Unknonwn Aran gauge singles in wool or wool/alpaca blends, left over from Lord-knows-what. The black may be a fragment of Manos. The light teal may be a something from Classic Elite, vintage circa 1995 or so. The sea green is anyone’s guess.

I started with 88 stitches, doubled for double knitting. The brim is done that way, reversible, so that there’s a double layer of knitting over the ears. I then took the black yarn and did an entire row of K2tog to unite front and back, followed by four rows of plain black stockinette, working the last one picking up the reverse side purl bump of the first row of black to create a welt. Then a couple of simple stripes in single thickness on 88 stitches to add more depth, and another 5-round stockinette stitch welt. Then about five rounds of solid teal. After that I began my decreases, dividing the stitches into 6 groups of 11, and working SSK-knit to next marker, followed by a round of plain knit, until I had only 6 stitches left. I finished of with three inches of I-cord on my remaining 6 stitches, and bound off, leaving a long tail.

Then I made an absolutely absurd pom-pom from my leftover yarn, and sewed it to the very end of the I-cord, making a bouncy structure that looks sort of like one of those sea anemones that is a tuft at the end of long stalk. Or a Dr. Seuss flower - take your pick.

Hat fits perfectly, is warm enough for sub-zero weather snow shoveling; and best of all - is highly silly.