Attempting the knight helmet

[Mothergooseberry]

I want to make my granddaughter two of the crocheted knight helmets that are the rage right now for Christmas. I bought the pattern on Etsy and after working on the first one almost all day it looks like a round rug, the shape doesn't look like the one in the photo. I think I followed the directions precisely but maybe I did it too tight, too loose, or something else not right. If I put a photo here, would somebody be able to tell by looking what I did wrong? Thanks!!!

[magiccrochetfan]

http://www.craftyarncouncil.com/tip_crochet.html  is a quick reference to crochet pattern-ese that may provide a refresher.  Don't know if you have a reference book , but i think it is an essential part of the toolbox.  Good ones would be Crochet Answer Book by E Eckamn,  Complete Photo Guide to Crochet by M Hubert, and there are other examples.  Reading over these can answer questions you didn't even know you had ;-)

[Granny Square]

[Granny Square]

Awesome! 

[magiccrochetfan]

Nice job, it looks great!  

[howieann]

It looks great!

[Tampa Doll]

I have been following this and am glad to see that it is going better.  Sometimes frogging is a good ting, it makes you more cautious.

 

As for buying things from Esty, many designers here have stores there and most of the time they are checked here with testers, before they are offered.

 

Good luck and please keep us informed.

[magiccrochetfan]

Glad it's going well!

[Mothergooseberry]

It is going great! Yes, been counting, just finished rnd 12 and looking like a hat instead of a rug. Thanks so much!! So exciting to think I am actually making these for my granddaughter for Christmas.

[magiccrochetfan]

OK well ya know, it happens to all of us!  So no biggie, you just need to fix it.  Have you been counting each round?  Put a marker in the first stitch of the round so you don't lose track of it.  Count the stitches in the round after you have slip stitched to join at the end of the round.  The slip stitch does not count as a stitch.  

 

At this point if you have not been counting each round, it may be easiest to simply start over, being sure to count.  Or you can rip back to wherever the count was right and start from there.  Or you could rip out round 4 and redo it, adding in stitches as needed to get the count up to 40.  Or you could leave round 4, and do round 5, increasing by 16 stitches instead of 8 as written.  

 

for a marker you can tie in a short piece of yarn or use a bobby pin.  

[Mothergooseberry]

I counted twice and if I am counting right Inhave 32??? Sheesh!

 

Maybe I did 3 rnds instead of 4. I backed one stitch out and that would make it come out right for 3 rnds. That's what I get for trying to work on something like this after working a 12 hour day. No brain cells left.

[magiccrochetfan]

Yeah we are all busy doing something or other! Nothing as constructive as crocheting presents in my case unfortunately :-D

 

 It looks great so far.  Do you have 40 stitches in this round like the pattern says?

[Mothergooseberry]

I'm hoping no response to my post last night means everyone is just SO busy crocheting goodies for Christmas presents instead of that my project is already messed up!  

[magiccrochetfan]

Thanks again, EVERYONE!!! I am going to follow all your advice, especially Granny Square (LOVE that name, btw). I knew there must be something I was missing. I will get started again and hopefully be able to show you two finished helmets!

 

Kathy, I see a trip to the library in my future. Bet they have those books. So...do pattern writers always just leave out words in their instructions, or is that the significance of the *-* ? I thought that just meant just keep going. LOL

 

Well, in my opinion, a really well written pattern would have been a bit more clear, and said "repeat from * to * around", that would be the standard way I think.  So that is still a bit of shorthand.  Learning the little conventions of pattern shorthand is why I think reference books are important.  Honestly I am skeptical of patterns sold on etsy as you have no way to get a feel for what the pattern is going to be like before you pay for it, and it seems like many of the sellers have their own phraseology that is confusing, and don't respond to requests for help from people who've bought their patterns.  I prefer patterns in books as I would look at the book in a bookstore before buying the book, or check it out from the library as you say.   Free patterns are also great, and before buying a pattern i would like to see a free pattern from the designer to see how they write their patterns.  

 

I want to reiterate my invitation to drop in to our group in Fulton :-)  If you are ever interested you can send me a Private Message here to find out where we are meeting that week, as we are kind of based at the library but often the meeting room is in use and we have to go somewhere else.  We meet every Monday at 5.  

[Mothergooseberry]

Peggy, no, it actually has complete instructions for every size, and the age 5 - 10 yrs has instructions "RND 8-19: ch 1, hdc in each stitch around and sl st into the first st to join. (60sts). Repeat *-* around until the hat measures between 8 and 8.25 inches from crown to brim."

 

It then has instructions for rounds 20 through 24 for the hat part. My granddaughter was over at my house tonight so I measured the circumference of her head: 12". That will help.

[Peggy85225]

I just made this hat in an adult size.  For your child did you stop at round five and then go to round 11 per the pattern you should have 60 hdc at this point and work on these stitches until the hat measures 7.5 inches .  It is indeed worked in rounds not back and forth at least not until you get to round 13 then you work in rows rather than rounds.  I hope this will help. 

[Mothergooseberry]

Thanks again, EVERYONE!!! I am going to follow all your advice, especially Granny Square (LOVE that name, btw). I knew there must be something I was missing. I will get started again and hopefully be able to show you two finished helmets!

 

Kathy, I see a trip to the library in my future. Bet they have those books. So...do pattern writers always just leave out words in their instructions, or is that the significance of the *-* ? I thought that just meant just keep going. LOL

[Granny Square]

You misread each row between 3 and 7.  I'll retype row 3, the rest would be the same idea:

RND 3: ch 1, *2hdc in the first stitch, hdc in the next stitch* . Repeat *-* around the rest of this round and sl st into first st (30sts)

 

This is why it's ruffling, you have nearly 2x too many stitches, and you really should only have 7 rounds.

[Mothergooseberry]

LOL. I was afraid someone would ask for that. Ok, here goes:

 

magic circle or chain 3 and create round - join with sl st in first ch (I created round)

RND1: ch 1, 10 hdc in circle, sl st into first st (10sts)

RND 2: ch 1, 2 hdc in each stitch around, sl st into first st (20 sts)

RND 3: ch 1, *2hdc in the first stitch, hdc in the next stitch* . Repeat *-* arund and sl st into first st (30sts)

RND 4: ch 1, *2hdc in the first stitch, hdc in each of the next 2 stitches*. Repeat *-* around and sl st into first st. (40 sts)

RND 5: ch 1, *2hdc in the first stitch, hdc in each of the next 4 stitches*. Repeat *-* around and sl st into first st. (48 sts).

RND 6: ch 1, *2hdc in the first stitch, hdc in each of the next 5 stitches*. Repeat *-* around and sl st into first st. (56 sts).

RND 7: ch 1, *2hdc in the first stitch, hdc in each of the next 13 stitches*. Repeat *-* around and sl st into first sti (60 sts)

 

And that's where I stopped.

[magiccrochetfan]

You know, I'm sitting here reading the pattern and I may have figured out what I did wrong. I went online and looked at some other patterns using the hdc to make rows, and they all say to turn your work at the end of each row and stack the next rnd on top of the one just finished. This pattern just says sl st in the first st and starts instructions for next rnd. I was just sl st when I came to that first st, and then went up, did my chain st, and just kept going around in the same direction.

Would that explain my problem?

I don't think turning or not turning is the problem. I think you have too many stitches.

 

Can you type out round 7? Including whatever it says about repeating the round.

[Granny Square]

Just for round numbers, let's say the ruler measures 10".  If you stopped increasing right there, and worked the same number of stitches 'straight' to the crown-to-brim, and iif there were no ruffles at all in your piece, you will fit a head over 30" around.  To give you an idea, I just looked it up -- if it had no ruffles it's already too big to fit a basketball.

 

The math I was explaining above is the same as the CrochetCabana site, but they probably explain it better.  I suggest using this site's 'recipe' for the cap portion and then follow your pattern for the rest...

 

edit-your last note came while I was typing the above.  No, turning would just give a different 'look' to the stitches.  Without turning, it looks more 'spiralled; also, if you turn it will match the look of the stitches in the part that covers the back of the neck, which is made in rows not rounds.

 

One thing - you said "And 14 would be about right because I just finished Rnd 7 according to the pattern, but each Rnd called for a round, then a repeat."  But that means you ARE on round 14.  Is it possible you are counting the rows wrong?  Does the pattern say to stop increasing somewhere between rows 7 and 14?  You said "It says to keep going until the measurement from the crown to the brim is 8 to 8-1/4 inches" - but does it tell you to keep increasing all the way?  If the instruction is 'work straight', that means without increasing.  I think you should have stopped increasing about 3-4" in diameter ago.

[Mothergooseberry]

You know, I'm sitting here reading the pattern and I may have figured out what I did wrong. I went online and looked at some other patterns using the hdc to make rows, and they all say to turn your work at the end of each row and stack the next rnd on top of the one just finished. This pattern just says sl st in the first st and starts instructions for next rnd. I was just sl st when I came to that first st, and then went up, did my chain st, and just kept going around in the same direction.

 

Would that explain my problem?

[Mothergooseberry]

No, They're HDC's. And 14 would be about right because I just finished Rnd 7 according to the pattern, but each Rnd called for a round, then a repeat. In fact there were no single crochets in the whole pattern.

[magiccrochetfan]

In your photo, i think i see about 14 rounds. This is single crochet, right?

[Mothergooseberry]

Thanks for letting me know that rule, Kathy. I have deleted the offending part of my post.

 

I had just finished Rnd 7. I may actually try to hook up with some crochet group in this area because I seem to learn better in a "hands-on" setting.

[magiccrochetfan]

It looks like you are increasing too much. What row are you on?

 

The 8" should not be a flat measurement, it should be over the curve of the hat shape.

 

Crochetcabana has this on hat construction http://www.crochetcabana.com/html/round_hat.html as well as lots of other good info.

 

The site guidelines ask us not to scan or photograph parts of patterns, but to type out only the bit we need to quote.

 

Quite a surprising coincidence that you are in central MO too! We have a weekly fiber arts group in Fulton if you would ever be interested. We have a lot of fun, and i'd be happy to try to help you in person with the pattern.