One of my very favorite people, my cousin Jenn, is having a baby girl. After negotiating with my Mom about who was going to knit which cute hats, I went to buy yarn. I didn’t find the orange I wanted for a pumpkin hat, which would have been perfect for a late September baby. Instead, I bought yellow and pink baby acrylic yarn and began experimenting. This is what I learned: 1. tiny hats need tiny stripes, 2. fold over brims don’t work (again, it’s an issue of scale). Here is my final striped hat.
I also made an all pink hat, then knitted bunny ears and sewed them on (pattern below).
Pattern for baby hat:
Cast on 48 stitches (16 on 3 needles to knit in the round), if gauge is 4.5 stitches to the inch. I used 48 stitches on size 6 needles.
Knit 4, Purl 4 for half an inch
Knit in the round until the entire piece measures four inches in length.
To decrease: Row 1, knit 2 together. Row 2, purl. Row 3, knit 2 together. Row 4, purl. Trim the yarn leaving about 6 inches of extra slack. Thread the yarn tail with a tapestry needle, then thread all of the remaining stitches through the needle. Tighten and put the needle through the top of the hat. On the inside of the hat, tie off the yarn securely.
To make bunny ears: With gray yarn, cast on 4 stitches.
Knit six rows in stockinette stitch. Increase one by knitting through in the back loop on the first stitch and knit six more rows in stockinette. Repeat this once more.
Decrease one by knitting two together on the first stitch. Knit six rows in stockinette stitch. Repeat once.
Decrease one by knitting two together on the first stitch. Knit four rows in stockinette stitch. Repeat twice. Knit the last two stitches together and tie off.
Pick up three stitches from the original four cast on. With the pink yarn, knit six rows in stockinette stitch. At the beginning and end of every pink row, hook the edge of the gray and knit or purl the pink and gray stitches together. This will create the effect of pink “inner ear” and gray “outer ear” in one relatively seamless ear.
Increase one by knitting through in the back loop on the first stitch and knit six more rows in stockinette. Repeat this once more.
Decrease one by knitting two together on the first stitch. Knit six rows in stockinette stitch. Repeat once.
Decrease one by knitting two together on the first stitch. Knit four rows in stockinette stitch. Repeat once. Knit the last two stitches together and tie off. Use a tapestry needle to tuck the yarn ends into the inside of the ear. Sew the ends of the ear to the hat with pink yarn.
Freestyle Fashion 