From pattern intro:
I created this design in honor of the Year of the Horse; the stranded border combines both an image of a horse, and a repeat of the simplified Chinese character for “horse.”

The Lijiang Hat is worked in the round from the bottom up, with a corrugated rib edging, and uses a combination of stranded knitting and duplicate stitch for the horse motif. The horse may be omitted, and the hat worked with a simplified stranded border repeat of the Chinese character only.

The Lijiang Pony is a relatively new breed of horse, from the Lijiang District of China.

Difficulty: Intermediate: Skills include working in the round, reading a chart, stranded knitting with long floats (catching longer floats on WS is recommended), and duplicate stitching.

Finished Size
14 (15 ¾, 17 ½, 19 1/4, 20 ¾, 22 ½)“/35.5 (40, 44.5, 49, 52.5, 57) cm circumference, measured at brim of hat (stranded section is about ¾”/2 cm smaller), to fit babies, toddlers, small and large children, most women and most men! Height of hat is approximately 6 (6 1/4, 6 ¾, 7, 7 ½, 7 ¾)“/15 (16, 17, 18, 19, 19.5) cm.
Shown in size 14”/35.5 cm.

Materials
Yarn DK weight yarn. Main Color (MC): 120 (140, 160, 180, 200, 200) yd/110 (130, 150, 170, 185, 205) m. Contrast Color (CC): About 30% of MC yardage.

If using a variegated yarn for MC and/or CC, ALL colors within one yarn(s) should be lighter or darker than ALL colors in other yarn, or design will not display properly.

Adult version (red) shown in (MC) Shalimar Yarns Enzo Worsted, 70% superwash merino, 20% cashmere, 10% nylon, 235 yd (215 m)/skein, color Tramp Stamp, 1 (1, 1, 1, 2, 2) skeins.
Baby version (taupe) shown in (MC) St-Denis Nordique, 100% wool, 150 yds (137 m)/50 g skein, color 5875 Elephant, 1 (1, 2, 2, 2, 2) skeins.
Both versions: (CC) Madelinetosh Tosh DK, 100% superwash merino wool, 225 yds (206 m)/100 g skein, color Whiskers, 1 skein for all sizes.

Needles US size 5/3.75 mm: Set of double-pointed needles (dpn). Optional for larger sizes: 20” circular. Adjust needle size if necessary to obtain the correct gauge.

Notions Stitch marker(s); tapestry needle.

Gauge 23 sts/32 rnds to 4”/10 cm in stockinette stitch. 24 sts/32 rnds to 4”/10 cm in stranded pattern. Measure gauge on blocked swatch.