Kiss My Knits!

So there’s a guy who has a hat that he just loves, but he’d like one exactly like it in black, to keep him warm on the slopes this winter.

I looked it over and immediately saw that it was brioche stitch, 32 stitch longtail cast-on, knit flat and seamed. Mass-made in China. No problemo!

Or so you’d think.


My first error was in trying to get too clever and do it in the round. I much prefer to knit in the round. No seaming, and I tend to knit faster in the round. But the brioche stitch didn’t behave the same in the round as it did flat, even converting all the knits to purls, etc., on every other round. It was puffy and unruly.

My second error was in trying to do this late at night when I was both tired and hopped up on a raspberry mocha at the weekly stitch’n’bitch at Books-A-Million. Without instructions. Not the best setting to try an unfamiliar technique. I can still hear ‘s mocking laughter. Of course, I hear that most of the time.



My third error was that I was reading the directions, but not the stitches. Instead of looking at what I was doing and how it was behaving on the needles, I was looking at how it should work on paper. It’s like reading a recipe without looking at your ingredients, not sampling it as you go, then wondering why it tastes like smelly boot foot.


At any rate. I posted to about my woes, and some good suggestions were offered. I tried some, like a different yarn that was plied (no dice) on smaller needles (ditto). Several people suggested the obvious, “just knit it flat.” And they’re right, if the original was knit flat and seamed, then that’s what I should try.

The difficulty with posting pictures of this is that it’s so black that it doesn’t photograph well. However, the gauge on the new flat swatch is exactly the same as the original hat, and the stitch pattern is the same. Again, you can’t see it well, so you’ll have to trust me that it’s looking pretty dead on, although slightly fluffier because this is 100% wool as opposed to the blend of the original. Obviously, I do not have access to the yarn that the original hat used.

After it’s decreased, cast off, and seamed, I’ll try to take better pictures when it’s daylight, so that I can post to and thank folks for their input.

I love it when a project that looks simple teaches you something new – or something old that you need to remember!