Half a Hat, Now With Bonus Ladders!

Bleurgh. Look where the needles join. See the vertical ladder line in the fabric under the join? Bet you don't have to look very hard. (sigh) I never get ladders. I can knit with all sorts of yarns and dpns, and I don't get ladders. EXCEPT...

With very slick superwash wool. You know the kind I'm talking about. It's the stuff that gives superwash a bad name. Feels great, but handles strangely. Gauge might wobble, fabric might gain inches during blocking, ends won't stay put.

And in my case, ladders.

I reckon I'll have to use my crochet hook to turn those ladders into stitches, and then use a k2tog on the live stitches to get rid of the extra one. But that will come when I'm just about ready to close the crown. No point in "fixing" it too soon.

This is the Kittiwake pattern by Alice Starmore, btw, from Aran Knitting. Except I changed it a little. (Shocking, right?) I wanted more of the braid, less of the rib, so I shortened the ribbing section by an inch (leaving it still long enough to fold in half), and am adding another repeat of the braid cable. It's a slow knit, fiddly, and I will never, ever do it on double points again.


After the hat is finished, I get to knit this:














Details will follow. :)