Whenever someone I know has a baby, I have to knit them hats. The basic set is a hat for the baby and a hat for Mom in matching yarn. But if I have extra time or extra yarn, sometimes I’ll knit 2-3 sizes of baby hats as well (because baby heads only stay small for so long), plus one for Dad.
And for some reason I seem to have an aversion to making these hats from a pattern. I have to knit them from spur-of-the-moment inspiration. Whatever pattern my fingers seem to desire on the day I start, that’s what I have to knit.
Here’s my latest. Just a simple, flexible pattern.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BYhYOnnFc8N/?hl=en&taken-by=caityrosey81
Baby Hat
This hat is knitted top-down in the round. This particular pattern is for a non-newborn with a larger head. If you want to make a smaller hat, stop increasing sooner. Or use smaller yarn and needles to get a finer gauge. Choose your own adventure!
Cast on 10 stitches using Turkish cast on (5 stitches per needle). I used a US 6 circular needle in the magic loop configuration. Yarn was sport-Dk weight handspun.
Row 1: Double your stitch count. *Kfb*
Row 2- 4: Knit
Row 5: *K1, YO*
Row 6-8: Knit
Row 9: *K2, YO*
Row 10-12: Knit
Row 13: *K3, YO*
Row 14-16: Knit
Row 17: *K4, YO*
Row 18-20: Knit
Row 21: *K5, YO*
Row 22-24: Knit
Row 25: *K2, S1, K2tog, YO, PSSO, K2* (this is the row you stop increasing)
Row 26-28: Knit
Repeat Rows 25-28 until the hat is the desired length. 3-4 inches will do.
Start the brim with a prep row: You want to decrease the number of stitches on the needles by about 1 stitch per repeat (in row 25). This helps tighten things up for the brim so it will fit better. Make sure you end up with an even number of stitches.
Brim: *K1, P1* for 1.5 inches.
Bind off: I used the sewn bind off. But use whatever you prefer so long as it preserves the stretch of the brim.
To make a larger Mom hat, make the hat a bit bigger. You could do this by litterally making the hat bigger (adding more increase sections) or by using bigger yarn and needles. I chose option#1. I kept going with my increase sections until I was kitting *K3, S1, K2tog, YO, PSSO, K3*. The logic of the rest of the hat is the same. Make it as big as it needs to be, then add your brim. For an adult, I would use a brim of 2 inches at least.
All She Wants To Do Is Knit 
Wonderful idea! And thanks for sharing your formula.
I’ve been obsessed with making hats lately but don’t have the patience to make them from a pattern but find myself ripping them out because the sizing isn’t right. I will definitely try this. I made a hat yesterday that turned out way different than I thought it’d be, needs some adjusting to make it larger, but could be really neat. I crocheted the too, making an ever increasing circle. The idea was to be a possible hat for my son’s birthafay, (He’ll be 27 this week), so it was quite a large disc, and just starting to curve downward. Then I picked up stitches with circular needles and did a herringbone stitch for about seven rows. I wanted to make a bolero type mans hat. Then I was thinking of crocheting the brim that would be done with increases to cause it to Flair out. I love the herringbone stitch, but it has little stretch so it pulled everything way in and will only fit a babies head now. The top crocheted disc has been pulled in and puffs up kind of like a mushroom, haha. So instead of returning to finishing with crochet, I just continued with a regular knit stitch for about nine rows. It’s of course a looser stitch so it flairs out and then curls up, makingvthe hat look like a 30’s style ladies hat. It’s quite nice, just will only fit a baby, and it’s not in baby colours . Haha. Oh well, back to the drawing board.
very cute 🙂