Hi Everyone!
I started knitting about 4 years ago when I picked up a “klutz” how to knit kit. Once I played around a bit with just getting used to knitting stitches I signed up for a learn to knit a hat at my LYS. Super easy pattern with circular needles and of course help when getting stuck.
Since then I have more or less really only knit this one hat but have been able to do them super fast and have started to make them my own. I found this site and learned to fair isle with the videos and started making up pixel patterns of space invaders, skull and crossbones and even some star wars stormtoopers for friends.
Now I would love to be able to do more knitting but find patterns completely overwhelming as I am a visual learner and can only glean so much from books and can only find so many good videos. Nothing beats just asking a human being, ‘do you know how to do this? And can you show me?’ And unfortunately I moved a couple of years ago and there isn’t a LYS like I had at home.
Glad to join the forum and hope to be able to pick all your brains at one time or another. 
Right now I am working on a hat for my 14 month old and I am stuck on how to get the ear flaps looking right. I just learned how to knit on to a finished project…again here on this site… and was going to knit the ear flaps on in a 2x rib and decrease but can’t seem to be doing the decrease right cause it comes out all bumpy looking. I am still researching and trying it out on a practice piece so might be back to ask for help soon.
If you are still reading thanks, and see you here again soon.
J from Charlottetown, PE
New to the Forum...Hi!
Welcome to Knitting Help!
Hi! welcome.
I totally prefer one on one teaching / learning, too. Unfortunately there are not many knitters in my surrounding and my time runs short at “decent hours”. That’s why I do take a lot from online discussion and instructions, books, magazines, videos… and so on.
so: you can get that bit of “personal help” here in the forum.
How about you take a picture of what your problem is and post it here? Describe what you have been doing and we try to figure it out? It would be smart to start a new thread, of course, since that is not a “welcome issue” but an issue of an actual project.
My quick recommendation on that topic: your flaps are 1 by 1 ribbing? that is hard to decrease smoothly.
[B][I]try one of the following alternatives:[/I][/B]
[B]1. [/B]do not decrease but cast off. (the amount of stitches to get rid off at the beginning of each row for one side and at the beginning for the next row at the other side - you know?)
then the edge will look nicer.
[B]2.[/B] do a border to the ribbing part in garter stitch or stochinette or reversed stochinette (purling on right side, knit on wrong side).
do your decrease in the border part and “eat up” as many stitches of your ribbing into the border as you do. That also saves you of decreasing in 1x1 ribbing.
[B][I]example:[/I][/B]
lets say you have the border in garter stitch (all knits), and I just assume an even number of stitches.
right side:
k 3 (k1 p1 repeat until 3 stitches before the end) k 3
then the wrong side row will be:
k3 (k1 p1 repeat until 3 stitches before the end) k 3, right?
now we come to a decrease by 1 stitch on each side and you do:
k1 k2tog k1 (p1 k1 repeat until [B]4 stitches [/B]before the end) k 1 k2tog k1
wrong side row: work all stitches as they come ( knit your knits and purl your purls)
right side: do the decrease, but your ribbing now starts with a knit ridge again so do k1 p1 until 4 stitches before the end… (then you decrease by 1 stitch on each side every 2 rows)
and so on
(if your decrease shall be less quick: well, just do not work it as often but maybe only every 4 rows instead of 2? depends on where you want to go with it…)
the trick is: do not get confused if your pattern calls for k1 k1 k1 at some point, or anything. Just follow that pattern until you get to the amount of stitches that you call final and cast off / work an I-cord out of the last 4 stitches to make the tie on the hat… whatever you want to do.
did that help?
Oh, by the way: where (aproxx) do you live? maybe someone knows a knitting group near you!
Thanks Hyperactive.
Those are all great ideas I will have to try to see what works. I think that may have been my problem though…since I am not working off a pattern…that I was doing the decrease right on the edge. Which left no edge stitch. I had only ever done a decrease in the middle of a hat so didn’t know and had no knitting buddy to tell me, until now.
I am in Canada. Charlottetown, PE to be exact. And I have found a knitting group that meets at the library every couple of weeks, unfortunately right now it is at a time that conflicts with my getting my 14 month old down to sleep.
Oh and one other question with regards to the k2tog…I thought that I could only do that on the one side and that I need to do a SSK on the other? Or is that what you meant anyways? And does it matter if the stitch is a knit or purl since I will be ribbing? (and I was intending to do a k2 p2 rib since the brim was that or do you think it would be nicer in a k1 p1) Ok lots of questions…sorry…i’ll go try a few things and post another thread once done.
Thanks again.
Generally you do different leaning decs on the beg and end of a row. So it’s fine to k1, ssk, work across the row to the last 3 sts and k2tog, k1. If you dec several sts evenly spaced across a row, you can just do a k2tog.
Got it…trial and error right now as I am never sure if what I am doing is what should be done or if i’m just making it up as I go along.
Thanks
yup, you can of course do a ssk and a k2tog to make the decreases match up. that will be even better (for the 2-side decreases). Didn’t want to make it more complicated, though.
now, you want to do ribbing 2 x 2? just fine! Better match the rim of the hat than mix. Sure!
then once the decrease will be within a knit rib, once between the ribs and once within a purl rib, then between the ribs again - if you do NOT make a border.
you see, why I want the border stitches? then all decreases match up looking the same.
now comes my question to you: you have a 2 x 2 to start with… how about you decrease every rib down to 1 stitch to end up with a 1x1? would that match your design?
in that case: I assume we start with 20 stitches (just my idea).
RS:work (k2 p2) 10 times
WS: work (k2 p2) 10 times
you have 10 knit ridges on either side, 2k wide. same with the purl ridges.
repeat this until you have the length before decrease.
then start the decrease:
RS: ssk, p2 (k2 p2) 9 times
WS: ssk, p2 (k2 p2) 8 times, k2 p1 (since you lost a stitch on that rib already)
RS: k1 p2, ssk, p2, (k2 p2) 7 times, k2 p1 (another rib that is already smaller)
WS: k1 p2 ssk, p2 (k2 p2) 6 times, k2 p1, k 2, p1 (2 ribs that are one p short)
if you continue like this what you do is doing the decreases in both rows (right and wrong side). the ribbing that was 2 x 2 gradually becomes 1 x 1 since you decrease the knit ridges beginning from the right side of each side one by one.
Once you have done 10 decreases ( 5 right side and 5 wrong side) you are left with 1x1 ribbing that is 10 stitches wide. you can either cast it off gradually now (cast off 1 stitch on the beginning of every row) or just cast off straight, or something.
if you want to make it look a little nicer even, you can start with a multiple of 4 stitches plus 2, therefore making one extra knit ridge on the end of the right side row. Then from the outside the flap is more symetrical.
Now, I think I have to make that had and post a pattern somewhere. it sounds nice to me now. My niece might want one
btw: “should be done” - there are more ways to do things than there are knitters in the world. Without trial and error we would all not be there 
if the result looks appealing: it is right. there may be other ways, but well… that is a topic for another sunrise.
if the result sucks: mostly there is a way to make it better, so ask.
Hi! and welcome to KH! You’ll love the small friendly atmosphere here. It’s a wonderful place to get help on things you don’t understand. For me, if I don’t have someone to actually show me what I need to do (or doing wrong) videos is the next best thing! There’s so much info on this site - enjoy browsing and asking questions of course.
Welcome, i am the newcomer too :cheering:
Hi rosalind! Welcome to knittinghelp, if I may say so.
there is a “introduce yourself thread” up top in the General Knitting section. Maybe tell a few words about yourself there?
Never be shy to ask, to tell, to help, to participate. The forum is great and great help for all of us.
Welcome jvf and Rosalind.