Hat...Now With More Inches

We have about four inches of ribbing now. And I am worried that I don't have enough yarn. I'm wondering if I should start throwing in some grey stripes now rather then wait until the end and have to rip back. And how long should I make it from edge to decreases? I'm thinking about 6 inches from where the ribbing would fold up.

And I have to say....trust your instincts, trust your instincts, trust your instincts. I put the hat down for a bit, picked it up and thought "Huh. I didn't realize I was on the second needle of a round. Didn't I just finish a round?" Looked back at the previous needle...nope, it was the first needle and I was now on the second. Despite a niggling voice in the back of my mind saying, "Are you sure you're right?" I plowed on and finished the round.

Only to discover that I had carried the yarn from the beginning of the first needle to the beginning of the second needle without actually knitting anything. So three needles full of stitches ripped back. Sigh.

May I just say how much I hate these needles? The only size 8 double-points they had at The Black Sheep on Saturday were Bryspun. I'll take a picture of them when I get home but they have very pointy ends. And pointy ends are okay....in fact, they're great if you're doing lace. Sure, they poke my hands but all double points poke my hands...these are just a little more painful than most. The real problem? Where the oh, so pointy end joins the straight and narrow of the needle there is a little step...a jog...an angle. And the yarn *thunks* over that step with every stitch. I just realized what it's like...it's like driving on a concrete highway with the joints going thunk-thunk-thunk under your wheels. I hates them, my precious.