An easy-to-knit baby hat DIY

My friend Becky just had her third baby, a little boy named Olly, and I knit him a little baby hat that first of all was extremely easy to knit (perfect for beginners like me!), and second of all looked super duper adorable on.

The basics of this hat are simple: just knit or crochet a square, approximately 19 cm (7.5") in width and 27 cm (10.6") high. Sew the sides together (wrong side out if applicable), turn around, and presto!

You could make little pompons and sew them to the two pointy flaps, or stitch through them as a triangle to make them look more like little ears, but I preferred to keep it simple...

This is what I did exactly for Olly's hat, using a pure cashmere yarn and 4 mm (UK6, US8) needles:

Cast on 40 stitches. Knit 4 rows (alternating knit and pearl), then change yarn colour, knit another 4 rows, etc, until you have knit 8 stripes. Then, knit 8 rows in the first colour (in my case blue), so you'll end up with one extra wide stripe, and start alternating again, 8 times, finishing with the first colour.

Sew sides together (wrong side out), making sure to align the stripes. Turn around, and done!

xxx Esther

PS Thanks to 2-week-old Olly for being my perfect model!