Baby hats are my latest knitted obsession since they are so easy to create and to give. I admit, I used to lovingly knit baby blanket after baby blanket for my friends. Those, unfortunately, require a lot of sweet love and endless amounts of free time. I decided I wanted gifts that could be knit in a couple evenings worth of television shows and that their mommies could actually use instead of storing them away. Hats really seem to fit the bill and their are endless patterns for adorable baby patterns out there.
Once you get the hang of knitting in the round, baby hats are a piece of cake! I will share with you my new favorite patterns and a few tools that can help you achieve baby hat success when knitting! I usually try to highlight only free patterns, but these were a few that I did pay for. I do promise that the patterns are well-written and are the type that can be made over and over again for gifts. I hope that this post will still inspire and give you a fun new gift to knit for a special little one in your life.
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cherry tomato hat (in red) & sprout hat (in green)
Pattern: Greenleaf Baby Hat by Evelyn Uyemura (available for $1.00 as a Ravelry Download- join Ravelry.com to access the pattern)
Needle Size: US 8 (I purchased this set of 12″ circulars for these hats)
Yarn: Naturally Caron Country (Claret) & Caron Simply Soft in Dark Sage for stem. The green hat is done only in Caron Simply Soft in Dark Sage
Notes: If you are looking for a great beginner pattern for making hats then this is the perfect pattern for you. This simple roll brim hat is simply knit in the round until you get to the top and then you create a basic i-cord to create the stem of the flower. An easy set of increases and then decreases creates the leaf at the tip of the hat.
I did the roll brim pattern and made the i-cord about a 1/2” longer than the pattern specified. I also knit this hat on size 8 needles (for a 0-6 month size versus the newborn size).
This pattern could be knit into a variety of cute fruits and vegetables or in a solid color as I did for the second hat pictured above. Fall hats could be created into pumpkins, red and green would look adorable for a Christmas baby, and I can’t wait to try other fun additions to this adorable pattern.
The beautiful model in these photos is my sweet friend Andrea’s beautiful baby girl, Evey. She was so kind to let me share her photos on the blog. I could not have asked for a prettier model to model them!
brunhilde hat
Pattern: Viking Girl Hat by Sara Fama; Pattern is $7.50, but you can use a coupon code (“Ravelry10”) to receive 10% off the pattern. Pattern kits can also be ordered with the yarn used in the pattern, but I was able to find similar colors of yarn at our local craft shop. The pattern included the pattern for the boy hat as well as the hat in different sizes.
Needle Size: US 6 (I purchased this set of 12″ circulars for these hats)
Yarn: (Charcoal), Loops & Threads Charisma (Yellow), Hobby Lobby I Love This Cotton! (Ivory)
Notes: Ever since I learned how to knit, I have been dying to make this hat. This has literally been bookmarked for over a year, in hopes that one day I would feel brave enough to knit it. A baby shower gift was the perfect opportunity to splurge on the pattern and give it a try. I can’t begin to tell you how much pride I had making this hat.
This hat really taught me a lot of new techniques, but the piecing of it was a little tedious. Beginning knitters will need to know how to knit bobbles (brief description is available in the pattern), create i-cords, knit on dpn’s, and knit in the round. Luckily, YouTube offers great video tutorials on these techniques to make creating this a little easier.
I made the Brunhilde pattern, but once I made the little wings for the hat, I did not think they looked like a Viking hat. It may have been to the stretch and give of the cotton yarn, but they just did not stand to attention like I had hoped. I opted to make the boy version of the horns and liked them much better. These were whip stitched in the same cream color).
The braids were really fun to knit and are knitted in three separate i-cords (attached by two rows of knitting at the top). I finished them with tightly knotted yarn and then grosgrain hot pink ribbon bows from my craft suppplies.
There is a lot of freedom with this pattern and it was written well, with a lot of comedic style and fun mixed into it. I am really proud of how this hat turned out and still can’t believe I actually made it!
purple pom pom hat & pom pom gray baby bear hat
Pattern: Pompom Bear by Amanda Keeys; I purchased this Baby Beanies Book to get the pattern. This is one of only three knitting books I own- I promise, it was a worthy investment if you are looking for easy hats to knit for baby gifts. I have already knitted four hats from it and plan to knit many more patterns in this one.
Needle Size: US 8 (I purchased this set of 12″ circulars for these hats)
Yarn: Caron Simply Soft in Heather Gray (for the boy version) & Naturally Caron Country in Dark Purple (for the girl version)
Notes: This hat is so fun to knit and is as cute as could be. In fact, each time I make this hat, I get an order request from another friend who wants one for her own little one. The hat has an easy ribbed edge and then is made into a garter stitch from there by just alternating rows of knitting and purling in the round.
It really is the most perfect hat for a beginning knitter because you don’t have to ever decrease this hat or use double-pointed needles to finish it. It is made even easier with a three needle bind off….which has changed my knitting world. I will link to a tutorial on this to help explain it, but if there is ever an opportunity for a three needle bind off in any of my projects, I am doing this. I used the circulars as though they were two straight needles and then used a DPN to knit them together and then bind of the stitches.
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If you are just beginning the world of hats, these are the three things that really helped me have success getting comfortable with double-pointed needles and knitting in the round.
3 Things That Helped Me With Making Wee Baby Hats
1.Bamboo 12″ circulars– Here is the honest truth. If you are super coordinated with double pointed needles, you can skip buying these and knit the wee baby hats in the round. I have found that knitting baby hats in the round was more of a challenge than I expected, and my mother-in-law recommended purchasing 12″ circulars so the hats do not have to be started on the DPN’s. These were a lifesaver and I will always use these for starting my hats. They do require a bit of coordination since they are shorter & smaller than your normal circulars, but they are worth the effort. I applied my Swagbucks towards Amazon gift cards to help reduce the cost on these.
2. Bamboo 9″ Double Pointed Needles– Again, these are an off-brand needle and they were extremely rough so they held my stitches really well. As a beginner on these, these rough double pointed needles were key for me to get the hang of it without dropping stitches. It was a lot cheaper to buy these as a set and I did apply my Swagbucks towards the Amazon gift cards so I didn’t have to dip in my pocket to pay for them. You could go with a different length on these, but I opted for these 9″ ones and they still work great for the baby hats as well as the adult hats I knit.
3. A Good Ring Marker- I was using the kind that you just slipped over the needles and was finding that I was losing my starting stitch marker for knitting in the round. Look for ones that will slip onto the yarn and put that at the beginning of my round. It will really help you not lose your pace and keep you on track with your knitting.
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Disclosure: The links to books and supplies are affiliate links and are provided so you can locate what you need quickly and easily. Feel free to order a book, but we encourage utilizing the library system and buying me some yarn instead. Wouldn’t that just be so much more lovely?
What craft projects have you been working on? Feel free to share any links to what you are working on and be sure to friend me on Ravelry if you happen to be a knitter too! Access all of our craft fun on MomAdvice by visiting our Craft Section. Happy crafting, friends!