The Bobble Row takes 5 times as long to knit as the rest of the rows, because of all the additional stitches it requires to make the bobble. Knit purl knit purl knit into one stitch on the front, purl back those 5, knit across the 5 stitches again… for each bobble.

Hang in there with me. There’s a point to this.

Essentially, there are two different sets of instructions for making the bobble in this pattern. On the first bobble row of the hat, I followed the “make bobble” instructions, which have you completing the bobble on the bobble row by slipping the extra stitches over. The hat instructions have you purling 5 together on the next row, on the way back – which I dutifully followed after I noticed the instructions were different.

Purling 5 together is no easy feat, and the process can be riddled with mistakes. It is much simpler to slip the stitches over the bobble while you are on the bobble row. In fact, completing the bobble on the bobble row is much faster and more efficient, because you can just knit and purl on the other 3 pattern rows. And the bobble looks identical.

Ergo, you should complete the bobbles on the bobble row. Feel free to apply this tidbit of wisdom to life as well as knitting. I think it is something akin to doing it right the first time. Or maybe it is about not doing things the hard way.

Unless you know a reason why I should complete the bobble on the next row? Please leave me a comment if you do! Or just to say hi. That’s nice, too.

I hope there is a good reason why I should be knitting this hat flat and seaming it instead of knitting it in the round. Maybe some shaping magic? I can dream.