My friend up in Canada asked me if I’d make her a hat to go with the mittens I sent her for Christmas. She really liked my first Salute Hat (made in gorgeous olive Malabrigo Worsted, yum):

I offered her my famous “friends and family” knitting deal: if she bought the yarn, I’d make the hat. She chose the lovely “Nostalgia” colorway in Malabrigo Worsted:

I’m pleased to say the hat knit up very quickly:

Pattern: Salute Hat

Designer: Kate Oates of Tot Toppers (if you ever need a cute hat, check here first!)

Available: for $6 on Ravelry or directly from Tot Toppers

Yarn: Malabrigo Merino Worsted in Nostalgia (623), purchased from Webs for $12

Modifications:

Having made this hat once already, I had some things I wanted to alter.  My Canadian friend and I both have big heads, which meant the original brim looked a bit funny on us.  Both hats are modeled by my 8-year-old son, and you can see the smaller brim looks right on him, while the larger brim looks a bit silly.  You’ll have to trust that the bigger brim looks right on my big old head.  To make a larger brim, I picked up stitches starting right at the front/back band seam, and I made it broader by about four rows.  This of course meant that I had to change the size and shape of the heavy-weight interfacing that goes inside the brim to help it hold it’s shape, but that truly wasn’t that difficult.  In fact, I decided to rip out the original olive brim, and now MY hat also has a brim that matches my head size.

I also had some trouble with the back band rolling under.  This is not too surprising, considering that it’s just plain stockinette with a slip-stitch edge.  For my friend’s hat, I made the back brim twice as wide with a slipped stitch in the center.  Then as a final step in making up, I folded it in half and tacked it in place with whip-stitch.  This doubled-up back band doesn’t roll at all, plus it’s twice as cozy over the ears.  It also makes the hat a bit more substantial — my olive hat is noticeably floppy in comparison.