WWII watch cap crown shaping

Like so many other hat knitters, I've knitted the classic WWII watch cap , which is also known as Beanie no. 212 , more than a handful of times. (You can find it on Ravelry here and here , respectively.) It's a charming, quick knit that's easy to resize, but I've never really liked the crown shaping on the original. I've knit a lot of these hats, and only one's had the original crown shaping for…