Stitches

What is the easiest way to use an adult knitting pattern for a child size?

I have a knitting pattern for a hat but it's for an adult and i want to knit it for a petite 4-year old. Is it best to decrease the overall number of stitches? or the size of the needles i use? Or something else?

Public Comments

1. The most reliable way to decrease the size of the hat is to cast on fewer stitches. According to your gauge, cast on the number that will give you the proper head circumference. If the pattern contains lace, you will need to do fewer repeats.
2. Knit a swatch, 1" x 1" using yarn and needle recommended in pattern. Measure how many stiches per inch. Measure child's head. Cast on number of stitches per inch x measurement of child's head. Increase and decrease stitches per pattern. This formula will work for any size--child or adult.
3. I just can't follow a pattern exactly. I always have to make a few "adjustments" to make it work better for me. So making a hat is the simplest of things possible. This is the very first thing I get my beginners to knit -- before anything else -- to learn their knit stitch. Okay, the first thing you do -- ALWAYS - is to make your gauge swatch. You would knit about a 4x4 inch or 10x10 cm sample, in the yarn and in the pattern you are going to use with the needles you want to use. Then take a look at it. Sometimes I wash or steam the piece to see how it will react when wet. If I like it, fine. If not, then I fix it. Change needle size perhaps? Then measure how many stitches you get in the inch, or over 10 cm. Measure the head and calculate how many you need for that size. I always subtract about 10-15% so it is snug fitting like a hat should be. You don't want it to slide off! Then just knit!! When you have enough rows (keep measuring against the head) then start decreasing. When you are down to about 6-8 stitches, tie them off, and that is it! Simple. Once you know the basic principle involved in making hats, you can make them to fit ANYone. It's not hard. Just takes a bit of math... very simple math. Finally, a use for all those homework assignments! haha I like the roll-brim hat the best for its simplicity: http://www.crazyauntpurl.com/archives/2005/06/easy_rollbrim_k_1.php (she's the best!) http://www.thedietdiary.com/knittingfiend/Hats/Hat.html (generates a pattern for you)
4. if you have a hat for a adult, divide it by half, and if you want to shorten your needles, its ok, not a nessesity though.