Well, you can always put this project away for awhile and come back later. Sometimes it helps to let it simmer in your unconscious.
If you decide to go ahead, let’s get the pattern stitch right and then worry about the decreases for hat shaping. If nothing else works for that you can always k2tog to dec.
For the 2 pattern rows, check your stitch count after each row to see which row is causing the decrease. Both rows should begin and end with the same number of sts. Maybe try this on a small swatch of about 10sts first rather than the entire hat.
Row 1 has a k1 at each end and the repeat is
"…Sl1. K1. psso. With left-hand needle, pick up st just slipped and K into back of it."
Are you remembering to knit into the slipped stitch? After the psso, it’ll be sitting like a little collar around the knit stitch. If you skip that step, your sts will decrease with every repeat.
Row 2 is like the video in the earlier post.