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Knit Rhinoceros Hat

Toddler knit rhino hat

I absolutely love that I have a little girl because girly things are just cute to make (one of my faves is still her knit Bunny Hat)!  One cool thing about my girl though, is that she likes some of the “boy” things too. She LOVES dinosaurs, and she pretty much likes any animal with horns ( although unicorns definitely come first in the “horn” category 🙂 )  The credit for the rhino idea goes to my dad, who was staying with me for the past week.  I asked him what “horned” animal could be for a boy or girl, and out popped rhino! I was sold…so thank you Daddy!
This hat is a lot of fun to make, and it is surprisingly easy ( I always go for easy! ).  The hat is knit flat and seamed, and the pattern is very forgiving (If you have some experience, you could add or take away stitches to make it to the size you would like). You just need to know how to knit, purl, and knit two together (decrease).  I thought the horns might be a challenge, but they weren’t at all! They are just simply knit triangles (which, by the way are very easy if you’ve never done one), rolled up like burritos.

Knit rhinocerous hat

Fair warning, when my girl put this on she chased me in an attempt to poke me with the horns.  Wild child!
You will need:
  • One skein Lion Brand Modern Baby in Grey (or another sport weight yarn)
  • Small amount of white worsted weight yarn for horns
  • Small amount of black worsted weight yarn for eyes
  • US Size 8 Knitting Needles
  • Scissors
  • Tapestry Needle
  • Crochet Hook (for eyes)

Easy rhino knit hat

Notes:
This hat is knit flat and seamed
There are only three rows with decreases, and the pattern is forgiving.
The horns are simply triangles knit in stockinette stitch – they almost curl into a horn shape naturally!
The ears are started as a knit square and then decreased to make the tip
This hat should fit between 18 months – 3 years old

Pattern:

Cap/Hat
Ribbing:
With your size 8 knitting needles, Cast on 82 stitches
Row 1 *Knit 2, purl 2 across row (You are working in a 2X2 rib pattern)
Row 2 Purl 2, knit 2 across row*
Continue from * to *, working in a 2X2 rib for one inch
Begin Stockinette:
Row 1 of Stockinette – *Knit across row
Row 2 Purl across row*
Repeat from * to *, working in stockinette (which is alternates knit, purl, knit, purl) for 4 inches. Be sure to end on a purl row, to then be on a knit row to begin the decrease below.
Begin Decrease:
Row 1 of decrease: On a KNIT row – *Knit 2 together, Knit one* – repeat this pattern (Knit 2 together, knit one) across row
Row 2 Purl across row
Row 3 Knit across row
Row 4 Purl across row
Row 5 Knit across row
Row 6 Purl across row
Row 7 Knit across row
Row 8 Purl across row
Row 9 *Knit 2 together, Knit one*, repeat from * to * across row
Row 10 Purl 2 together across row.
Cut a long tail to feed through the stitches, using your tapestry needle. Pull tight to tighten up the top of the hat. Tie off.
Seam the hat using a matress stitch (it’s very easy), so that you can’t see the seam.
Horns
Small Horn (You are simply making a triangle in stockinette stitch)
Cast on 10 stitches with your white yarn (leave a length of tail to use in order to attach to hat)
Row 1 Knit across row
Row 2 Purl 2 together, Purl 6, Purl 2 together
Row 3 Knit across row (8)
Row 4 Purl 2 together, Purl 4, Purl 2 together
Row 5 Knit across row
Row 6 Purl 2 together, Purl 2, Purl 2 together
Row 7 Knit across row(4)
Row 8 Purl 2 together, purl 2 together (2)
Row 9 Knit across row (2)
Row 10 Purl 2 together, tie off, weave in end
Large Horn (You are simply making another triangle)
Cast on 13
Row 1 Knit across row
Row 2 Purl 2 together, purl 9, purl 2 together
Row 3 Knit across row (11)
Row 4 Purl 2 together, Purl 7, Purl 2 together
Row 5 Knit across row (9)
Row 6 Purl 2 together, purl 5, Purl 2 together
Row 7 Knit across row (7)
Row 8 Purl 2 together, purl 3, purl 2 together
Row 9 Knit across row (5)
Row 10 Purl 2 together, purl 1, purl 2 together
Row 11 Knit across (3)
Row 12 Purl 2 together, Purl 1
Row 13 Knit across row (2)
Row 14 Purl 2 together, tie off, weave in end
**For each horn, roll into the shape of a horn.  Whip stitch the length of the horn where it is folded over, closed. Tie off.
DSC_3117
The triangle curls up like this almost naturally. Stitch the folded over edge closed.
Ears
DSC_3114
Here is the ear before it is folded inward, and stitched. It is knit starting at the base, upward.
* You are simply starting with a knit (garter) square and then decreasing every row near the end to get a pointed/curved top
Cast on 15 with your grey yarn (leave a tail to weave around ear in order to shape)
Knit (garter stitch) every row for 1 and 1/4 (1.25) inches.
Begin decrease once you have reached the length of 1 1/4 (1.25) inches.
To decrease:
Knit 2 together on each end, of each row. So for example, you will knit two together at the start of the row, then knit across row, and finish by knitting the final two together.
Repeat this pattern for every row until are down to one stitch on your needle. Tie off and weave in end.
Do this pattern for both ears.
Fold the bottoms of each ear inward. Using the tail of yarn at the bottom of your ear, weave around in order to “tack” down the folded sides. This will create the shape of the ear.
Attaching Horns and Ears to hat:
DSC_3118
Preparing to whip stitch each of the pieces onto the hat 🙂

 

Take each ear, and place it slightly toward the front of the hat, the closest edge approximately 1.2 inches away from the center of the top of the hat. Place second ear on opposite, matching side. Whip stitch around the bottom of each ear, and tie off in order to attach to hat.
Large horn:
Place bottom of horn 3 stitches above ribbing of the hat. Whip stitch around entire horn in to attach to hat.
Place small horn approximately one inch about large horn. Whip stitch around entire horn to attach.
Eyes (optional): 
After attaching the ears and horns in order to better view where to place them you will slip stitch embroider the eyes onto the hat with your black worsted weight yarn. If you’ve never done this before, just head over to youtube and put it into the search. There are a ton of tutorials. I also posted a few pictures of me doing the embroidery on my Knit Bunny Hat pattern post.
The inner corner of the eyes are placed about one inch to the left and right of the short horn.
Using your crochet hook and black worsted weight yarn, pull up yarn from beneath the hat. Slip stitch shape of the eye. Use your tapestry needle to straight stitch eyelashes.
As always, let me know if there are any issues or questions as you make this! I am still new to pattern making!

Knit Baby Rhino Hat

The yarn I used is nice because it is light weight enough to wear in various temperatures, including cool days in Spring.
Boy or Girl Rhino Hat
The fun of picture taking has worn off – ha ha! I wanted to post this anyway because it is a good shot of the front of the hat. Enjoy!
I really love making animal hats for some reason. And oh, by the way, I happened to see on the internet today how terribly endangered rhinos are. Being an animal lover, I sure hope that we can save them 🙂

What animals do the little ones in your life like the most?

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Rhino Hat

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11 Comments

  1. Thank you so much for making this pattern available. I think my pattern is missing some information. For the ears it says to knit for_____ inches and then again it says to knit for ____ inches. How many inches do you recommend?

    1. Oh my, Ginny, thank you for bringing that to my attention! It should be 1.25 inches, or 1 and 1/4 inches before you begin the decrease. I have no idea what happened there! I guess I shouldn’t edit my patterns when I am seeing cross eyed at 1 A.M. Let me know if you have any other questions!

      1. Hi Nancy, I just post the pattern to the website, and I currently don’t have a “printer friendly” version. Are you able to highlight the pattern and “print selection”. This is what I do on website patterns that I like to print. Hope this helps and sorry I don’t have what you are looking for. Maybe I can figure out how to get that in the future.

    1. Hi Sharon!
      You’re welcome! Sorry I didn’t respond quicker. I get a lot of spam, and for some reason your comment went to my spam file. I hope you have enjoyed knitting the hat!

  2. Hi Jessica. I love your website and patterns. I made the bunny hat for my 3-yr niece last yr for her bday in June. But she already outgrew it, though she still wears the hat to this day. I wanted to make the rhino for her, but what is your recommendation for increasing the size? start with more stitches and try to decrease per pattern? Thanks for your time! Evie

    1. Hi Evie!

      Sorry for the delay in getting back to you! Yes, I think that it would be really easy to just increase the stitches at the start and decrease per the pattern. Once you get started you can probably eyeball if it looks like you’ve made it large enough for her. I’m so glad that she’s liked the bunny hat so much! Happy birthday to her! Thanks so much for your kind words as well Evie! Let me know how the Rhino goes if you get a chance.

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