Easy baby beanie or warm hat: Tutorial

This cute - as little beanie is a nap time project, if you can knit very fast! You may get it done in an hour, but most probably won't. Because it's so small, however, it's easy to bundle away and pick up again tomorrow.

This free pattern is a good project for beginners and for knitting for charity.

You will need:
- circular knitting needles, 6mm
- 8 ply yarn or two strands of 4 ply yarn. Doubled up baby yarn is excellent for this project.
- yarn needle and scissors

Knitting skills required:
- cast on
- knit stitch
- purl stitch (for ribbed brim only, not required for rolled brim)
- knitting in rows (for ribbed brim only, not required for rolled brim)
- knitting in the round
- decreasing

Cast on 54 stitches onto the circular needles.

ribbed brim (solid colour yarn)

rolled brim (varigated yarn)

For a rolled brim:
Knit one row. Join the knitting, being careful not to twist it. If you are new to knitting in the round, I recommend the ribbed brim. Keep knitting every row.

For a ribbed brim:
Work in rows for the first 8 rows.
Row 1: knit 2, purl 2. Repeat along row.

Row 2: purl 2, knit 2. Repeat along row.
Row 3, 5, 7: repeat row 1
Row 4, 6, 8: repeat row 2
Join the knitting, being careful not to twist it.
Row 9 and on: keep knitting in rounds

For both brims:
Knit main section
Keep knitting in the round until work reaches 12 - 15 cm. When it doubt, make it a bit longer as the brim can always be folded up if needed.

For both brims:
Begin decreasing
Decrease 9 stitches evenly across row. Continue to decrease in line each row until work can't get any smaller on the needles.

For both brims:
Finish crown
Cut yarn leaving a 50cm tail. Thread the yarn through the yarn needle. Slip each stitch off the needles on to the yarn needle. Pull tight to gather crown and tie off.

For ribbed brim
Finish brim
Use the yarn needle and the beginning tail to sew the short seam between the ribbing sides.

For ribbed brim
Finish brim
Secure beginning tail, trim, and roll up brim.

Ta da, all done!

This is the uncropped version of the above photo.
It was too cute not to post :)

These make a great inclusing in a baby gift pack, or you could give them to someone in need. If you want to make a larger beanie, try these instructions.