Very clever pattern for headband portion! Very thick and cushy with a neat finished edge.

Used size 7 needles but found that, even though I am a loose knitter, my gauge did not quite match the pattern and the headband would have been too tight. Added 16 more rows between the ear flaps on the front for a better fit. Picked up 8 more stitches for the top and quickly decreased the extra 8 stitches in the first 4 rows for the top (evenly decrease 4 over 1 round, knit 1 rnd even, evenly decrease 4 on the next rnd, then continue to knit to 5 inches)
My grafting started out a little wonky until I realized I needed to graft in garter stitch. Hid that part on the inside. Very pleased with the end result.

For Lionbrand version, used size 8 needle and worked the number of stitches called for in pattern. Wanted a closer fitting top so worked 1 row plain between first 4 decrease rounds and then decreasing every round until 6 stitches left.