A Simple, But Lovely, Newborn Hat

My finished newborn hat.

Every newborn baby needs a hat to help keep them warm.  I designed this hat as a gift for a pregnant friend who is expecting a baby boy later this year.

It’s a simple Stockinette stitch hat with rolled brim, but I used beautiful, hand-dyed yarn to make it special.  The rolled brim is perfect for a baby’s hat because it can be rolled up or down as much as needed to fit the baby’s head.  I chose a superwash merino wool1 so it would be nice and soft against the baby’s delicate skin and easy to launder.

Illustrating the practicality of the rolled brim: I just kept rolling up the brim until it was above George's eyes.

When finished, this hat is approximately 12″ in circumference unstretched, but it will stretch to fit up to a 16″ head circumference.  Thus the hat should fit a newborn to a 3-month-old baby.2 To make your own newborn hat, download my pattern:

• MakerKnit Newborn Hat (2013 downloads )

1. I used Madelinetosh Tosh Vintage, a worsted weight, 100% superwash merino wool yarn. [↩]
2. Or a small stuffed primate. 🙂 [↩]