Nice pattern! Well done as a free download and makes a lovely hat. I ended up not doing KTBL on brim - I think either way is fine and this made it a little more relaxed.

I used the yarn held double - Simply Soft black and Alpaca for brim and all ribbed sections, Alpaca and repurposed purple wool for reverse stockinette.

At first I tried 2 strands of Alpaca Dance with the simply soft and that was too thick. While I don’t think Alpaca Dance is really a DK as the band says, it’s also definitely not a fingering as it looks to be. It also does not like to be undone or split from other yarn once combined! It likes to stick. BE CAREFUL! And it is slightly itchy - I noticed that when I first used it in a scarf and now I do notice in the brim of the hat. But using the simply soft with it helps and also gives it some structure (the Alpaca Dance by itself just drapes and flops so it wasn’t working in the scarf I made).

Now waiting for the fur pompoms I ordered to arrive. I think I’ll use a black with purple tipped one or a pure black. Brown would be nice, too if a brown leather tag were added on the brim.

1/18: My purple fur pom arrived from AliExpress - It’s BEAUTIFUL! I love it. I actually finished this hat about 2 weeks prior and have been wearing it. But the pom pom is the final touch.

I decided to soak and block the hat to see if I could relax the fit a little. It worked - the yarn relaxed just enough and it’s now not as itchy since it’s a little looser. It is still very warm and the brim still seems to fit well and not too floppy.

My pompom has a snap on the bottom so I attached the snap to the hat. I really like this since now I can easily remove the pompom to wash HANDWASH the hat. I could also get a few colors and change it out!

I would definitely make this hat again and will see what i have in my stash to make some more. would be a wonderful gift hat or something to make to donate.