Racoon Hat

This is the very first pattern that I've come up with and shared with everyone. Please don't laugh!

It's a striped hat that's squared off to give the impression of ears. At least I think so!

Needles: US Size 9 (5.5mm) 16" and DPN's, or do the whole thing on DPN's.

Gauge: 4 stitches per inch

Yarn: Cascade Yarn Ecological Wool of any two colors, or any yarn that works with the gauge.

Other supplies: Stitch markers, yarn needle

Abbreviations:
     CO = cast on
     pm = place marker
     sm = slip marker

Directions:
CO 72 stitches using long-tail cast on. Place marker at the beginning of the row and...

Knit!

Now I made my stripes 9 rows each, or somewhere between 1.75" and 2". You can make yours as long as you want!

Keep knitting in stockinette until the piece is 7" long. This happened to be the beginning of my 5th and last stripe.

Decreases:
Row 1: K 16, pm, K 4, pm, K 32, pm, K 4, pm, K to end of row
Row 2: *K to 2nd to last stitch before marker, K2tog, sm, K4, sm, ssk* repeat once more and K to the end of the row
Row 3: Knit
Repeat Row 2 and Row 3 three more times. You can switch to DPN's at any time if you like.

Slip the first 14 stitches and the last 14 stitches of the piece onto one DPN, and slip the other 28 stitches onto another DPN. Sew stitches together using kitchener stitch. (I found this video very helpful)

Weave in the ends.

There you go!