Kentia Hat- fingering weight modifications
Pattern: Kentia hat by Ambah O’Brien
Yarn: Sunshine Yarns- Underwater Reef advent kit
I have been meaning to knit this hat since it was originally published but never got around to it. I have been working on my latest Shifty Sweater (no this is not part of the shifty saga, although it is starting to feel like that) and I needed a break after having to frog the entire body. While browsing my Ravelry library this pattern just jumped out at me. I knew I wanted to make this using my leftover scraps of my many advent kits I’ve collected over the years. In the past I have just tossed my leftovers as much as I hate to admit it. I just never knew what to do with all those itty-bitty bits of leftover mini skeins. Well, this pattern among with many of Ambah’s hats is prefect to use up those scraps.
I initially started knitting the pattern exactly as it was written using DK weight for the MC and my Sunshine Yarns scraps as the CC. Just as the pattern instructs, I held my CC yarn double to get a DK weight. Well since I was using my advent kit that meant I was changing colors every 2 rounds and a lot of ends to weave in. I am not a huge fan of weaving in ends, but it isn’t the end of the world. The problem this time was that because I was changing yarns every 2 rounds it was adding a ton of bulk to my hat. I had also knit the smallest size because I like my hats to fit snuggly especially because after a few wears they tend to stretch out. With the added bulk this hat was just too small. Although it looked really good I knew I had to frog and rethink my strategy.
After much contemplation I decided to convert the pattern into fingering weight. Although the hat wouldn’t provide as much warmth, I was hoping that it would make it easier to weave in the ends without as much bulk. I also started weaving in my ends as I went and that also helped tremendously with the bulk and it was hardly noticeable. If I knit this again I would try using DK weight and holding CC yarn double but weaving the ends in as I went to see if that helped with the bulk.
Fingering weight modifications:
Changed needle size to US 2 for the twisted ribbing and US 4 for the main body of the hat. Based on other fingering weight hats I’ve knit these are the typical needle sizes used for mosaic knit hats.
CO size large to get a size small. Based on other hats I've knit in fingering weight 100-110 sts will produce a size small hat, about 19-20” head circumference.
To avoid bulk, weave in ends as you go. I found this practically eliminated the bulk issue I was having.
