{"id":233,"date":"2011-03-07T21:48:12","date_gmt":"2011-03-08T05:48:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.kheryn.com\/blog\/?p=233"},"modified":"2011-03-07T21:51:42","modified_gmt":"2011-03-08T05:51:42","slug":"da-bomb-bomber-bulk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.kheryn.com\/blog\/2011\/03\/07\/da-bomb-bomber-bulk\/","title":{"rendered":"Da Bomb, or How to Make the Bomber Hat Pattern work with Bulky Yarn"},"content":{"rendered":"

I’ll be honest, I was seriously tempted to give up on this hat a couple of times.<\/p>\n

\"Da<\/a>
Da Bomb<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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The pattern calls for “chunky” yarn.\u00a0 So, when my sister asked me over the phone what kind of yarn I’d need to make a bomber hat for her, I couldn’t remember whether the Lion Wool-ease Thick and Quick<\/a> yarn I’d used before was bulky (category 5) or super bulky (category 6).\u00a0 So, it came to pass that I ended up with 2 skeins of Lion Jiffy<\/a> sent via personal messenger (my mom) from the southeast corner of the country to the northwest.\u00a0 That’s when I discovered the mismatch in yarn weights.<\/p>\n

Undeterred, I figured I’d just make a few modifications and everything would just work out…\u00a0 And of course, after a few false starts it did.\u00a0 I tried a few options to avoid modifying the pattern, including just using larger hook sizes.\u00a0 I didn’t think the hat looked right with more space between the stitches.\u00a0 I ended up using a US J\/6.0 mm hook.\u00a0 If I had it to do over again, I’d probably go down to an I\/5.5 mm or H\/5.0mm hook so the fabric would be a little more solid.<\/p>\n

Fortunately, the pattern revisions followed by blocking resulted in a hat I was happy with.\u00a0 I daresay that my sister was happy with it, too.<\/p>\n

Without further ado, here’s what you need to do to make The Bomber with bulky weight yarn instead of super bulky (adult size only).<\/p>\n

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  1. More stitches in the main part of the hat.\u00a0 I increased up to 54.\u00a0 I probably only needed to go to about 48-50, but 54 worked, too.<\/li>\n
  2. More rows in main part of the hat.\u00a0 I unfortunately forgot to<\/li>\n
  3. Lengthen the ear flaps.\u00a0 I added 3 rows: 1 nondecreasing row after patterns rows and 2 nondecreasing rows after pattern row 3.\u00a0 Note that this does flip the pattern in terms of which direction you’re going.\u00a0 For example, normally you’d start row 4 in the 1st earflap by decreasing at the end of the row.\u00a0 If you follow these modifications, you’ll be coming from the opposite direction on row 4 (now row 7 since you’ve added 3 rows), and you’ll need to decrease at the start of the row instead to keep the earflap shape the same.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

     <\/p>\n