Making a 3-color UW-Madison hat.

Red and black crowns with the Reality Stone blend in the center helical striping.

NEEDLES:
. US 1.5
. Pretty convinced that Malabrigo Sock is now thinner than it used to be.

CAST-ON
. KnitPink’s slow-mo Pinhole cast-on
… Quite fiddly on the dpn’s
… I have a hard time with using two fingers the way Staci does, so I just use my pointer finger
… Knit a round/row after. I tighten with the tail, then slide the stitches to the right and knit straight across before moving them to the other dpn’s.
… … Doing the kfb’s right away - harder to get that b stitch.

Increases
. I get a little bit of a pull on mine. Wet blocking helps smooth it. When I show it to other people, they don’t really notice it.

SIZING for 22” circ head
. With US 2’s I go to 36 sts * 4 = 144 sts
. tried switching from dpns to circular at 30 (120) sts and it is tight - next time transition at 36.
. At 38 sts, checked sts/inch = 8.5-9 sts
. 38 might have worked, but went up to 40

After crown increases, measured at 40 rounds = 7” total.
. I had about 38 rounds in the increases, so 78 rounds at 11 rounds per inch.
. I went 4 more rounds in the increases, so is that enough to compensate for the smaller needles? Curious!
. Have used about 30g so far

BRIM
. Midsection - folded
… I usually do 120 rounds - but how many with smaller needles?
… The hat is folded in half, so 12” = 6” which is folded again for the brim, so 3” brim which is a little more than the height of my ear.

Helical
. stop 3 sts before next color
. a little looseness is fine with transition

Decreases
! Remember - the decrease crown is SSK-knit-K2tog for nicer looking lines.

Weaving in ends
. I sometimes get a pinched look from weaving my ends

Still a Question?
. Decreases are SSK to K2tog
. But the very last set is K2tog, SSK. I’m not sure how/why this might matter? I make them SSK, k2tog to match.

Wet-block on head form.

HAT 1
Unblocked Dimensions
. Circumference: 19”
. Length: 26”

Blocked Dimensions
. Circumference: 20.75”
. Length: 25.5”

I think if I were to reblock this, I would not use the head form and just block it flat so I could stretch it lengthwise.

YARNS
Ravelry Red
. Total g: 103.2
. Crown + 40r: 74.8r = 28.4u
. 30r helical: 60.2r = 14.6u
. Total used: 43.0g

Reality Stone
. Total g: 111.0
. 60r helical: 77.1r
. Total used: 33.9g

Black
. Total g: 55.4
. 30r helical: 40.6r = 14.8
. Crown + 40r: 14.0r = 26.6
. Total used: 41.4