Third Time's the Charm

I recently purchased the Itty Bitty Hats book to make some hats for my son. I started out with the basic roll brimmed hat. The hat patterns only gave out age ranges for size and not finished head circumferences, so I measured my son's head and made the hat roughly his head size. Well I neglected to realize that the hat needed to be smaller than the head circumference due to stretching, so I got this:

That wouldn't work, so I gave the hat to my husband. It fit him quite well.

Then I attempted to make another hat--the one on the cover of the book. I made the hat slightly smaller than the first one, but it still didn't quite work:

That hat I claimed for myself, since I wanted to make an adult-sized version anyway.

Realizing finally that I needed to make the hat at least 2 inches smaller than the head circumference, I began the third hat. I used the basic rolled brim hat as my guide but did a 2x2 rib for an inch instead. I didn't want the rolled brim this time. This time it worked!

Although I'm pleased with this hat, I wished I would have done the ribbing for 2 inches. I'll make sure I make that adjustment for the next time. These hats work up quickly, so making another one will be a snap!