On International Women's Day: a very feminine 1930-style crocheted hat with appliqué flower

I love hats. In my heydays I used to wear hats all the time. Now, with a toddler and in permanent running mode, I tend to use always the same, comfy woolly hat. Not the sexiest, I admit. But, in spite of my current practical, and quite spartan, style, I still have a special love for those feminine 1920s and 1930s hats, those pretty little ones with flowers on the side.
So, sometime ago, I bought a load of Japanese Noro Silk Garden yarn (pure joy, and the knitters and crocheters out there will understand me!), because I wanted to treat my best friend on her 30th birthday to a beautiful, soft and warm handmade poncho. Not on the cheap side, but definitely worth the effort and money.
With the leftovers (and some more brown wool yarn), I decided to crochet for myself a feminine, 1930-style hat with a big, BIG flower on the side (you can find the free pattern for the six-petal flower on the Lion Brand directory). I applied three beads to the inner part of the flower, and crocheted the hat by starting from the centre and increasing the number of treble stitches progressively up to the largest part (in brown, in my hat), which doesn't increase anymore and is made of thicker half treble and double crochet stitches (but you can find lots of easy patterns for beanies and cloches again on Lion Brand).

Today, on International Women's Day, a very special little woman posed for my camera to show the finished product...