my alterations:

was able to get large enough gauge with worsted yarn to not need to alter the pattern width wise for a larger hat (and bulky -might- work the same for an adult hat) but knit 11 rows before doing crown spikes and then knit 3in from the setup for the spikes until the setup row for the ears and top of the hat.

for pointier ears i knit one round plain before starting decreases and continued knit one round plain ever other row until it got down to 3 stitches then continued as in the pattern.

instead of k2t for the tips of the ears and crown spikes i slipped the previously knitting stitch over the last knitted stitch and the cut the yarn and pulled the tail through. i felt this gave a nice consistent point once the ends are woven in.