Hat Knitting: Irish Eyes Beret

This past week I was given some yarn to knit a hat for someone as a gift to a third person.  Miraculously I was able to complete the project in time for the giving.

The pattern was found originally on Ravelry.com and is called Irish Eyes Beret.  The sister who asked for the hat to be prepared did not want the bobbles which made the hat a cinch to knit.  Here are the general directions:

1.  Cast on 88 stitches and rib K1, P1 for 10 rounds.
2. Increase round: K1, M1 around (132 stitches on needle--by the way, the ribbing is in a US size 5 16-inch circular needle and the increase round was on US size 7 24-inch circular needle).
3.  Knit plain (this is what I did. The bobbles are in the pattern) for about 21 rounds.
4. Begin decreasing by K10, SSK around. At this point I put in stitch markers after the SSK each time.  This way I never had to think again about when to SSK.  I felt pretty smart about that!

This is the beret with the decrease stitch markers in place.  I hope I remember to do this every time I make a hat from now on...!

5. Knit the decrease round then knit one round plain. Do this until you have decreased 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3 2, 1, and finally a K2tog round.  Be sure to knit the plain round after each decreasing round.
6. Switch to double pointed needles when there are too few stitches to continue on the circular needle.
7. Break yarn, leaving a good amount.  Insert the tail through those last few stitches on the needles (I think there were 8 or so stitches at this point...) and pull tight.  Tie off the yarn and weave in ends.
8.  Your hat is ready to block if you used wool or ready to wear if not.

It looks like a plate when finished!  This is what the sister wanted...a "flat" hat.

Sadly, I don't seem to find the finished hat picture on my phone camera, so you will just have to imagine it.