|
Posted by karlisa on October 10, 2006, 6:54 pm
enigma wrote:
>
> > I am making a hat for my son--very simple little pumpkin
> > hat on double pointed needles for his Halloween costume. I
> > made one for my younger son, but the directions I have are
> > only for a small child. I cannot find one for an adult
> > size head. My oldest son is 4 years old and has a rather
> > large head (21"). I'm making the hat out of an orange
> > bulky-weight yarn on 10 1/2 needles and getting a gauge of
> > 4 stitches per inch. My question: Is there a
> > rule-of-thumb for how big to make a hat based on the
> > stretch factor? In other words, I don't think I would
> > necessarily want to make his hat 21" but a bit smaller to
> > allow for the stretch. If this is correct, is there a
> > general rule-of-thumb for this or a percentage of stretch I
> > should allow for? I realize that K2, P2 ribbing is much
> > stretchier than stocking stitch. The hat I'm making is
> > just a roll brim in stocking stitch, though. How does one
> > go about factoring in the stretch when planning a pattern?
> > I would love to make more of these hats and not feel
> > tethered to a set of instructions every time. I hope I've
> > worded this properly. Any assistance would be greatly
> > appreciated!
>
> i would make it 21". you don't want a 'stretch factor' in a
> stockinette hat, because it will be too tight if you knit it
> less than head size.
> actually, if i was knitting a stockinette hat for a 4 year
> old, i might just add another half inch so he doesn't outgrow
> it in a couple months (unless he's only going to wear it once
> on Halloween).
> if you were knitting a ribbed hat, then you could knit it a
> half inch less than head size, but still, on a kid's hat, it's
> better to make it a tiny bit big than a tiny bit small. most
> people dislike tight hats & kids are a lot less polite about
> it than adults ;)
> and really a 21" head on a 4 year old doesn't seem out of the
> ordinary to me. i think my 6 year old's head is close to 22"
> now if i measure over his ears for a hat.
>
My son has always had a very large head and he never even got to wear
the sweater I knit for him last winter because the blooming thing
wouldn't fit over his head! So rather than rip out the jewel neckline
(my first mistake choosing a pattern with a jewel neckline), I
abandoned the project and it now sits in my sewing room waiting to be
assembled. I'm going to assemble it and give it to my younger son
instead.
Thanks for your input, Lee. I think I'll try to make the hat slightly
smaller (maybe 1/2"), and go from there. Since the hat is screaming
orange with a green stem and leaves, I don't think he'll wear it again
after Halloween. :-) If it doesn't fit, I'll just put it with my
charity caps to donate.
lisa
> lee
> --
> Question with boldness even the existence of god; because if
> there be
> one, he must more approve the homage of reason than that of
> blindfolded
> fear. - Thomas Jefferson
| 
Yahoo! 
Google 
Windows Live 
del.icio.us 
digg 
Netscape 
XML Sitemap