The Rembrandt Beret

This is a knitted and felted project.
I wanted a beret that had that look of real big and sloppy, the kind that really requires a lot of nerve and attitude to wear.  A beret that could be worn in multiple ways, either off the back, or to the side.

I started with a very simple beret pattern, most of them are the same; head band, increase greatly, decrease gently.  I used a handspun merino, angora, and mohair blend (about 20 wpi) and knit on a #3 needle.  Since I was going to felt it, I increased the pattern by about 1.75.  As I was knitting, I figured I needed to know how long to make it, so it was then that I decided to knit and felt a swatch...I was surprised that the length shrunk more than the brim...OOPS....
Onward...After finishing the knitting portion, I felted, and felted, and felted, and could not get the brim anywhere near my head size.
So my wife had an idea and this is how I executed it. I took a scissor and cut a 2-1/2" length up the brim in 8 equally spaced areas around the perimeter.  Then I overlapped these areas by about 5/8" of an inch and needle felted them together. Boy, is my wife smart, after this it went back into the washer.  Needless to say, it looks planned, so planned that I might do it again on purpose.  The cuts into the brim caused an extreme decrease going into the wide part of the beret.
Lesson Learned----ALWAYS knit a swatch and FINISH as you intend to.

Vaya Con Dios, Rich