This is modeled after a photo I saw in the Boston Globe online of a hat inspired by traditional peasant hat in -- Mongolia? Not sure; it was some years ago that I saw the photo. But I remembered the hat and loved it, and finally got round to making my version of it. The only skills you need to make this hat are knitting (in the round), purling, and basic decreasing (knitting two stitches together).

I used KnitPicks MainLine yarn. Moss stitch looks really lovely in this aran weight cotton/wool blend yarn. Pure cotton would work okay (and would actually drape better), but I love the stretchiness and bounce the wool lends to the cotton. The moss stitch section is knit in a much looser gauge than the garter stitch brim so that the hat has both a slouchy top and a solid, neat brim.

The optional sash makes the hat a little perkier and helps keep your ears warm. My head is big and I have a lot of hair, so the hat doesn’t slouch as much as it did on the model I saw in the Globe. You could knit it larger to make it slouchier (or just have a smaller head/flatter hair than me).