If you follow my blog, you may know that I have tended to make animal hats for my daughter (The giraffe, lamb, rhino, bunny – oh boy!). I figured it’s time I put a hat on her that doesn’t turn her into a creature for once. I also desperately hoped that my giant weapon like metal knitting needles wouldn’t be confiscated on the plane to Poland. They weren’t, and I started and finished this hat on the flight. It was great!
This hat is knit flat and seamed which makes it great for a beginner. One can’t go wrong with black and white, but feel free to change up the colors to whatever you like (or your toddler likes) most! This is actually identical to the pattern I made for her knit bunny hat, minus the bunny features and with the black and white extras. 🙂
Notes:
*Fits a 2T-3T
*Beginner friendly, knit flat and seamed
You will need:
One skein Lion Brand Yarn Wool Ease Thick & Quick – Color Fisherman
Small amount of black super bulky yarn – enough for details and pom-pom ( I used Lion Brand Wool Ease Thick N Quick in Black)
Scissors
Tapestry Needle
Size 13 Knitting needles (for the hat)
*Gauge is approximately 2.5 stitches and 3 rows per inch
Pattern: (Hat is knit flat)
With your size 13 Knitting Needles
Knit Cast on 40 stitches
You will now work in a 1X1 rib. So you knit one, purl one. Do this rib pattern for three rows.
Row 4 *Knit Across row (you are now beginning to knit in stockinette stitch)
Row 5 Purl Across row*
Repeat from * to *, continuing the stockinette stitch for 4.5 inches, or approximately 16 rows
Decrease Row:
On your next knit row (after you’ve completed your 4.5 inches of stockinette) : *Knit 2 together, Knit one, Knit 2 together, Knit one* Repeat * to * across row.
Next Row: Purl Across Row
Next Row: Knit Across Row
Next Row: Purl 2 together across row (Decrease across this row)
Cut a long tail, pull through the loops, and tighten to make the top of your hat. Tie off. Your hat now has a top. You will now seam the hat, using a mattress stitch (There are tons of tutorials on youtube if you’ve never done the mattress stitch. This stitch makes the seam invisible)
Adding the black details:
I added the details by doing something called a “duplicate stitch”. Basically, you thread your tapestry needle with the black yarn, and make a stitch over an existing stitch. It is an easy way to add some color without having to worry about counting stitches. You can see my picture tutorial on how to do it, HERE. I added several little black stitches along the top, but you can add them wherever you’d like!
Pom:
Using your black yarn, make a big pom and tie it to the top of the hat. If you have never made a pom-pom, you can see how to do it here with my pom-pom tutorial.
I absolutely love wool-ease thick and quick from Lion Brand, and I’ve used it in a lot of projects including this one. My daughter did recently say that she wished the hat was “like fleece”, so I may attempt to line it with fleece.
Thanks so much for stopping in, and I hope the toddler in your life loves their hat!
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Yvonne Woods says
October 15, 2015 at 3:45 amNice hat pretty little girl you have there, good model too
Jessica says
October 15, 2015 at 2:03 pmAww, thanks Yvonne. She’s growing too fast!
Sandi says
November 2, 2015 at 4:48 pmI’m still a Beginner Knitter and appreciate this pattern of yours, Everday Chunky Knit Toddler Hat. I like using Circular Needles because the yarn stay put. I’m going to do this pattern on a pair of Circulars.
Thank you.
Jessica says
November 2, 2015 at 5:13 pmYou’re welcome! Thank you for letting me know that you like it Sandi! It is nice to work on circulars. If you’re comfortable with them that is great!
Miss Kit says
November 30, 2015 at 4:07 amgreat site for having to RE- LEARN knitting THANKS SO MUCH ! ! ! You r just what the Dr. ORDERED!!!!!!
Jessica says
November 30, 2015 at 3:45 pmI am so glad you like it! Yep, you’ll only find easy here! 🙂
cindy rumlow says
January 21, 2016 at 4:22 pmJessica, if I didn’t decrease would I be able to make this as a slouch hat? My knitting is much less advanced than my crocheting so I like this easy pattern!
I’m looking for a slouch hat for my adult niece and thought I would gauge this to an adult size. I want to practice my knitting skills otherwise I’d use your crochet pattern which I use often 🙂
Cindy
Jessica says
January 22, 2016 at 5:33 pmHi Cindy,
Sorry for the delay! I think it might work as a slouch if you made it taller and didn’t decrease. You might want to just decrease the last row or two so that when you tie the top together there aren’t a ton of stitches which will make it bulky. Does that make sense? I’d love to know if it works out for you! Good luck Cindy!
cindy rumlow says
January 24, 2016 at 2:01 amyep, perfect 🙂 thanks for the help! knit and purl are the 2 knit stitches I know so this is perfect! I’ll let you know, I’m starting now,
Cindy
Jessica says
January 24, 2016 at 2:53 amGreat! Good luck Cindy. I’ll look forward to hearing how it goes.
Jessjca says
July 23, 2016 at 8:52 pmHi! This may be a stupid question but I was wondering if all together I should have (approx) 16 rows or 4.5 inches of stockinette or if I should count/measure after rows 4 & 5 (the first Knit and first purl rows) Making a total of 18 stockinette rows before the first decrease. Thank you in advance!
Jessica says
July 28, 2016 at 5:57 pmHi Jessica!
You should have about 16 rows of stockinette only, the rest of the pattern is in addition to that stockinette section. And yes, measure just after the ribbing as you start the stockinette portion. I hope this helps!
Cheryl Taub says
October 28, 2016 at 12:08 pmHi Jessica,
Thanks for this adorable pattern. If I do this on a circular needle , do I need to make any changes in size of needle or number of stitches cast on???
Thanks so much
Jessica says
October 28, 2016 at 4:12 pmHi Cheryl! I believe everything should be the same when you work this in the round. I hope you enjoy it!
Romina says
February 2, 2019 at 10:19 amHi, I have the same yarn, but when a made 40 stitches is too big for a little girl I was thinking if I’d better to do 36 stitches, with 40 I made hat for woman. What do u think?
Helen says
September 20, 2017 at 3:28 amHiya
I’ve never knitted a hat before
Can I just check. are the needles UK size 13 or US size 13?
Jessica says
September 21, 2017 at 8:02 amThey are US 13 – thanks Helen!
Liz says
January 6, 2019 at 5:33 pmI’m so excited to try this! I’m pretty new to knitting… Do you have a recommendation of how much to decrease the number of stitches to make this fit a smaller head (say for a 6 month old?) or should I not risk trying to change the pattern? Thanks!