I used just the playful yarn instead of choosing a different yarn for the band. I have knit this hat a couple of times and i always find it sad that i never get to the end color in the evolution. This used the entire cake of yarn. The drawback is that you can’t see the color the cake started with because it is on the underside of the band. I took a photo so you can see all the colors. This colorway is incredible.

Modifications:
I knit 16 rows, then 1 purl row, then 16 rows for the band.
I knit 5 pattern repeats

these pics a before blocking. I’ll add some post blocking pics soon. The hat has a kind of rippled shape before blocking that is very nice.

It was -17 out on the day these pics were taken and my lips are blue even in the house.

the first two pictures are post blocking, the rest are before blocking.