Hats Off....

We had a recent cold snap, which is what prompted me to make the brown and red Fair Isle swatch recently. Then it warmed up again. Then it went cold again. Then it went warm again, but I figured I better make that hat, just to ensure that it actually does stay warm now :)
It went pretty well, once I got my javascript/cookies sort out (not sure of the issue....I used "The Diet Diary's" generator one day, but the next day it said my javascript was not on). I'm glad I still had the swatch so I could follow along with it, rather than trying to figure where I was on the punch card! I followed the pattern and took it off the machine. Looks great, doesn't it? Yeah, but flip it over...

Because I wanted some accent rows that were only one row, there were quite a few ends to weave in! No problem, it's just a hat. Then I went to sew it up, and realized that when the generator told me how many to cast on, I never thought about how the punch card pattern repeat would work out. For most of the hat you wouldn't really notice the misalignment of the pattern at the seam, but there was one section with the rose accents...
But then I put it on. The funny line just above the earflaps, bottom of the hem is where I had tension problems with the carriage (Singer 155), resulting in two or three tight rows.

It's a little tall, no?

And because of taking it in a few sts to get the pattern repeat to work out, it seems a little snug looking (feels fine though).

I ripped it back out a little and decreased the top again. It's still too tall! I didn't want to rip out a whole 'nother pattern repeat!

You can't see the pattern in these pictures, but I guess I can take out the whole green section at the top.

My big question is, do I put a pompom on it or not? I don't think I have a hat with a pompom. I'm just not sure they're suitable for adults, LOL, and I'd hate to waste the yarn with a bad decision, or a bad pompom!