Holiday Half-time and Rib-A-Roni hat pattern

We have finished with my in-laws side of Christmas and all knitted gifts were completed on time. Hooray! I ended up making 2 Calorimetry, 2 Unoriginal hats, 1 scarf, and had baby booties and hat ready to go a month ago. It was touch and go on the scarf because it was looking like this a few days earlier:Lots of rolling (A Scarf Askew). So I ripped out all 2.5 feet of the scarf and did Yarn Harlot's One row scarf pattern. What a life saver that pattern was. Fast, more interesting than plain garter stitch, looks great when completed. I whipped out a 7.5x68" scarf in 3 days. Smoking fast, if I say so myself. My Bro-in-law is 6'3'' and it turned out to be a great length for him. The Ultra Alpaca yarn was lovely to knit with and I used about 5.1 oz of the two skeins I bought. I also finished the purple linen towel for my mom. It is three inches shorter than I hoped, but I was determined to be done. It looks nice. A bit of a dot stitch for 3" followed by 14" of garter stitch. I hope it looks nice after I machine wash and dry it. Wish me luck on that move (hopefully not famous last words). Used 2.2 oz of Euroflax Linen-Amethyst, size 13x17"
I also cranked out two hats for my boys to break up all of the scarf and towel knitting. I'm calling it Rib-A-Roni (as in, a rib hat to cover up your noodle). Here's the pattern and some pictures:
Rib-A-Roni Hat by Jane Tanner
copyright 2007

Materials:
1.5 (2) oz worsted weight yarn (I used Encore Worsted, about 0.1-0.2 oz were of a contrasting color)
Size 7 needles: 16" circular and dpn
4 stitch markers

Gauge: 5 rib pattern sts/1"
Sizes: child (youth/small adult).

Note: I used a p2tog-tbl (purl 2 together thru the back loops). Feel free to substitute it with a regular p2tog. It will still work and look fine.

Cast on 72 (80) sts loosely. Join, being careful not to twist, and place marker. Establish rib pattern: k4, p1, k3 (4), p1 (8 times around). Work for 5 (6) inches (adding a stripe after about 2" if desired).

Set up round: At beginning of round, remove marker, k2, place first marker (new location for beginning of rounds), *work around in established rib for 18 (20) sts, place another marker,* (repeat * * two more times for third and forth markers), ending with a k2. The stitches should be evenly divided between the 4 markers, 18 (20) sts between each.

Crown shaping: use rows 3-14 for smaller size (rows 1-14 for larger size)
For larger size only:
Row 1 (decrease round): *k2, p2tog-tbl, k3, p1, k4, p1, k3, p2tog, k2,* repeat around 3 more times. 72 sts.
Row 2: *K2, p1, k3, p1, k4, p1, k3, p1, k2,* repeat around 3 more times.

For both sizes:
Row 3 (decrease round): *k2, p2tog-tbl, k2, p1, k4, p1, k2, p2tog, k2,* repeat around 3 more times. 64 sts.
Row 4: *K2, p1, k2, p1, k4, p1, k2, p1, k2,* repeat around 3 more times.
Row 5 (decrease round): *k2, p2tog-tbl, k1, p1, k4, p1, k1, p2tog, k2,* repeat around 3 more times. 56 sts.
Row 6: *K2, p1, k1, p1, k4, p1, k1, p1, k2,* repeat around 3 more times.
Row 7 (decrease round): *k2, p2tog-tbl, p1, k4, p1, p2tog, k2,* repeat around 3 more times. 48 sts.
Row 8: *K2, p2, k4, p2, k2,* repeat around 3 more times.
Row 9 (decrease round): *k2, p2tog-tbl, k4, p2tog, k2,* repeat around 3 more times. 40 sts.
Row 10 *K2, p1, k4, p1, k2,* repeat around 3 more times.
Row 11 (decrease round): *k2, p2tog-tbl, k2, p2tog, k2,* repeat around 3 more times. 32 sts.
Row 12 (decrease round): *k2, p2tog-tbl, p2tog, k2,* repeat around 3 more times. 24 sts.
Row 13 (decrease round): *k1, ssk, k2tog, k1,* repeat around 3 more times. 16 sts.
Row 14 (decrease round): *ssk, k2tog,* repeat around 3 more times. 8 sts.

Cut 8" yarn tail and pull through last 8 sts on the needles. Weave in all ends.