Synopsis: This is a wonderful design. Light weight, but very squishy & warm. The stretch capacity is amazing. I felt the instructions for the crown decreases and closure were vague, but am very pleased with the finished hat.

Used light fingering weight, 100% merino, worsted-spun yarn. Followed instructions for large size and obtained my objective of a medium size fit.

Used twisted German cast on. (I do not like the way my stiches lean when I rearrange knits and purls from 1x1 to 2x2 ribbing when using provisional and long tail tubular cast ons.)

Used US 2.5 needles for entire hat.

Tried WIP on before beginning decreases. I can’t believe something this narrow easily slipped over my 22” circ. head with stretch to spare.

To me, the pattern instructions for the crown and closure could be clearer. It was intuitive to maintain the brioche pattern while making the crown decreases; self doubt was my only issue. The closure was more difficult for me to understand. Enlarging the photo on page 4 provided more clarity, but I still had questions. I could not find definitive closure help in the project notes of other Ravelers or on YouTube. I contacted the designer (via the comments section on her Ravelry pattern page); she replied privately with an answer very similar to her pattern instructions, but used “even” and “odd” stitches instead of every other stitch. Many projects were closed with grafting. I ultimately decided to use the Finchley graft for closing. (This grafting method is performed inside of the work and does not leave dog ears.)

I hope the closure section of this pattern will include a supporting link one day. I also hope to try this pattern again with woolen-spun fingering weight yarn.

Finished Measurements
height=9”
base diameter: 9”
2x2 ribbing gauge (per 4”, after blocking): 30sts, 32r
brioche gauge (per 4”, after blocking): 26sts, 28r

Hat Closure Update: I really wanted to understand the closure. I read a method like this somewhere before, remembered it was touted for being able to cinch a large number of stitches; I cannot remember the source. After finishing the spur hat on this project page, I knit a preemie hat and hopefully carried out the crown decreases and closure method described in this pattern the way the designer intended. This was my method:

1. When my decreases were down to 24 sts, I cut the yarn, leaving a 9” tail.
2. I positioned the hat so I could see the interior (wrong side) from the top of the hat. I threaded a needle with the tail yarn. Starting with the first stitch at the beginning of the round from the inside, I drew the needle and yarn through the back leg of every other stitch (stitch numbers 1, 3, 5, 7, 9….23) to the end of the round.
3. I then positioned the hat so I could see the exterior (right side) from the top of the hat. I slid the first stitch (stitch #1) off the knitting needle. Starting with the second stitch of the round, I drew the sewing needle and tail yarn through the front leg of every other stitch (stitch numbers 2, 4, 6, 8….24), removing the threaded stitches (even and odd numbered) off the knitting needle as I progressed to the end of the round.
4. I tried pulling the tail yarn to see if the back leg and front leg stitched loops would close one at a time; it did not work. I loosened the opening and positioned the hat so the BOR faced me. I placed a needle behind the thread that connected the back leg threaded stitches and and front leg threaded stitches and pulled the needle and yarn toward me. This closed the opening of the back leg threaded stitches. Next I pulled the yarn tail; this closed the opening of the front leg threaded stitches. No opening remained.