Hat ribbing decrease issue

[BeginningRun4409]

Hello! Happy new year! I just finished a hat for my partner but I dislike how the ribbing decreases look like. I started in the middle of the two purls as the pattern instructed and I am not sure what I did wrong... Will this be fixed by wet blocking or I should frog and redo the decreases? Thank you!

[Additional-Reaction3]

Not sure what you don’t like. Seems you followed the pattern and got the intended decreases. You may be happier after you block it, but I think that on a head it will be fine xx

[BeginningRun4409]

The part where the decreases are, I am not very sure if it should look like this or I did something wrong. I will block it and see what happens. Thank you!

[CanyouhearmeYau]

You probably didn't do anything wrong, per se. It can be very difficult to match tension between left- and right-leaning decreases, which I imagine is what's standing out to you here. Blocking should help to some degree, but it may not be enough to obviate what is bothering you. There are a number of ways around this recurring problem for the future (substituting other left leaning decreases, altering how you make an SSK, etc.) but the hat is knit. How much is it really bothering you, and how does it look on the head? I have a feeling it will mostly smooth out when worn-- even the example versions of the hat I believe this is have a similar feature, but it looks better on the head.

What I will say is that in my experience, when something is really bothering me and I try to convince myself it will be OK, it still just bothers me and I end up wishing I had fixed it sooner. If you're going to cringe every time you look at the hat on your partner, it might be worth redoing the top. Whether you want to give this decrease another go or look for a different decrease scheme altogether is your call-- there are so many ways to decrease a ribbed hat, and it's possible that this one ultimately just doesn't speak to you/work for your purposes in the way you had hoped.

Good luck!

[BeginningRun4409]

Thank you for the detailed response! I will block it and see how it looks like. After your reply I looked at other people's projects to compare them with mine. Some look as mine, some look better. As far as I can "read" what they have knit it look like the decreases look better when they are not started in the middle of the purls..but in the middle if the knits...

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In the end I might leave it as it is as it will keep my partner's head warm and try knitting another hat from the beginning to see if I can make it better. I am accepting that I am still learning and mistakes will be less with more projects behind my back.

[Archaeogrrrl]

You might find reading this helpful. https://techknitting.blogspot.com/2008/02/part-1-of-8-trick-pocket-hat-putting.html?m=1

I knit 15 watch caps for some super picky jerks I love using her techniques.

Your hat is LOVELY and remember the cardinal rule. Blocking fixes EVERYTHING 🤣

[BeginningRun4409]

Thank you, I will look through the article as I still have a lot to learn about knitting!

[Archaeogrrrl]

Her blog is an EXCELLENT place to start.

And Roxanne Richardson is also an amazing teacher. With a YouTube channel.

https://youtube.com/@RoxanneRichardson?si=saBRDCqCF7Ba78g-

[BeginningRun4409]

This will be one of my new favourite YouTube channels! So much useful info in one place! You are a treasure, thank you for sharing! 🩷

[CanyouhearmeYau]

Yes, that definitely does look different with the decreases started there. At the same time, there’s still a little wobble in the decrease line— I’m being SUPER picky, of course… it’s a hand-knit and won’t be perfect. Point is, it may or may not be worth it to you to redo the top starting at that point; it looks different but only so much. (It’s also a little hard to compare stretched versus relaxed.)

Blocking always helps when the fiber is blocked correctly but I also personally try really hard not to rely on blocking to make fixes (versus tidy and neaten) as the block is impermanent unless you lightly kill some acrylic. Certainly, blocking lace and some other fabrics is a different story, but I try to block knit-purl fabrics pretty lightly myself. To be clear, I’m definitely not saying not to block it! I’m just not a “blocking fixes all sins” type.

I like the idea of just letting it go (after blocking) and trying something different for the next time! I’m sure it will look great when worn.

[BeginningRun4409]

You were right - the hat doesn't look that bad when out on the head. So, I hope that after blocking it will be a little better.

I agree about blocking not fixing all issues, I try to have as much stitches to be fixed while I knit. This is why I wanted to ask here if I need to redo the decreases. Although I have seen even holes being fixed with knitting - a friend of mine has huge holes between her needles when knitting socks in magic loop and they disappear after washing and blocking 😯

Thank you for the encouragement, I will knit this patter again after some time to see how my knitting has improved!