A Winter hat

This hat was born from a discussion with my friend M---- as to what to do with left over knitting yarn. I usually make scarves, but have a box full of them, so she suggested a hat.

Tight fitting hats such as beanies never really suit me, and I have been on the lookout for beret style knitted hats for a while. There are a lot of "slouchy" hat patterns around the internet, and I figured these would be similar to a beret style, so I had a little hunt to see what I could find.

The pattern I chose was 'Springtime In Philadelphia" which I found free on Ravelry. It was supposed to be worked in a fingering yarn, which is about a 4ply in Australian yarn,  My yarn was an 8ply Morris Empire "Clove" 100% merino yarn, which was left over from my cardigan. Mmmm....... what to do. I could keep hunting for something in an 8 ply, or use smaller needles. 

In the end it came down to what needles I had. The pattern began on double pointed needles, and I had a set of  old size 9, or finer ones for working with 4 ply. I chose to use the old size 9 ( 3.75mm) and just went for it. When it came to the band, I used my circular needles in 3.25mm.

Over all it is a little big, but at the end of the day that is OK. It still covers my ears and I am sure it will stay but on a windy day.