Dwarven Bottle Bonnet Modifications

My original mods to the Dwarven Battle Bonnet, originally published on Fiber Freaks.
 I decided to post my modifications to the wonderful Dwarven Bonnet pattern by Sally Pointer here, rather than on Ravelry, because I already have a giant post there and thought this would be easier.  I'll attempt to hide it all behind a link for those of you who don't care!

This is a great pattern as written, and is easy to modify to your own whims as well.  It was a lot of fun to knit, and I can't wait to officially finish it and get a picture of it on my brother (he agreed to model it for me in pictures if I knit it for him. MAHAHAHA).

Anyway, let's get on with it:

THE HAT:
Cast on 104 stitches (my brother has a giant head, and my gauge with this yarn [Vanna's Choice] was smallish, so this worked for me, but you could still totally go by the 100 called for in the pattern).

Knit 4 rounds in seed stitch.
Knit 3 rounds in stockinette.
Knit 1 round stockinette, with a bobble every 13 stitches (for a total of 8 bobbles).
Knit 3 rounds in stockinette.
Knit 4 rounds in seed stitch.

As per the pattern, I then split the hat into 4 sections (with stitch markers) of 26 stitches each--9 of these would be the seed stitch band, and the remaining 17 are just the plain stockinette parts between).  Additionally, I centered a bobble within the seed stitch band (as the 5th stitch) every seven rounds within all the below instructions.  You can space these however you want, though (or not do them at all!)

(For each section)
Knit 9 seed stitch, the rest stockinette for 3 rounds.
Knit 9 seed stitch, k2tog, k to last 2 stitches, SSK.

Knit 9 seed stitch, the rest stockinette for 2 rounds.
Knit 9 seed stitch, k2tog, k to last 2 stitches, SSK.
--Repeat the above two instructions five more times--

Knit 9 seed stitch, the rest stockinette for 1 round.

Knit 9 seed stitch, k2tog, k to last 2 stitches, SSK.
--Repeat the above two instructions four more times--
This should leave you with only 4 stitches per needle: cinch these stitches together to form the top of the hat*

When reaching the seed stitch only segments, I k2tog or p2tog as suggested by the pattern--I didn't do this super well, though.  heh.

*Please note, the pattern actually has you keep decreasing--but I thought my hat was coming out too pointy, so I stopped here.

THE BEARD:
Pick up 64 stitches (or a multiple of 4, depending on your total hat count) from around the back side of the hat.  These should begin/end at the front of the two "side" seed stitch bands.

Work K2P2 ribbing for 5 rows (flat!)

Increase 4 stitches on each side (I did 2 kfb stitches at each end) for 16 rows (or double your stitch count).
Join and mark with a stitch marker.  This makes things a little wonky, because the beginning of the round is now in the center of the beard--but it will be okay! I swear!

K2P2 ribbing again for 3 rounds.

You will now start knitting FLAT again.
K2P2 ribbing for 32 stitches.
BO 64 (your "hair" stitches).
K2P2 ribbing for 32 stitches.

Continue to knit flat k2p2 ribbing for 4 rounds.

Decrease 2 stitches per side. This is a little weird because of the center of the beard issue, but it works out like this:

Right Side: K2P2 ribbing to last 2 stitches, k2tog, turn.
Wrong Side: SSK, k2p2 ribbing to last 2 stitches, k2tog, turn.
Right Side again: SSK, k2 p2 ribbing to center/beginning of the round.
--Repeat 2 more times--

Now you'll want to decrease 4 stitches from each side, which will give the beard a nice shape:
RS: k2p2 ribbing to last 4 stitches, k2tog, k2tog, turn.
WS: ssk, ssk, k2p2 ribbing to last 4 stitches, k2tog, k2tog, turn.
RS again: ssk, ssk, k2p2 ribbing to center/beginning of round.
--Repeat the above 6 times--

You'll want to continue as above, but only the first half of the RS and the entire WS will be completed.  You'll be left with three stitches, which you can cinch together.  Voila!  (Mine doesn't look lopsided, so hopefully yours won't either!)

As a note, my bobbles were K1, YO, K1, YO, K1 into one stitch, slip onto the R needle, turn.  Purl back (5 stitches), turn.  K2tog, replace stitch onto L needle, pass the remaining 3 stitches over, slip the last stitch. (See the Knittinghelp.com video I used here).

Sorry this was horribly long, and I hope it makes sense!  If you need help with my craziness, just comment here or send me a note on Ravelry.