Melt the ICE Hat
January 28, 2026
Project recap
- Ravelry: PurringYarn’s Melt the ICE Hat
- Time spent: 11 hours
- Yarn: MacAusland’s Woollen Mills 2-ply fine (Fawn)
- Needle: US 8/5.0mm, US 6/4.0mm
- Duration: -2d
- Pattern: Melt the ICE Hat by YarnCultMN
Knitting for a cause
This is a good cause to knit and show some support given the recent events happened in Minnesota. The pattern is designed by a LYS in Minneapolis and the proceeds of this pattern will aid those who impacted by ICE.
I’m using the stash yarn of Treysta Sweater.
Modifications
Cast on
Use Alternating Cable Cast On for 1x1 rib. I usually do Italian tubular cast on for ribbing but I wanted to try something new this time. I referred this YouTube video Alternating Cable Cast On for Perfect Ribbing, but used a crochet hook when setting it up.
Hem and body
Knit 1x1 rib for 4" with US 6 and change to US 8 to knit plain stockinette for 2" before starting decrease.
Decrease
- Divide the stitches into half with markers, so a BOR plus another marker
- Row 1: At BOR, k1, ssk, knit to 3 sts before the marker, k2tog, k1. Repeat. (4 sts decreased)
- Row 2: Knit, but use better ssk method: when it comes to the previous SSK stitch (aka the 2nd st after the marker), ktbl
- Repeat 1 and 2 until there are 52 sts left. Then repeat row 1 only until there are 8 sts left (I have to the latter because I don’t have enough yarn; otherwise I could have just continue the 2-row repeat to the end). Comparing to the original pattern, this 2-row repeat makes a pointy hat.
- Continue with the pattern. I used this YouTube tutorial to add the braid tassel.
The journey of winning the yarn chicken
The first attempt
The pattern is easy enough but I ran out of yarn in the first attempt. Yes I lose the yarn chicken :( When nearing the top I noticed I won’t be able to finish it during half way of the decrease, even though I already did some mods like decrease 6 sts per round, I just don’t have enough yarn. And because I was using stash from MacAusland Mills, there’s no way for me to buy it again (let’s talk about the shipping cost in Canada…)
Win the yarn chicken
So I have to start over (almost) and unravel to the point of folded hem. Here is what I did to win the yarn chicken as I’m really short on yarn:
- Use US 8 instead of US 6 for the body. This is mainly for a looser row gauge.
- Plain stockinette instead of 1x1 rib after folded hem, as ribbing eats up yarn faster than stockinette.
Project timeline
- – Cast on.
- – Lost the yarn chicken and unravel. Finished the hat in the 2nd attempt. I won this time!
- - Block and add tassel.
New techniques learned
- Alternating Cable Cast On. I like this cast on method! It looks neat and stretchy. I won’t say it’s way easier than Italian CO though, I think the amount of work is almost the same, but I do find counting the CO sts are defeinitely easier!
