A Hat for my Sister

Last Christmas I decided to give yarn related presents to my sister and my brother's girlfriend, but having little time to actually do the knitting since little J was quite rightly dominating my attention, I wanted to find a pattern that was simple and showed off some beautiful yarn.
I found what I thought would be the answer in the pages of Simply Knitting Issue101. It was a simple beanie hat with a lace border above the ribbing, knit in the gorgeous chunky Colinette Calligraphy yarn which comes in a veritable rainbow of different shades. I quickly ordered a skein each in two shades - Monet for my sister, Gaugin for my brother's girlfriend. The colours in this yarn are stunning and beg to be worked up into special accessories.
My brother's girlfriend is quite crafty so I thought she might like to knit up the hat herself, so wrapped up the yarn with a set of DPNs and the pattern. But my sister is not crafty, so I knew I would need to knit hers myself.

The pattern was really easy - I used a long circular needle and the magic loop method rather than DPNs - and the hat flew off the needles in one evening. However, when I tried it on, the hat seemed to be far too small. I know I probably have a larger than average head circumference, but my sister has a lot of hair to fit under a hat and I wanted it to be flattering.

So I ripped back to the end of the lace section and added an extra 9-10 rounds (can't actually remember which it was in the end) then finished off the crown shaping again. As it turned out, I still had yarn left and could have added an extra few rounds, which if I knit it again I would do as I prefer a slightly more slouchy-look hat. But it was fine, so I wrapped it up and gave it to my sister for Christmas.

My sister absolutely loved her hat and wears it all the time, but because I live 100 miles away from her I have only just got some photos! It makes me more inclined to gift a few more knits (which I have always been disinclined to do before in case people feel obliged to wear something they hate!).

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