Because my first Turkish Patterned Cap came out so pretty, not counting the trouble I had with the crown, I began knitting another one. Well, the second time’s a charm, but I felt cursed when I got to the crown.

I knew that my first attempt at knitting this hat was a fail when it came to the colorwork at the crown. I hadn’t even noticed that my troubles began not with the star, but way back at the first decrease row….! Now that I look closely at the blue hat, I see how off the patterning is at the top, before I got to the star.

I began to make the same mistake once again, but caught myself on the second row of the crown. Originally, I thought the goof up was my fault, but it turned out to be the pattern. I had to painstakingly “tink” (knit backwards) or un-knit 1 1/2 rows and begin again. Do not simply follow the graph, or this will happen.…

Reading charts is not my specialty and I can’t do lace or cable charts well, but hat charts are usually easy. In this instance, a slip1, k2tog, psso decrease is located at the beginning of the row, BUT if you do it there, the whole row of colors is off – that is because it uses the last stitch of the previous row along with the first stitch in the graph. Another knitter mentioned this as well, so it’s the pattern, not me.

You wouldn’t believe how long it took me to figure out how to fix this!

Ever Had Your Needle Break Mid-knit?

Then, just as I thought I knew what to do to alter the pattern, my 16 inch circular needle came apart…! The needle tip just snapped off the cord….. time to freak out, but I remained surprisingly calm. Stitches were dropping off as there was no longer a needle holding them. I carefully laid all the work down and ran to get a new needle. Fortunately I managed to pick up all the stitches without much problem, but it could have been a big disaster.

The needle that broke was Knitter’s Pride brand. I liked that brand for the matching colors of the DPN’s and other needles, but to have the needle snap off the cord in mid-knit – sorry, won’t buy this brand again. I couldn’t have had this needle for more than a couple of years.

How I Altered the Pattern to Knit the Crown Correctly

• Row 23 – first decrease round – Ignore the first Sl1, k2tog, psso decrease stitch (which begins the repeat) and simply knit it normally along with 3 more stitches in the same color, which would be the Main Color.
• Continue on and do the colorwork for that first section of row 23 to align with the previous row to the end of the section.
• The missing stitches at the beginning and end of the sections are used to make the decrease, so now – beginning on the 2nd repeat – do the decreases as marked.
• If stitch markers were used during the colorwork body part of the hat, they will need to be moved back one, or removed.
• Then, the end of the Row 23 round, do the decrease which should have been done in the beginning (per the pattern) – even though it goes into the next row.
• Knit the non-decrease rows as directed, but do the same as Row 23 for every decrease row up the crown.
• As long as you watch the colors on the chart and make them line up and do all the decreases (with the very first one coming last), you should be fine.

While knitting this hat, the braid at the cuff will curl. Once it is washed the brim lays flat. Mine was knit in DK yarn, but the pattern calls for worsted. I personally would go down a size – to a Medium – if using worsted.

Needle Size and Yarn

Needle size: 4US – Yarn: Miss Babs Kunlun in color “Naked”, and Wound Up Fiber Arts handspun variegated brown and purple. I began with pink but changed because it was too pink.

I had purchased the white yarn on sale from Miss Babs and had no idea what I would use it for. I’ll tell you it is a wonderful yarn. It’s made up of wool, cashmere and silk and is therefore very soft.

Wound Up Fiber Arts does not often have their handspun yarn for sale, but if I can ever come across it in new colors, I would buy more. I feel fortunate that I own the four skeins I have. I began with the variegated pink, but it was too pink for my liking, so I alternated with the brown for a few rows and then went totally brown. But the brown is variegated with purple, and a golden color. It’s such an interesting yarn.

Although I used the same type of yarn for hat #2, for some reason the brown hat seems a bit larger, but I don’t know why. These are the softest hats I’ve made and they will both be gifts to some young women I love.

I need to get myself a head form to dry my hats. In this instance I am using a tall votive candle holder covered with bubble wrap – hence the odd shape!