Swatching, pre- and post-blocking/washing (per 4”):

1: Dish soap warm water hand wash, lay flat dry (expected method of care)

This feels light for a DK, but I don’t often knit with DK. If I wasn’t planning on lining the hat with fleece for cozyness, I’d consider re-mathing the pattern for a much denser gauge, but I like the textured look on the larger needles, even after washing.

Haha, this swatch is like 25% of the whole hat! But since I do want this to actually fit a specific person, and fit them well, I’m going through the whole shebang.

Tillybuddy’s Very Stretchy Cast On

Lining using instructions from TechKnitter for lining with polar fleece and sewing in lining. Slightly modifying the polar fleece instructions to have more decrease seams, to better match the hat it is going into.

I also tacked in the liner at the crown and at the start of the four decrease points. With just the edge sewn in per TECHknitter’s recommendation, the liner pulled inside out every time the hat was taken off, which was annoying to the recipient. I didn’t see any issues with the the liner not remaining smooth, but I also was careful to line up the liner very well before adding the extra tacks.