Update: The designer is reworking the pattern and the new version will be clearer! Hooray!

This design is really cool… but unfortunately, the pattern is not well written. :/

(I realize the designer’s first language is not English, but that’s not the issue -- the charts are the biggest problem, and those are not language-dependent.)

The main chart doesn’t mark the repeat or include numbers for rounds/stitches -- note that the bottom two rounds are NOT part of the repeat, and should only be worked once. The pattern repeat is only the first 20 stitches, not the full 40 shown.

The instructions for binding off stitches mid-pattern are vague at best. I will have to figure out that part when I get there! Tempted to do mirrored decreases instead of actual bind-offs in the middle of the fabric…

Update, Nov. 6: I ended up writing out the instructions for the decrease section line by line, to make it easier to follow and keep track. I decided to go for paired decreases (K2tog and SSK) rather than actually binding off stitches mid-hat. (Now, I just have to knit it that way and see if I like it.)