Ok, I have been very frustrated with the way this baby hat is going. I am using a pattern from an easy baby knits book (I can't remember the source). The pattern calls for the use of size 7 needles, casting on 62 stitches (for ages 0-6m) and I should get 5 stitches to the inch. Do I bother knitting a gauge swatch? Of course not! This is a simple hat knit in the round who cares if the gauge is not perfect. Besides, I despise math why spend time giving myself a headache.
Well I have had an epiphany sitting here not working on the hat. What if my gauge is off. What if the needles are too big and one of the reasons the ladders are so huge is because the stitches themselves are too big and I am only making the matter worse. So what do I do? I knit a gauge swatch with a needle size 2 sizes smaller. I don't have the right gauge, I actually have 6 stitches to the inch, but I like the way the yarn looks on these smaller needles. Using the handy calculations numberless knitting books have given me regarding gauge and swatching I was able to deduced that I needed 12.8 inches diameter for this hat size. I rounded it up to 13 inches and multiplied it by the 6 stitches per inch (spi) and came up with needing to cast on 78 stitches.
I will now go forth and see if my calculations will work or if this hat will be a crazy size in either extreme.
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