Problems with the Hat!!

Well, it turns out that M's hat is slightly too large. The sizing problem also makes the ear flaps fall in the wrong place. However, if you pull the back tight so it fits, the earflaps are in the perfect place. I have to decide how to fix it. I think I am going to undo the blanket stitch border at the back seam and undo the seam and fold over the sides under and then re seam it and fix the border. I will have to undo the border a certain amount and then redo part of it, but I think it should work. What do you think?

On the plus side, I have made a fair bit of progress on the hood for my hooded scarf, despite having to start over due to some weird stitch problems. I am now using long straight needles for it, which requires squeezing a lot of stitiches(132) onto a straight needle.

Here is that progress. This is a picture in the middle of a row, after 66 stitches. I think I will have to do decreases in the middle when I get it long enough to get to the top of my head. I tried finding longer needles in US 8 online, but can't find any! I would love a 2 foot needle for this project!