04-02-2022

My swatch pattern mods:

• Foundation: ch 55 + tch

• 2: w/ MC, Bss4, drop MC to front, Bss w/ CC (completes 5th MC ss and changes color), 45 Bss, etc.

• 5: w/ CC, 32 Bss, plBss, 6 Bss, drop CC to front, Bss w/ MC (completes last CC ss and changes color for hatband)

• 6: trap CC in 6th Bss to carry it up for next short row wedge

• 7: trap CC in 6th Bss from the edge to carry it up, keep yarn on the front of work

Then I tried w/o the 5-Bss ribbing, doing the long floats on the bottom edge. Also experimented with twist-Bss for the last stitch. Long floats are actually OK, and twist-Bss I think will make the hat too tight.

Conclusions:
• Ch 55 (11”) is too slouchy for Bill’s tastes, so I’ll stick with ch 50 + tight tch (10”), whether I stop the stripes and do a solid color ribbing or continue the stripes to the edge
• The long-ish floats along the bottom edge aren’t as problematic as I expected.
• I tried twist-Bss for the last stitch and I think that makes the bottom of the hat a little too tight.
• Both color choices work well, but I think I will do the purple for this one, and the blue for “Hazelnut”.
• AND instead of simple “pl” on WS at the end of short rows, I will use Lyuda’s “p2lyoslst” where the yo gets moved into second position on the hook -- tidier and looks more like knitting on the RS. Will stick with simpler plss for RS stitches done with opposite color yarn.

04-02-2022

Final plan:

F: w/ MC, ch 50, tight tch, turn
1: sk 1, ss in back bump, tight tch, turn (50)
2: sk 1, 4 Bss, drop MC to front, w/ CC Bss (to complete 5th MC ss and change color), Bss across until 5 st rem, tch, turn. (5 + 40)
3: Bss until 8 st rem, tch, turn. (32)
4: Bss until 5 st rem, tch, turn. (27)
5: 27 Bss, p2lyoslst, 6 Bss, drop CC to front, w/ MC, 6 Bss, tight tch, turn. (5, 35)
6: w/ MC, 5 Bss, trap CC, 35 Bss, plss, 4 Bss, plss, 4 Bss, tight tch, turn. (50)
7: Bss across, tight tch, turn.
Repeat from R2 for total 20 sections (or whatever needed), ending with R5, do not work tch.
Seam:
Fold RS tog, w/ R1 on top, last row behind, flat join under both loops of R1, tight tch, slst tog thru both loops of R1 and BLO of last row (plss at short row ends), tight ch1.
Turn hat right side out, w/ smaller hook ss2tog around crown edge in spiral fashion until 6-8 sts, cut yarn and sew closed thru FLO.

04-03-2022

I wish hat was a little shorter and tidier at the top. I really like the 5-stitch solid color ribbing at the bottom.

For myself, I would make the hat about 8 sts shorter. But I wonder if it would work to close the top with 2 extra sts like “Snake Hat” and “2-Color Long Beanie) for smaller hole to close…

120 rows total for my hat.