattern several different ways and am having no luck. I had someone look at it for me who has been knitting for years and she thinks something is wrong with the pattern. Would anyone be willing to look at it for me? I can email or fax the pattern. I would greatly appreciate it.

Carmen

Sounds like you purl looser than you knit. You can use a smaller needle for the purl rows and see if that helps.

When you start the stripes, do you then knit the rest of it flat?

That’s the thing. You start off in the round but when you start the stripes you stay on the DPNs. So I don’t understand how to join it so it makes a hat. He has no instructions except to knit around then purl back.

Does your pattern have a name or can you link to it? Seeing what you’re working on would be helpful.

I hope you can help. It says two balls of orange, but then you start with orange, do the brown/white/brown color change then use ball 2 of orange, then do color change again and then use orange again, but have already used the two balls of orange.

Interesting pattern. I’m puzzled as to why change to knitting flat but I’m not experienced with knitting a pattern such as this. I’m sure the more experienced knitters will have better input for you. I’d probably say, huh?, and continue in the round…and maybe regret it.

I think it’s knit flat for the stripes because it’s like an intarsia pattern - the strips are vertical, not horizontal.

You’ll have to seam the part that’s knit flat.

Thanks, suzeeq, not having done intarsia I didn’t get it!

Very nice pattern. When you knit in the round, you’re always knitting a spiral so the end of the round is always higher than the beginning of round. Apparantly you can still see this difference when you start knitting the stripes flat. Don’t worry about it. When you finish and seam, this won’t be noticeable.

I haven’t done intarsia either, but I get the concept and you can’t do it in the round. You don’t seam it either.

Carmen, look at the video for intarsia; you ‘join’ the colors as you go. When you drop one and pick up the other, you loosely wrap them around each other so they connect the edges.

Salmonmac, these are vertical stripes done intarsia style. Click on the pattern link…

I haven’t done intarsia either, but I get the concept and you can’t do it in the round. You don’t seam it either.

I’m terribly confused. I read the pattern and the top is Kitchener stitched and that unites the stripes portion, but it seems to me that there will be an opening where the ends of the flat rows are. Maybe it’s one of those things I’d just have to see how it works for it to make sense.

Yeah, intarsia is o e of those things you need to knit flat as far as I know. The may be some co trotted way to do it, but I’m not sure.

ETA- I looked it up and there is a method for intarsia in the round, but I could barely understand the one I saw. :zombie: intarsia flat makes more sense to me.

Look at the intarsia video I linked to see how the edges of the colors are joined to the ones next to it. Maybe the pattern calls for seaming them together, but you can interlock the yarn when you change colors instead. You could probably decrease at the top and do the drawstring type close instead of kitchener, though some patterns do graft the sts together.

Sue, it’s not the intarsia color changes that need to be seamed. As you say, they interlock and join to each other as you change colors. It is the edges from knitting flat that’ll need to be seamed. There’s a break or opening where the end of one row is turned and another row is started, knit ro purl or vice versa.
Eunny Jang has a Knitting Daily episode where she shows you how to do intarsia in the round. It’s not hard to do but not for the faint of heart.

Ohh yes, I didn’t think of where she’s turning to work flat. That part would have to be seamed.

Thank you. :thumbsup: I was trying to figure out how to say what I meant and in the meantime decided I was way off base and totally missing something. All I could picture was a hat with a slit up the side. That would be odd.

Sue, the video on intarsia is great, I’ll have to remember it’s there when I try it for myself. You were focused on the intarsia and I was focused on the row ends, that’s all.

Yeah, I think I’m coming down with something, so haven’t been thinking that well today. I forgot about the row ends.

Have a hot cup of tea and get some sleep. Or, take 2 aspirin and call us in the morning. :wink: Seriously, I hope you feel better soon.

This pattern would have been less confusing IMHO if it started out as a flat knit. I can’t see why it was started in the round.