Used worsted cottons left over from Hap Blanket. First hat (even stripes) on larger needles, at gauge. Seemed too big for a newborn so knitted second hat (narrow white stripes) on smaller needles for a cozy newborn hat.

The pattern is somewhat confusingly written. I can imagine a newbie knitter getting totally stuck at the decreases. Maybe these tips will help:

Keep the hat in garter stitch by knitting the back-and-forth short rows, then alternating knit and purl rounds. (The pattern tells you this, but I’m just clarifying)

Choose a purl round for the setup round before the decreases. Don’t miss the single knit stitch after each group of purls. You’ll end up with four knit stitches evenly spaced around a purl round.

When the pattern says to use “removable” stitch markers, what they mean is markers that you can clip into the actual stitch itself, not onto the needle between stitches.

What the stitch marker does is alert you to the approaching knit stitch. You’ll do a centered double decrease (s2kp), keeping that column of knit stitches at the center of the decrease. And you’ll keep that stitch a knit stitch even on purl rounds.

So — you don’t actually need to fiddle with markers. Do your setup round, and notice where those four knit stitches are. Then just work your double decreases at that point, every four rounds.

1. Decrease round,
2. purl round,
3. knit round,
4. purl round,

Then another decrease round. Decrease rounds are knit, of course

This is a lot of words for something that’s actually quite simple!! Try a baby-size hat if you feel confused. They only take a few hours to knit, and then you’ll see how it all works and you’ll have the confidence to try bigger sizes