Wiser Baby Sun Hat
I’m really excited to share this pattern with you: The Wiser Baby Sun Hat, a hat to fit babies aged around 12 months. Isn’t it cute? It’s similar to the Wise Baby Sun Hat (a newborn-size hat) which I shared earlier, and like it, I designed it for my little girl, Peanut.
About The Pattern
This is a simple pattern, knitted flat and seamed, with a row of lazy daisies embroidered around the band (if you’re new to lazy daisies, here is a good tutorial). The hat is sweet and simple: my favourite kind of pattern. It’s knitted in a cotton yarn which is light for the summer but not so light that the sun will get through. I’m also including instructions for optional crochet ties. We need these for Peanut or else she’ll just pull off the hat and leave it who knows where.
Peanut is a big girl, with a big head. There was no getting around that: big heads run in both sides of her family. The Wise Baby Sun Hat only fit her for about two weeks. So as her first birthday approached, which was two more (non-handmade) hats later, I started to notice her hat looking way too small. The brim wasn’t extending far enough to cover her face. In Tasmania where we live, once the sun comes out, you want your kids to have good sun protection. Even though it’s colder than a lot of Australia, the ozone layer is thin and the sun is still hot in the summer.
So, for her first birthday, I made her this hat.
She opened her handmade present on November 14, her first birthday, at a small picnic in the park attended by us, her paternal grandparents, an aunt, an uncle, and a cousin, before we flew out of Tasmania for Adelaide to attend the wedding of a dear friend of mine.
Peanut got a second, much bigger birthday party, attended by many excited great aunts, extended family, and my godmother’s family and friends. Have I ever mentioned my mum is from the Philippines? This is how parties work when your mum is from the Philippines. It’s amazing that there was no karaoke.
As a wonderful coincidence, my husband’s parents were also in Adelaide at the same time as us, so Peanut got to have all four of her grandparents, much of my family, and my husband’s brother and his family there too! She was a spoiled girl, and my little sometimes-timid Peanut came home from Adelaide with much more confidence to navigate a crowd of admirers.
About the Yarn (+ substitute suggestion)
The yarn I selected is called Gelato, by Moda Vera. It’s the same yarn that is used in the Wise Baby Sun Hat, and I love it. Maybe it’s because eit’s cotton and it slips between your fingers so experty as you knit, like it knows what it’s doing. There’s something delicious about working with cotton. I don’t know, maybe it’s just me. Is it just me? Let me know in the comments if I’m weird.
This yarn is available from Spotlight stores in Australia, but I used Yarnsub to find a substitute which is available in more places. Bergere de France Coton Fifty looks like a great match, and has an average rating of 4.2 stars on Ravelry. Of course, check your gauge before you make this hat, whether or not you’re substituting yarn. Below are the closest matches I could find for colours in the Bergere de France yarn:
Red: Ecarlate
Purple: Raisin
The Pattern
Here is the pattern! I hope you enjoy it. If you make it, I would love for you to make a project for it on Ravelry so I can see photos and what you thought of it.
You can download the PDF here: Wiser Baby Sun Hat Pattern
Yarn: Moda Vera Gelato. One 50g ball each in Pink, Red, and Purple
Needles: 2.25mm straight needles
Crochet hook (optional, for ties): 3.50mm
Tension: 28 sts x 40 rows = 10cm2 in stocking stitch
To Fit: 12 months approx. (45-50cm head circumference)
Tip: When changing colours, leave a long tail and do not weave in ends as you go. When working the seam after the hat has been knitted, use these tails to switch to the matching yarn so the seam is less noticeable.
Using red, CO 256 sts. Work in garter stitch for 28 rows.
Next Row: [k2tog] to end. 128 sts. Change to purple.
Starting with a WS row, work in stocking stitch for 15 rows (end on WS row). Change to Pink.
Work a further 22 rows.
Decrease for crown
Row 1: [k6, k2tog] to end. 112 sts.
Rows 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, and 12: P all sts.
Row 3: [k5, k2tog] to end. 96 sts.
Row 5: [k4, k2tog] to end. 80 sts.
Row 7: [k3, k2tog] to end. 64 sts.
Row 9: [k2, k2tog] t end. 48 sts.
Row 11: [k1, k2tog] to end.32 sts.
Row 13: [k2tog to end]. 16 sts.
Row 14 (WS): [p2tog] to end. 8 sts.
Cut yarn, leaving a long tail. Using a tapestry needle, pass tail through 8 remaining live stitches and pull tight. Using mattress stitch, work back seam (see tip at the start of the pattern).
Using pink, work lazy daisy stitch along purple band, beginning on the 6th row. Make each daisy 7 sts wide, and 8 rows high, leaving a space of 10 sts between each daisy (see chart in PDF linked above for guidance).
Crochet ties (optional – make 2)
Please note: The following instructions are written in US crochet instructions. A US single crochet is the same as a UK double crochet.
Using pink and a 3.50mm crochet hook, work a chain until it is 22cm long.
Rows 1 and 2: Work a single crochet into each stitch.
Fasten off. Attach each tie to the underside of the hat where yarn changes from red to purple, such that the ties hang behind the ears of the wearer. Weave in ends.
