It turns out this wasn't really my fault! After trying again with the proper sized yarn I've determined the #knitting pattern is incorrect. Other hat patterns for this type of knitting machine call for about double the stitches per row and about double the rows.
I learned a lot through this painful process though. I understand enough about how this works that I'm going to try to adapt a different pattern that has proper measurements to the style of hat I want. #knitting #machineknitting