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Yarn purchased at Happy Knits at the 2014 Rose City Yarn Crawl

Dec 19
Swatching & pre-planning…
My head: 22.5” circumference - 2.5” negative ease = 20” circumference
I generally find planning 2”-2.5” negative ease works out best for me with hats, depending on how stretchy the stitch pattern is around the brim
Pattern Gauge: 22 st = 4” on 3.5mm (5.5 spi)
Pattern CO: 104/5.5 spi = 19” (on 3.5mm: 110 sts = 20”)
My Gauge:
3.25mm = 6 spi: 20” circumference x 6 spi = 120 sts

Dec 26
I prefer the look of Garter Stitch at 6 spi in this yarn & my head seems to be bigger than the designer’s must be, so I’ll be casting 120 sts on 3.25mm needles using German Twist Cast On.
Note: next time I’ll cast on an additional 6 sts; this fits fine, but I’ll be happier with just a little more ease in the brim.

Dec 27
Learned the German Twist Long Tail Cast On for this. I found the video above most helpful and easy to follow. I prefer this cast on to regular long tail cast on now that I’ve gotten the hang of it. Haven’t been a fan of the Long Tail Cast On… the whole “too much tail, not enough tail” thing plus I didn’t care for it’s tightness or the way it looked when knit in the round, which I do a lot of.

This cast on is fun to do and stretchier because of the extra twist. Well worth the effort to learn. Could become your favorite for cuff-down socks, mitts/mittens/gloves, sleeves, brim-up hats, etc, where you need a nice looking, in-the-round, stretchy cast on.

Recommend some “not project” yarn to get the hang of it; this Madelinetosh yarn is single ply = doesn’t take well to lots of use and frogging apart, rinse, repeat. You’ll need most all the yarn you’ve got if you only have a single ball and you don’t want “worn looking” yarn right at your brim from making sure you’ve got a new cast on figured out. I swatched then frogged when I was certain of my gauge so learning a new cast on with that same section didn’t make a lot of sense.

As for the cast on tail issue… measure out a snug 4 measures around your head where you’d like the brim to sit and that’ll be about the right tail length for the cast on… don’t be too generous cuz 3.5 measures will probably be sufficient if you are casual about your measure.

If you knit the first round, purl one round & knit the next after that, the cast on edge tucks itself into the inside… doesn’t look like it will at first, but it snugs into the fabric after several rows and doesn’t look like a cast on edge at all. Very nice, counter-intuitive, beginning.

I trusted the designer and knit the first row. I came this close to tinking back to the cast on after 3 rounds because it didn’t look right. But I’d already done the cast on twice… tail too short (which is how I figured out how much tail to start with)… it was late, I have a cold, so I just decided I’d do the next one starting with a purl round & leave this one as it was.

Much to my surprise, about 1.5” up, I looked down and the gap was gone in the first couple of rows that I thought I could fix by purling the first row and I had a perfect garter stitch fabric… just like she said. Amazing.

Do make certain to snug the round-change stitches over the first few rounds, especially. Careless tension equals gaps & holes. Snug up that first stitch when changing from knit to purl and from purl to knit especially in the brim. The “seam line” at this point is a “feature” of knitting garter stitch properly in the round, not a flaw. Embrace it, don’t fret about it. If you find it particularly unacceptable, consider stitching some small buttons there or something, but it really doesn’t call attention to itself once on your head.

At 15 garter ribs I only had 2” & given I was working on smaller needles that was probably short, so I worked to 2.5” or about 18 garter ribs.

Brim: 18” circumference (9” flat; max stretch to 11.5”) x 2.5” tall

Change to 4.5mm circular. Continue in pattern to 9” from cast on edge, ending with purl round.
Note: next time I think I’m gonna go up to 5mm needle; it will give me extra mileage in this yarn. I’d do the same decreases as below and get a little extra slouch.

Dec 28
Concerned about my yarn supply… working the brim at tighter gauge plus needing extra rows used more yarn, so I’m gonna “buy” it back this way (measuring from cast on):
• Decrease 5% at 4” = 1 st every 20 stitches; (on knit round) k18, k2tog tbl… continue in pattern - 6 decreases total in round
• Decrease 5% at 5” = 1 st every 19 stitches; (on knit round) k17, k2tog tbl… continue in pattern - 6 decreases total in round
• Decrease 5% at 6” = 1 st every 18 stitches; (on knit round) k16, k2tog tbl… continue in pattern - 6 decreases total in round
• Decrease 5% at 7” = 1 st every 17 stitches; (on knit round) k15, k2tog tbl… continue in pattern - 6 decreases total in round
• Decrease 5% at 8” = 1 st every 16 stitches; (on knit round) k14, k2tog tbl… continue in pattern - 6 decreases total in round

It’s getting late and I’m still not feeling well, so not sure I’ll feel like finishing this tonight. Real close to done with the hat, but even closer to being done with the day…

Dec 29
• Last knit round before decreases, make sure there are a multiple of 3 stitches - increase/decrease as needed to have sets of 3 around
• Purl last round before decreases
• Crown decrease round

Thanks to my slow decreases earlier, I had sufficient yarn for a full 9” before decreases. Finished and bound off the crown plus enough to weave end securely, with just 2 yds to spare! Whew!

Finished size: 10” tall, brim 18” circumference but very stretchy
Brim Gauge: 6 spi; 7 Garter ribs (14 rows) per inch
Top Gauge: 5.5-6 spi; 6 Garter ribs (12 rows) per inch

My next Rikke hat… and there will be another, I’m gonna make with heavier yarn or at least not a single ply DK. Love this yarn, but the nature of single ply is inconsistent thickness throughout. This has an impact on yardage needed for a project and I tend to knit more tightly on smaller needles which eats more yardage.

I do think I’ll cast on 4-6 more stitches next time in a similar yarn, or calculate just a smidge less negative ease in future Rikke hats. This one fits just fine, but there is plenty of stretch in the brim to accommodate just a teeny bit more room and still fit securely.

A skein with 225 yds of even thickness DK weight throughout may not have needed the other decreases I worked with this yarn to be able to work the full 9” before the decreases with the brim mods I did. I may try Madelinetosh Tosh DK next time. It’s still 100% merino DK, but it is plied with the same yardage. I’m curious to see if I get more mileage with basically the same yarn, but plied.

February 1
I’ve got another ball of this yarn in a different color… I’m toying with making another Rikke with it. Next time I’ll do a couple different modifications, now that I’ve worn it a bit:
• Cast on 126-128 sts; would like just a little more ease in the brim
• Go up to 5mm needles above the brim; would provide a little extra mileage with the yarn; would repeat the extra decreases I did with this one because of the bigger needles so the width isn’t too much and can use any extra yarn mileage for height/slouch
• That’s it. That’s all I’d change.

Thank you to everyone that favorited my notes or checked them as helpful. I’m glad they’ve helped others. This is an awesome pattern!

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This is one of those patterns that, after you’ve made it once or twice, all you have to do is swatch for gauge & fit if you’re using a new yarn. You can make it pretty much without the pattern after the first or second one… there really isn’t much to it but it’s a great “can’t concentrate but want to knit” design for travel & knitting group - or mad-dash gift knitting - and can be easily modified to taste or to accommodate the yarn you’ve got. Pretty much a one skein project for the yarn recommended and unlikely much more than that if substituted with another DK yarn of similar yardage. Or you can make it non-slouchy or less-slouchy by decreasing earlier.

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If you find my notes helpful, please click the ”are these notes helpful?” yes button at the bottom. Thank you. :-) If you like, add it to your favorites &/or please leave me a comment. I’m also happy to answer any questions, if I can.