I can knit hat now?

[asterroc]

I want to knit a hat. I bought circular needles (size 5, 16") and some yarn (100g) - the person at the yarn store suggested how much of it and what size needles to fit it. She also said something about 4.5 stitches per inch I think, but I don't know how to knit to a specific gauge.

I am under the impression that I should start my knitting at the bottom of the hat and work my way to the top, doing slip stitches along the way. How do I know how many stitches to cast on? How do I know how often to do slip stitches? I'd rather not work directly from a pattern, as I tend to get bored doing that, I want more of general guidelines to help me learn to knit things w/o a pattern.

Comments

[always-going.livejournal.com]

It was free hand - which would explain why I started at the "wrong end" (the part that goes on your head, not the skinny part) - the one your roommate made sounds awesome. Do you still have it??

[zandperl.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'm pretty sure it's with my other infrequently worn winter clothes - it's wool so it's a bit scratchy. I should take a photo of it sometime.