How To Knit A Baby Hat For Beginners

Selecting your yarn

This is your first step in knowing how to knit a baby hat for beginners is selecting your yarn. In selecting your yarn for the hat, it is recommended that you use a baby yarn. This type of yarn is suitable, especially that baby skin is really sensitive. Also, keep in mind that it is also pretty good if you have the extra-soft baby yarn, but if you don’t have access to this kind of yarn, a regular yarn can also work.

Decide on the Color of Your Yarn

Not all parents want a pink colored hat for their baby girls or a blue for a boy. This step may be just for the appearance of the baby hat, but it is as important as the other steps. You also have to consider using varying colors of yarn for a better result of your baby hat; you can also use yarns that form a pattern when you knit. Ultimately, it boils down to your preference on what color would suit your baby best.

Selecting the Right Type of Needles

When selecting your needles, most of the baby hats use 4mm needles. But if you won’t follow this standard, you have to determine how big is the needle you are using because the needle size determines how big the loops you make in the baby hat, and the loops could vary the size of your baby hat. Also, if you are just starting to knit, use straight needles instead of circular ones for circular needles that are typically used by seasoned knitters.

Casting on Your Knitting

This is the start of actually knitting the baby hat. The first thing you do is create row loops on your needles. You have to cast 60 loops on one of your needles if you are using a 4mm needle and just add more loops if you are using a bigger needle. To start knitting, hold your needles so that your left needle has knitting placed on it. Make sure that the needle points are facing away from you, and the yarn is leaving the right needle on the bottom part of the needle.

Knitting the Swath

The next step in learning how to knit a baby hat for beginners is knitting the swath. By utilizing a basic knit stitch, you’ll probably need 50 rows if you have a baby yarn. To start, hold your needle with the cast-on loops in your left hand and pass it to your right hand through your stitch and behind the left needle.

Next, wrap a loop of yarn in a counter-clockwise motion around your right needlepoint. Pull your right needle off through the stitch on your left side, and you have to push the top part of the stitch off of your left needle. Each knit stitch that you make will add a loop to the needle on the right and now, remove one from your needle on the left. When you have finished a row, change your needles to your other hands to start each row with knitting on your left needle. Lastly, make sure your knitting trails to the right side towards the empty needle.

Taper Off the of the Baby Hat

After you have been knitting for about 5 inches, now begin to lessen the length of your knitting. Rather than going through one stitch using your right needle, you have to go through two stitches. Continue to do the 2-stitch decrease until you have only one loop of yarn left on your needle.

Cut Off the Extra Yarn

After you’ve done the last step on how to knit a baby hat for beginners, make sure to leave a long tail of yarn for sewing the sides of the baby hat. Tie it with a simple knot wherein it leaves the knitting before you can begin to stitch it.

Sew Everything Together

Now use a larger sized sewing needle or use a bobby pin and sew the hat sides altogether. Weave the extra yarn in and out along the sides. Tie off the ends and cut off the remaining tail of the hat. Lastly, flip everything inside out where you won’t see the stitched seam.