Close Knit Waffle Hat

Casting on...

My latest project has been the Intuitive slouch cap. Directions were easy; lace pattern was lovely, but I ended up frogging it anyway.

Why? I bought worsted weight yarn when I should have just splurged and bought the Rowan yarn the pattern suggested at my LYS. As I got into the pattern, as worsted does, the hat became more stiff rather than flexible. Not right for a slouchy cap!

I had a feeling that would happen, even as I was casting on. But my stubborn brain wanted to try the worsted anyway. This project is now in hibernation. I will pull it out again when I treat myself to some Rowan. (Perhaps when my unemployment check finally comes in?)

In the meantime, I have a few projects I am making for family and friends. One of those is the Close-knit Waffle hat. I'm going to make a few changes to this pattern, so it will hopefully be the right size to fit my friend's head. The finished pattern reads an 18" circumference, and with gauge being 3.5 stitches per inch, I figure I will cast on 8 additional stitches to create a 20" circumference. When stretched, it should be a perfect fit. I think I am going to add one or two more rounds to also increase the height.

Excited to start this project. Will post project updates as they come.

10/28/11: Finished this hat last night, or so I thought. I was down to the last 10 stitches...and it was looking all so very...small. I'm sure the circumference is right; I ended up adding 16 additional stitches instead of 8. I even added a couple additional round of the waffle stitch.

I ended up ripping it all out, back to the last purl round of the waffle stitch. I then continued to knit two more rounds of the waffle stitch. Started to look much better. Not sure, but I think I will definitely have to still knit a few more rounds before I start the decreasing. The deceasing only adds about 3 inches, so I'll keep that in mind.

Not sure why I had to make so many changes to this pattern. But I figured it out; so it's all good. Even though it is an easy pattern, I probably won't knit it again because the size is not true to the pattern. If I knit it exactly as indicated, this hat wouldn't even fit my head!

10/29/11: It's done!! Looks great. I posted the photos above. it was definitely worth ripping and adding additional rows.