Pattern: Giftie Slouchie Beanie (Archived) by Tanis Gray incorporating Betsy by Jane Richmond.
Yarn: TFA Grey Label in Chris Grey
Ravelry project page here.
I knit this hat for my sister in law for Christmas and it's pretty awesome. I would definitely knit it again, though maybe with a few mods. For this version I used the free Giftie Slouchie Beanie pattern by Tanis Gray, a great jumping off point. However I didn't love how the decreases were worked at the top of the hat. I Decided to make up my own decreases by working in a way that I thought flowed intuitively out of the established lace pattern. I love the decreases, how they turned the lacy "V's" into a leaves at the top. I realized after the fact that this looks a heck of a lot like the decreases Jane used in her lovely Betsy pattern, which is why I've opted to link to it as well. When I knit this hat again I'll work exclusively from the Betsy pattern since I'm not thrilled with the way the lace flows out of the ribbing in this version. Betsy addresses that and has a perfect ribbing to lace transition. The lesson here, don't cheap out! A well written pattern with great attention to detail is always worth a few bucks. ;)
Regardless, the hat is cozy and warm and perfectly slouchie and my sister in law adores it. Success!
That bottom picture is weird, but it shows the pretty leaf detail in the decreases really well, so I'm sticking with it. This hat would also be super cute with a pompom, but I don't think of my sister in law as a pompom person (the horror!) so I left it off.
In the past I've decided that the sanest thing to do around the holidays is to give myself a break by not making/knitting all of my gifts, however this year I started to second guess that approach. While I was braving the crowds at the mall the week before Christmas I made a vow that next year I would make more gifts. Sitting up late trying to knit all of the things before the big day is much more relaxing than trying not to hyperventilate in the parking lot at the mall. I'm starting my knitting today. :)