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| Knit up a bunch! |
A needlecraft store near my home (Country Needleworks for any of my local readers near Hudsonville, Michigan) has different service projects listed on their website that knitters can help with. I decided I could help by knitting some newborn hats that are used by the maternity ward of our local hospital. But their website did not include any pattern, and after doing some internet searching and not being quite happy with anything I found, I sort of mixed and matched ideas and came up with my own pattern.
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| Vintage Baby Hats - 1986 and 1987 |
These can be knit in solid colors, or with variegated yarn, or you can jazz them up with some stripes too. I also make a pom pom for the top using a pom pom maker
purchased from the craft store.NEWBORN BABY HAT FOR HOSPITALS
Size 6 Needles
Worsted Weight Yarn (I like to use Bernat Satin Yarn
or the Little Britches Yarn from Hobby Lobby)Gauge: 4.5 stitches per inch (or 2 stitches per centimeter)
Cast on 48 stitches
Work in Knit 1, Purl 1 ribbing for 1" (about 6 rows)
Knit in Stockinette Stitch (knit 1 row, purl 1 row) for 3" inches. End with a purl row. Piece will now measure 4" from the beginning.
Begin Decrease for top of hat:
Next Row: Knit 2 together across row (24 stitches)
Next Row: Purl across
Next Row: Knit 2 together across row (12 stitches)
Next Row: Purl across
Next Row: Knit 2 together across row (6 stitches)
Cut yarn, leaving a long tail for sewing up seam. Thread the tail of yarn through a large eye needle and then pull through the stitches to remove them from the needle. Pull stitches tight to gather. Sew seam down side of hat with remaining yarn. Make pom pom and fasten to top of hat.
Even if you don't have a local charity to donate these to, this pattern is handy to have for adding a little homemade touch to a baby gift.
These are so BEAUTIFUL!
ReplyDeleteHey Beverly! Those little hats are precious! I cracked up at the term "vintage hats" from 1986-87! Boy that makes me feel OLD! To me, vintage is 50's and 60's! LOL! They are adorable!
ReplyDeleteGod Bless!
PJ
Hi Bev,
ReplyDeleteI've been following you for a while now and I love your blog! I too feel like why should you pay good money for things when if it's worth it to make it at home! I love your blog so much that I have featured you twice the second time was today with this pattern I gave it a try and as a novice knitter I found it easy to follow but also looked soooo good! Thank you for posting this pattern and I hope you post more knitting soon! If you would like to have a look at my hat come over and visit me!
http://mommamadeit.blogspot.com/
These hats are adorable! I've been looking for a simple newborn hat pattern like this one for such a long time; all the other patterns I found were too fancy, with animal ears or flowers or bows. Not that those aren't cute, too, but this pattern is classic. I'm going to start knitting right away! Thank you!
ReplyDeleteCould I use the same pattern, but with size 5 (12 inch long) circular needles, instead of size 6 straight needles?
ReplyDeleteHi Artikaur - I'm assuming if you want to use circular needles you might be hoping to make one continuous piece with no seam. This might work, however, I think when you get to the decreases at the top, it might be hard with such a few stitches on the circular needle. Perhaps you could not do as many decrease rows (just knit them straight instead) and simply gather more stitches at the end. I think that would probably work. Hope that helps!
ReplyDeleteAre these American size 6 needles? And would that match up to 4mm needles?
ReplyDeleteHi Joanne - Yes, my size 6 needles are American. The conversion to metric would be 4mm (or UK/Canadian size 8). My gauge on the finished piece is 4.5 stitches per inch, or 2 stitches per centimeter.
ReplyDeleteThanks Bev. They seems to have turned out right for me and are a great way to use up all my little ends of wool. Thanks for the pattern. Joanne
ReplyDeleteI use dp needles to make decreases at the top.
ReplyDeleteSuggestion: I would include the gauge in the pattern.
Good suggestion - Gauge has now been included in the pattern. I had included it in a comment but it is now part of the pattern too :)
ReplyDeleteHi Bev,
ReplyDeleteI noticed you didn't mention using a loom to make newborn hats. Is it possible to knit one without using a loom?
The finished size of the knitted newborn hats are pretty tiny. I have never used a loom to make hats, but I would wonder if there is a small enough loom to create a newborn hat. If there is a very small loom, then I think it would work. If the loom is too large you would end up with a hat that was too wide for a newborn head. Newborn hats are only about 5" across when laying flat (about a 10" circumference).
ReplyDeleteBev, thank you for responding and explaining. I look forward to making one one day soon! I really enjoy your blogs.
ReplyDeleteThank you!
Hello! I just made my first hat (well, my first knit project ever)for my soon to be born son and the hat looks great (such an easy pattern to follow!!), but the pom-pom is a bit rough (all my fault!). :-) Any tips on how to make one??
ReplyDeleteI always use a pom pom maker gadget so that my pom poms turn out a little better looking. You should be able to find one at craft stores like Hobby Lobby or Michaels (or there is link up in my post above too). Make sure you wind the yarn around enough times to create a fairly bushy pom pom. Once you take it off the pom pom maker, you can trim it a little bit more too so there aren't pieces sticking out. I try not to be too obessive about that part because you can trim forever trying to get a perfectly round pom pom :)
ReplyDeleteHope that helps a little bit. Even though you can also make pom poms by just winding yarn around a piece of cardboard, I think my pom poms turned out better once I started using the store bought pom pom makers (and especially because these hats need a pretty small pom pom).
Thank you so much!! I live in the UK, so I'll have to see if I can order one online. I'm working on my second hat today and plan on doing another one (they are such a great starter project!). Also, I *love* your website! Thanks for the tips!
ReplyDeleteBev,
ReplyDeleteI don't know if I have size 6 needles. I think I have size 3 or bigger. How would that make the pattern or hat turn out differently?
Thanks,
April
Hi April,
ReplyDeleteSwitching to a different size needle is where the gauge in the original directions becomes important. My gauge was 4.5 stitches per inch and I cast on 48 stitches. This means my piece was about 10.5" wide. (48 divided by 4.5). So your goal with different sized needles would be to still knit a hat that is about 10.5" wide.
Knit a small swatch with your size needles and yarn and see how many stitches per inch you are getting. Let's say you are using smaller needles and are getting 6 stitches per inch. You would multiply 6 times 10.5 inches which gives you 63. Round that up to an even number (64) and that is how many stitches you would cast on. You want an even number of stitches so your decrease rows at the top of the hat are easier.
So to sum that up:
1. Knit yourself a sample swatch
2. Find out how many stitches you have per inch
3. Multiply that by 10.5
4. Round that up to an even number.
That number is how many stitches you will cast on.
Isn't math fun? :-) Hope that helps!
Just wondering if you have a crochet pattern for these 2 hats.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry to say that I don't have a crochet pattern for this newborn hat. I used to crochet a little bit but it was never as easy for me as knitting was and I finally gave up and just stuck with knitting.
ReplyDeleteHowever you could crochet a small sample swatch to figure out how many stitches were in an inch. You would then multiply that by 10.5 to find how many single crochets you would need in a row to make a 10.5" wide hat. To make the decrease rows at the top you could maybe single crochet in every other stitch across a row.
That's about the best crochet advice a knitter like me can come up with :-)
Thanks so much for sharing this pattern! One of my second grade students will be a big sister any day now, so I knitted this super cute hat today for the baby so I'm ready! :)
ReplyDeleteMarvelous Multiagers!
Thanks for sharing this pattern. My second grandson is due Christmas Eve, and I was looking for a simple cap for him to wear. I'm new to knitting, so this is just what I was looking for. I'm already on my second one! Debbie
ReplyDeleteThis hat is wonderful. I came across this pattern as my daughter is in labor with another little love(her 2nd baby my 3rd grandbaby) So I am knitting it as she is in labor now. :D
ReplyDeleteTHANK YOU I have been searching for months for a pattern that would be easy for beginning knitters. We have an organization in Kentucky called Frontier Nurses that works in rural areas of Eastern Kentucky. They were asking for donations of handmade baby hats. This would be a great first project for some 4-H'ers who are beginning to knit and it would benefit a good cause.
ReplyDeleteHi Bev -
ReplyDeletei've been reading here for a while, but somehow had never seen this post. I've been doing hats for preemies for a while now. They are tiny but knit up quick. I use double points and knit in the round, but i recently learned how to use 2 same-sized circular needles to knit in the round. This way you don't have to worry about the whole hat fitting on a circular needles. Enjoy your site, as always. :)
Do you have to top it with a Pom Pom? I was thinking about garnishing it with a flower.
ReplyDeleteNo, you do not necessarily have to top it with a pom pom. It just adds a little something extra. I'm sure a little flower would look cute too :-) That's whats fun about making things yourself. You can be creative and add your own special touches.
ReplyDeletethanks very much, it looked adorable. everybody love it.
ReplyDeleteJust made one of your hats for my niece who is due to arrive on Tuesday! It turned out so adorable - thanks! My question is, can you tell me how to adjust the pattern to make it fit an 18 month old? I really wanted to make one for my daughter too. Thank you!!
ReplyDeleteJennifer - so glad the hat for your neice turned out :)
DeleteTo adjust for a larger size, I would measure around your older child's head to get the total circumference. (let's say it's 18") If you are getting 4.5 stitches per inch like my gauge is, you would then multiply 4.5 x 18. This comes out to about 80 stitches for an 18" circumference hat. However you might want the hat to be a little smaller than an 18" circumference to allow for some stretchiness so it is tight enough fitting. You might also have to add an extra inch or so before you start the decrease rows. The decrease rows could be done the same way, knitting two together across the rows alternating with a purl row.
So increase the number of stitches you cast on (probably to something between 70 to 80 stitches). Make sure you cast on an even number of stitches. Then add an inch or so to the length (maybe to 6" inches from the beginning), then do the decrease rows the same way.
That's my best guess :-) It will take a little trial and error but that is how you would begin the process. Hope that helps!