Permutation noun
- one of the many ways in which something can be arranged

This all started with that little gray and pink hat. It was quick and fun and as cheerful as can be. It would have been a lovely pattern all on its own.

But I have a hard time knowing when to stop. I decided we needed some options. Before I knew what happened, this had gone from a quick little hat pattern to something a bit more fun!

The pattern includes two different brims, three different bodies, and two different crowns. You also get to decide if you’d like a straight or a folded brim and whether you’d like to work it in a single color or do a bit of colorwork. There are dozens of possible combinations!

Now I know the idea of that many possibilities can sound a bit daunting, but don’t worry. I’ve shown lots of different variations in the pictures so you can see exactly what the various options look like and pick a combination you’re sure to love.

The pattern is written in four sizes each (castons of 88, 96, 104, or 112 stitches), and you should feel free to adjust your gauge a bit to fine tune the fit of the pieces. Just be sure that you’re working at a gauge that gives you a fabric you like with your chosen yarn!

I recommend working at something around 5, 5.25, or 5.5 stitches per inch, and I’ve included a table to help you figure out what gauge you’ll want to use for your size. With that range of sizes and gauges, the hats will fit a head between 17.5 and 24.75 inches (with lots of points in between). You can almost certainly make any size hat with less than 225 yards of the main yarn and 100 yards of the contrast yarn).

These are perfect for you if:

• You feel a hat phase coming on
• You want lots and lots of options
• You have some fancy, colorful yarn you want to show off

They’re not for you if:

• You don’t like charts (the pattern uses charts)
• You hate swatching (you need to swatch to check your needle size)