Such a cute and popular pattern!

For a shop sample, I thought it best to make this cute and popular design with NO modifications. With that in mind, I made a few swatches…

I am a slightly loose knitter. Yet, I found that I needed to use a US 2 (2.75 mm) to get the stated gauge in stockinette stitch -- 5 sizes down from the pattern’s US 7 (4.5 mm).

With that in mind, I tried a bit of ribbing with a needle one size down from that, US 1 (2.25 mm). No good. Too small.

My restart decision was to use a US 3 (3.25 mm) for both ribbing and stranded colorwork. It worked for me. I made the best hat possible with the unmodified pattern and the worsted weight yarn.