How To Knit a Hat Without a Pattern

This project started with some soft chunky white handspun yarn of mine that has been laying around for a while.  I decided to make a hat for my daughter Kira with it, but I guess I didn't want to go through the bother of finding a pattern, so I just started knitting.  I don't know if that is a good thing or not! 

Anyways, I knit a small swatch to see how many stitches per inch my yarn/ circular needle combo made.  Then I figured out the circumference of her head.  This was how I figured out how many stitches I needed to cast on to make the hat the right size.  

I knit in the round for several rows and then decided to switch to knit 2, purl 2 for a ribbed effect. This made the rim roll up, which was fine with me. Also the ribs are much more stretchy than just plain knitting, so that seems to make the hat size a little more flexible.  When the hat started looking long enough I started decreasing it (knit 2 together) until it closed shut. I didn't decrease in any particular fashion, just however I felt like it at the moment :P  I actually had to do this part like 3 times cause I either I kept trying to decrease it before it was long enough or I was decreasing too fast.  

Once I was done I tried it on Kira again and decided it could still use some more length by the ears, so I picked up some stitches on the inside of the hat and started knitting ear flaps.  I also added a little crochet flower made with naturally dark wool for interest.  

She likes to wear it (cause "Mommy made it."), but honestly next time I should probably try a pattern and see if I can learn some more interesting stitches  or something.  I am not overly thrilled with the results, but it was just an experiment anyways (that's how I like to learn), so what can you expect!