I started out casting on as directed, but the hat looked way too small. So I increased, and then went back to the cast-on, cut the string, and decreased until closing. So, essentially the hat ended up upside-down from what I intended, but it didn´t matter in the end. Easy, for a really great result.

blogged here:
http://www.robbyraccoon.com/2010/05/03/purple/