Materials:

• Size US 9, 16-inch circular and double point needles
• Several colors of leftover yarn, either bulky or two strands of worsted knitted together
• Tapestry Needle
• Pom pom maker (optional)

Abbreviations:

kfb = knit one stitch, then without dropping the working stitch, knit in the back of the stitch, thus increasing your stitch by one.

k2,p2 = knit 2, purl 2

k2tog = knit two stitches together

Ear flap (make 2):

With two double point needles cast on 4 stitches, leaving a 12-inch tail. This will be incorporated into the braided tie later.

Row 1 (wrong side): purl

Row 2 (right side): Kfb, k2, kfb (6 st.)

Repeat rows 1 and 2 until there are 18 stitches. Set this flap aside and repeat with second flap.

Hat body:

Start the hat using the same color as the ear flaps. With the circular needle, cast on 14 stitches for the back of hat; knit across stitches of the first ear flap making sure the right side is facing you. Cast on 22 stitches for the front; knit across second ear flap. There will be 72 stitches in all.

Join stitches carefully without twisting. K2, p2 on the front and back part of the hat (regular knit the ear flaps) for 6 rounds. This will make the nice ribbing and will prevent the hat from curling up.

Cut yarn, leaving a six-inch tail. Bring in a new color and knit 2 or 3 rounds, depending on your preference. Cut yarn, leaving a six-inch tail.

Continue knitting and changing stripes until the hat is about 5.5 inches tall. I usually go with 34-36 rows from the edge of the hat.

Start decreasing as follows:
Round 1: *K2tog knit 6.* Repeat * till end of round.
Round 2 (and all even rounds): Knit
Round 3: *K2tog, K 5*. Repeat * till end of round.
Round 5:*K2tog, K 4*. Repeat * till end of round. (this is where you should probably switch to the double points).
Round 7: *K2tog, K 3.* Repeat * till end of round.
Round 9:*K2tog, K 2.* Repeat * till end of round.
Round 11:*K2tog, K 1.* Repeat * till end of round.
Round 13: *K2tog.* Repeat * till end of round.

Gather remaining stitches with a darning needle and fasten off. Weave in all tails. The inside of your hat should look pretty cool, with all sorts of colorful ends. Tighten all the knots you made and then double tie them. Don’t pull too tightly as you want the stitches on the outside to look uniform. Just play with the tension of the knots before double knotting. I then knot the yarn ends vertically to one anther, if that makes sense, and trim them.

Braided ties:

Using all the colors from your stripes, cut 7 strands of yarn, about 24-inches long. Fold them in half and push the folded edge through the bottom of the ear flap from back to front. Draw the ends of the strands back through the loop and tighten the loop.  Divide the strands into three groups and braid them till they are about 8 inches long. Tie a knot at the end of the braid and leave two inches as fringe. Don’t cut the ends of the fringe until you’ve put in both ties. That way you can cut them evenly.

For the pom pom:

Use all your color strands together to create the pom pom. I love my pom pom maker, but you can also use the giant fork method. Once your pom pom is trimmed and pretty, secure it to the top of the hat using yarn and a darning needle. I like to go through the pom pom a few times to really get it to stay on the hat.