FO: Landguard Hat

I got an experimental skein of Peace Fleece to see if it would be soft enough to make a wrap-front cardigan.  I gave up searching for the perfect hat pattern and made my own, the first project I would consider releasing as an official design.

Pattern: My own (my precious!) download now
Yarn: Peace Fleece worsted in Lauren's Coral
Needles: US7 and US8
Duration: 17th October to 20th October
Ravelry project: Landguard Hat

It has a turned up brim, because I like a double layer at my ears.  It has ribbing to stretch nicely, and some prettiness at the crown decreases.

I named it for Landguard in Felixstowe, which is on the coast of Suffolk in England.  We used to walk the dog there on weekends when I was growing up.  It's a patch of land that sticks out into the sea with a high, steep central ridge to walk along and several interestingly deep ditches and hollows studded with gorse bushes.  The wind whips across the ridge from the sea, and you need a sturdy hat to walk there in winter.  I think it was used as a tank training ground for WWII but I could be mistaken.

The pattern is written up, I have a couple of test knitters to try it, and I'm going to make a second one in softer yarn following the directions.  Writing a pattern is strange, I do a lot of adjustments automatically, and codifying my process is odd.  At each step I have to pause and ask, would another knitter do that, or is it just me?  Should I write that down, or is it obvious?  Would anyone really knit this?  Surely this has been done before?

Maybe it has been done before, but this one is mine.  Pattern is on Ravelry, I'll update it with feedback from the testers.