THE BEST HAT EVER! It’s warm, it’s soft and it’s fun. I need to make an Elbaite scarf to go with it.

If you’re thinking of making one be sure to knit a gauge. I knit the crown with size #6 needles and switched to #5s to get a slightly stiffer fabric for the brim. I also wanted a wee bit of negative ease. Here are my mods:

• I cast on 45 stitches for the crown and made the fringes 15 stitches instead of 14.

• I placed an eyelet about an inch below the fringe to be able to weave the “cord” through and close the top of the crown. I did this by adding a yarn over in each fourth row between the 4th and 5th stitches before the fringe. I closed it up by knitting together the fifth stitch before the fringe and the yarn over in row 5.

• I made the crown 21.5” long.

• I picked up 102 stitches around the crown using US #5 needles

• I made the last purl section 12 rows total.

• I knit 26 rows of stockinette for the hat brim lining.