Swatching for a hat

 I've started the Ishbel beret with Angora 50 from The Little Knitting Company.  I decided to swatch as I've never used this yarn before and didn't want to get half way through a hat that looked like an egg cosy.  Or a car cosy.  So I swatched using 4mm needles and was pleased to find 20sts in 10cm.  Grand.

I also measured my head so I'm knitting the medium size for a 22inch head.  Never mind that I'm mixing measurement systems. The pattern calls for 108 sts on a provisional cast on.  I almost didn't bother.  I've used provisional cast ons before for toe up socks, but that tends to be less than half or even a quarter of 108.  But then, I decided I'd prefer the neater finish and I should try to knit at least a few rows before making blind alterations.

The pattern calls for 180 metres of yarn so I'll be using nearly two balls of the Angora 50.  I'm going to mix red and grey together beacuse I also want to knit an Ishbel scarf and I'd like the two items to match.  They'll coordinate in a fashion because they'll both have slightly mismatched colour stripes.