Finally, the "Viking Flap Hat" pattern

Viking Flap Hat Pattern





Yarn: Malabrigo Worsted Weight (handpaintedyarn.com) one skein. (I used rowan cord for my BIL's hat (24" around) and needed about 1 and 1/4 balls.)
Gauge: 18 sts in 4" on US#8 needles. Use the size needles you need to get gauge.
Notes: This hat is worked from the top down. This way you can easily try it on as you knit and the earflaps are knit last instead of having to add them to the hat. The pattern starts after the increases for the crown and is randomly knitting single and double garter stitch ridges in stocking stitch. When working the ear flaps, be sure to purl the first and last stitch on the WS when knitting those stitches to form a garter stitch row.
Sizing: You can easily make this hat of any gauge, any yarn in any size. Simple start knitting the crown. Measure your gauge when you have a sizable circle. Increase to the number of stitches you need, acording to you gauge, to fit your head size minus an inch. Once you have the main body of the hat knit, try it on to see how many stitches you should cast off for the front and back openings, and how many to leave for the flaps. (a mirror and stitch markers come in handy here!) Then just follow along with those numbers.

Shaping the crown:
Cast on 7 sts. Join for working in the round (if not working magic loop, place marker to indicate start of the round) The marker is at the back of the hat.
Row 1: *M1,K1*rep to end of rd.
Next row and every alternate row: Knit
Row 3: *M1, K2* rep to end of rd.
Row 5: *M1, K3* rep to end of rd.
Row 7: *M1, K4* rep to end of rd.
continue the increases in this manner until you have 98sts.

Main body of hat:
Purl one round and knit the next round. Continue in stocking stitch (knitting every round), randomly adding garter stitch ridges (purl rounds). Be sure to end in a double garter stitch ridge so the hat won't roll at the rim.
next row: knit 32 sts, bind off34 sts, then knit 25 sts for other ear flap. Add second ball of yarn and bind off 7 sts, remove marker and bind off the next 7 sts. You should have 25 sts for each ear flap.

Ear Flaps:
Working both ear flaps at the same time,
row 1: purl
row 2: sl1 kwise, knit to the last st, sl1 kwise.
repeat rows 1 and 2, then row 1 again.

Decreases:
row1: sl1 kwise, ssk, knit to the last 3 sts, k2tog, sl1 kwise.
row2: purl (see notes for adding garter stitch ridges)
repeat these two rows until 5sts remain.
next row: (rs) sl1 kwise, ssk, k2tog.
next row: purl
last row: sl1, k2tog psso.

Weave in ends. No blocking required!