Ahem. That is why I left the hole at the top open a bit longer than usual. That needed to come out in the world and say hi. ⁠

And yeah, it’s totally optional, you don’t have to do it if you don’t want to. But given the choice between weaving in a dozen ends and doing a quick little braid? Well, I know which one sounds more fun!⁠

This pattern won’t be out till the fall. There are a couple of reasons for that. One is that patterns that come out in the summer never sell well, and I’m not going to waste something that gorgeous bringing it out that time of year. ⁠

But more importantly, this is going to be one of the patterns I try out my new patreon scheme on. I’m not quite ready to share all the details of that just yet (so don’t worry, you didn’t miss anything, I promise I’ll talk about it a whole bunch more as we get closer), but the general idea is that is that I’ll be releasing regular patterns like normal, and putting bonus content (like how to do that braid or how to do that embroidery with more colors) up just for patreon folks. ⁠

I think it will give me a good way to do all the awesome things I always want to put in patterns but can’t because people would balk at what a pattern that included all that would cost. ⁠

I love doing things like that (seriously, exploring stuff and figuring out all the little variations is the best part of my job). And I hear from so many of you that you really do want all those fun little experiments and adventures and that you are happy to pay for the time they take to create. So I’m going to give it a shot and see if enough folks actually mean it!. Because if you do…well wow will this ever be fun!

But, as I said, more details on that over the next few weeks. For now, you get pretty hat crowns and satisfyingly orderly braids! ⁠
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