First, you need to gather these three patterns. Honey Badger for the body of the hat. Berry Baby Hat for the leaves and Knitted Flower Tutorial for the little white blossom.
I used Plymouth Yarns Jeannee in the worsted weight and U.S. Size 6 16" circular needle for the body and either double pointed needles for the crown or a larger circular needle for magic loop.
Cast on 63 stitches. (Note: Knit the first row without joining it in the round. It's so much easier to knit this one row and then close up the stitch when you weave in the ends.) Knit nine rounds. Knit the next round through the back loops. This gives you a twisted round that will hold the rolled brim in place. Knit one round. Begin the pattern as follows:
Rounds 1 - 3: knit
Round 4: *yo, slip 1, k2, pass the slip st. over the 2 knit sts., k6*, repeat to end of round.
Rounds 5 - 9: knit.
Round 10: * k4, yo, slip 1, k2, pass the slip st. over the 2 knit sts., k2*, repeat to end of round.
Work rounds 1 - 10 a total of four times. 24 rows total. Note: On the last round 10, increase one stitch to 64 stitches.
Switch now to the Baby Berry Hat pattern and follow the instructions for making the leaves. When you're finished, knit the I-cord for only 1 1/2". This will give the hat a little stem. I will tell you that I read somewhere that the leaves looked a little better if you did the decreases using the "old-fashioned" method of slipping one stitch, knitting one stitch and then passing the slipped stitch over the knitted stitch or a psso. I don't know if that's true or not, but that's the way that I do my decreases, rather than the knit 2 tog. I think it probably just makes the leaves swirl in the opposite direction. You can do them however you want!
Blossom. I used a thinner yarn for the blossom. Tahki Cotton Classic Lite and I knit it with U.S. Size 3 needles. The Knitted Flower Tutorial (in my opinion) makes the nicest flowers. For these, you follow her instructions except that you only need to cast on 41 stitches. Knit one row and purl one row. Then you cast off 7 stitches for each blossom, instead of 9. This makes a smaller and very neat little flower. To finish it off, make a french knot in the center. (Hey, french knots are easy! The trick to making them is to remember not to go back down the same hole. Also, if you want a bigger or a thicker knot, use a double strand of yarn. Don't just wrap the yarn multiple times around the needle or it will be floppy.) Attach the blossom to one side of the stem.
I used to use this different pattern for the flower, Knitted Flower Pattern, which was also cute. It does make a "bulkier" flower and it is a little fiddly, but it does work.
If you know how to crochet, you can even make one of your own creations!
I hope you have fun knitting this little cap. As I said, it may be my all time favorite!
