holiday knitting, or the evolution of a hat

My work friend Kevin gave me a present last year for Christmas. I wasn't expecting it, because there are a lot of people at work, and we're lunch buddies, but don't really socialize outside of work or anything. So I promised myself I would make him something for Christmas this year, because he's just so nice. He does things like that all the time. So I settled on the idea of knitting him a hat. But then I ambitiously decided that I couldn't just knit HIM a hat. I had to knit one for Ben and Max, these two editors that I really like. And then what about my assistant? And Matt, the other editor on my team? All of them deserve hats! So I placed a big Cascade 220 order with Webs, in colors I think they would like, and I downloaded and printed out the London Beanie pattern. Unfortunately, the first hat I knit (in Kevin's boring colors, by the way...) turned out a leeetle small. I call this montage--
Idiot in Bathroom with Camera:







The first hat you see there was following the pattern without making adjustments. Swatch? For a hat? Surely you jest... Ha ha. Well, I've learned my lesson. But it was kind of fun figuring stuff out as I went along. It just meant that I knit TWO EXTRA UNNECESSARY HATS. That first hat (and second, really) will fit a child I know. I'm sure I can find one. Perhaps Spanky's nephew...

For the second hat, I'd increased the number of cast on stitches by nine, to 81 instead of 72, so it fits around my head without squeezing, but then I lost my nerve. The pattern said to knit ten rows and then add the first stripe. After the stripe sequence, you're supposed to knit ten more rows and then do the decreases. I figured I'd add some rows, since the first one didn't fit, so I knit 13 to begin with, and then added the stripes, but then it looked too big, so I quickly started the decreases about five rows after the stripes, which means that not only is the hat still too shallow, but the stripes are skewed toward the top, rather than being in the middle. This second hat is in Ben's colorway. He has a scarf that is grey and red, so I figured I'd make his hat to match. Kevin wanted boring black and grey to match his--wait for it--black coat.

Max is getting the third hat--the first one I did that fit--the brown, orange, and yellow one. He's kind of retro, and I think this hat is the perfect colorway for him! So then I had to go back and knit a black one and a grey/red one that would actually fit. By the time I finished Max's hat, I had figured out that I only had to increase the number of cast-on stitches, and then follow the pattern as written. I'm not particularly enamored of the way there are no knit rows between the decrease rows at the top, which I think gives them a bunchy look rather than a smooth top, but hopefully the boys won't notice. I still have to do my assistant's hat, and just for a change of pace, I think I'm going to make Matt Hothead from Deb Stoller's Stitch and Bitch book. Maybe in blues though. He has pretty blue eyes.