I've not been entirely idle.

Someone over on the Men Who Knit site was looking for a simple hat pattern, so, here's my basic hat instructions, the variation possibilities are endless.

Cast on multiples of 6 stitches. I generally go for 96 on size 8 DPN.
Knit 1, purl 1 or K2,P2, or K2, P1, your choice of ribbing for however far you want it to go up the hat.
If you want the ribbing to turn up like in the picture work ribbing for 2 inches and purl 1 row as a crease line.
After you have about 4 inches of the hat "body" start working the decreases. I generally put in a decorative row or two at his point to transition from what ever stitch pattern I'm using, i.e. cables, before going in to the decreases. I often use the "braid" as described in this entry.
The decreases are worked every other row. divide number of stitches by 6 and knit two together where this number falls,
for example; 96 divided by 6 = 16, so every 15th and 16th stithes are knit together.
knit 1 row
next row every 14th and 15th stitches are knit together
etc.
when you're down to 5 or 6 stitches between dividing points work the decrease every round.
when you have only 6 stitches left on the needles break off the yarn, thread it through remaining stitches, pull through to inside and weave in.
Weave in any loose ends.
You have a hat.