I’m making this long enough to pull over my head without the need for a closure, so I just started straight in on the first coral branch.

I didn’t work into the chain right next to the hook, so I added a chain for each turn to make up for it.

I altered the branches a little. I increased the length of the main stem on the outer ones from 0 to 2 stitches and decreased the length of the main stem on the inner ones from 3 to 2. I hoped this would help avoid the inner ones flopping over.

My repeats are:

outer: ch 17, ss 3; ch 5, ss 6; ch 7, ss 8; ch 5, ss 6;
(10 for the branch, 7 for in between).

chain 30, ss 29 for coral-free section at back of neck (one end only).

inner: ss 7; ch 6, ss 3; ch 5, ss 6.