One of the easiest projects you are going to make in your life is any crochet newborn hat. They are great for practicing and they are so small that will give you the satisfaction of completing a project.
Babies will look good in anything! That’s a fact! But a baby bear hat? Cuteness overload!
Pin me for later… 😉
I usually love those chunky hats for babies. You know, the ones with big poms poms on? They are lovely! This hat is going to be chunky, but I didn’t use bulky yarn.
The idea began because I had a lot of leftover DK and worsted yarn from blankets I made for all my girlfriends when they had their babies. Baby blankets are another addiction of mine, but we will talk about it another time.
A really close friend of mine gave birth recently to her baby boy. Instead of just making her a blanket I decided to add a hat and some baby booties to the package. I made her the Benson baby blanket, so I had leftover yarn in 3 colors and thought that all these together would make a great matching set! It’s October after all, she was going to need them!
I had almost one skein left from this neutral color and thought “Why not double the yarn and use the most of it?” It would make a great chunky newborn hat but without the bulky yarn. Great stash buster!
Did you know you can hold your yarn double even if you only have one skein? Just use one end and dive in the middle of the skein to find the other.
It might be a little tricky if you haven’t done it before, but practice makes perfect. Just be careful when you ‘re crocheting and pulling the yarn. Remember to also rotate the skein by lifting it up. It will rotate in its natural place to unravel.
Adding the bear ears to the hat was an easy decision. After all, who’s entitled to wear animal ears on their head and look abnormally cute, if not a baby?
Also, adding texture to almost anything is another thing I love to do. Most of you may learn a new interesting stitch today. Don’t be intimidated! Just follow the instructions, it’s pretty easy.
Don’t you think it’s time to dive into the pattern? Let’s do it!
You will need:
DK weight yarn (I used Stylecraft Special DK in the color parchment)
8 mm crochet hook
yarn needle
scissors
yardage: approximately 150 m (164 yards)
gauge: 9 st and 8 rows is 4 inches in hdc
You will hold the yarn double for the whole project, newborn hat + ears.
This crochet newborn hat fits head 14-15 inches (36-40 cm).
Abbreviations
R: round
MR: Magic Ring
hdc: half double crochet
sl st: slip stitch
ch(s): chain(s)
fhdcinc: fake half double crochet increase
st(s): stitch(es)
Special stitches:
Fhdcinc: This will look like an increase but it’s not. It is designed to increase only the bulkiness of the stitch. You will complete all the steps of this stitch in the same stitch.
Yarn over, insert the hook in the indicated stitch, yarn over and pull through, yarn over, insert hook in the same stitch, yarn and pull through, yarn over and pull through all loops on your hook.
Notes:
When two or more stitches are in a bracket you will place all these stitches in the same stitch.
Crochet newborn hat pattern
R1: MR, 8 hdc in ring , sl st to join, ch 1 (8)
R2: (hdc, fhdcinc) in each st around, sl st, ch 1 (16)
R3: * fhdcinc, (hdc, fhdcinc) * repeat from * to * around, sl st, ch 1 (24)
R4: * hdc, fhdcinc, (hdc, fhdcinc) * repeat from * to * around, sl st, ch 1 (32)
R5: * fhdcinc, hdc * repeat from * to * around, sl st, ch 1 (32)
R6: * hdc, fhdcinc * repeat from * to * around, sl st, ch 1 (32)
R7-9: repeat rounds 5 and 6
R10: hdc in each st around, sl st, ch 1 (32)
R11: hdc in the third loop only (camel stitch) in each st around, sl st, fasten off.
If you don’t know the camel stitch and how to locate the third loop of a hdc, I have a tutorial for you.
Bear ears (make 2):
The back half of the ear will be textured with our special fhdcinc stitch and the front half of the ear will be plain with just hdc stitches.
R1: MR, 5 hdc in ring, sl st to join, ch 1 (5)
R2: 2fhdcinc in the next 2 st(s), (fhdcinc, hdc) in the next st, 2 hdc in the next 2 st(s), sl st, ch 1 (10)
R3: * fhdcinc, 2 fhdcinc * repeat from * to * 2 times, fhdcinc, (fhdcinc, hdc), * hdc, 2 hdc * repeat from * to * 2 times, sl st, ch 1 (15)
R4: fhdcinc in the next 8 st(s), hdc in the next 7 st(s) (15)
Fasten off and weave in all your ends.
Assembly
You will sew the ears between rounds 2 and 5 of the hat. Pro tip: Inflate a balloon inside the hat, hold it between your legs or tape it on the table. This will help you find the optimal place for the ears and sew them easily!
You know what else makes a great gift for little babies? A crochet teething ring toy that looks like a bunny. Check it out and I can assure you, you won’t be able to stop at just one.
Pin this image for later… 😉
That’s it! Wasn’t that easy? Besides being a great stash-buster, I bet you can make a bunch to donate for charity. There are a lot of hospitals that accept them to keep those newborn babies warm!
More posts you may like:
Jessica
Thursday 16th of July 2020
Hi Lou,
Is there a way to make this hat a bit bigger? For 3-6 months?
Jessica
malloo
Monday 27th of July 2020
If you have the model then, yes. Just add an increase row and see if it fits. ;-)
Tawny
Sunday 20th of October 2019
I'm having a difficult time figuring out exactly what to do with the special stitch or rather how to do it.
malloo
Thursday 7th of November 2019
I only have written instructions at the moment, I am sorry.
Jessica Hofmeister
Friday 5th of July 2019
R7-9 is equal to 3 rounds, repeating R5 and 6 is only 2 rounds. Could you please clarify?
malloo
Monday 8th of July 2019
Hello Jessica!
You will make a R5, then a R6 and you will end your repeat with a R5. I hope it is clear now. :-)
Helen
Friday 14th of June 2019
For the ears, should R2 and R3 include a slip stitch to join and chain 1?
malloo
Friday 14th of June 2019
Yes, you are correct, Helen. Thanks for catching that, it's fixed now. ;-)
Brittany
Monday 12th of November 2018
Are the instructions for the special stitch exactly what needs to be done within the parenthesis or does a hdc need to be added before your directions?
malloo
Monday 12th of November 2018
Hi Brittany!
When I use a parenthesis that means an increase. Two or more stitches have to be in the same stitch. Until round 4 you will make a hdc and then the special stitch in the same stitch. Was that your question or did I misunderstood anything? Let me know...