This hat begins with an I-cord and can be adapted up or down in size depending on your yarn weight and needle, as well as the number of stitches in your I-cord. It is knitted top down.
The hat has a hemmed edge, and earflaps are knit after the edge has been turned and sewn. It is finished by picking up stitches on the edges in one color and immediately bound off in another color. The decorative hat strings are made of two row I-cord.

9/26/17: Pattern has been updated to include chart
8/13/23: hat measurement is incorrect in pattern; it should read 21 inches in circumference.