Hi! I'm Lauren: college-educated mom to Harper (and soon-to-be Ezra!) who gave up career life to sew, knit, sing nursery rhymes and watch Yo Gabba Gabba a dozen times a day. Most days, I love it. My husband Scott and I live with our kid(s) and two insanely dumb cats in Salt Lake City, Utah. 
I call this hat “Japanese Dream” for a couple reasons. One, it’s knit in Noro Kogarashi which is obviously made in Japan. Two, I used the seaweed pattern for the bulk of the hat to give it a slightly wavy, organic feel. It shows off the beautiful yarn much better than a plain stockinette or garter stitch. And of course, seaweed makes me think of sushi…which makes me think of Japan…and dehydrated seaweed…get my drift?
If you’re like me and wear a ponytail almost every waking hour of the day (and, come to think of it, every sleeping hour, too), you will love this hat. I absolutely hate wearing my hair down just so I can wear a hat – feeling it sticking to my neck just bothers me. With this hat, I can keep my ponytail, stay warm AND show off my gorgeous hat!
The way it works is this: you work a ribbing band FLAT with two buttonholes. Then, you continue working FLAT about the same number of rows in seaweed pattern. Then, you join in to finish the hat in-the-round. You work those first 23 rounds flat so that there’s a slit for your ponytail when you’re done. Got it? Okay, easy.
OH, and the best part is that the seaweed pattern is just a simple combination of knit and purl stitches. Easy breezy.
SO. Download the pattern, get yourself a skein of Noro Kogarashi and get knitting!
