This is a fast way to end up with a very warm hat for those severe cold spells. I have made the size medium in 12 hours of not very strenuous knitting. It uses a bulky weight, shown here in a wool mohair blend, and the strands for the motif essentially make a lining. The techniques for this pattern include: Working in the round, two handed stranding and chart reading.
I cast my stitches onto the larger needle using the cable cast on method. Then I picked up and began using the smaller needle to make the ribbing. I have found this method makes an even cast on that has some give to it. I recommend using a circular ndl with the magic loop method and two handed stranding during the chart knitting. On rounds 6 and 8 I switched between main and contrast color to prevent long floats.