Preemie hat free pattern

[Becky Morgan]

This is the one I came up with for my next class. The ladies wanted to learn to knit in the round, so first we made Christmas ornaments (no purling there) and now they're about to tackle a hat. The decreases on top make a pretty swirl pattern. If they were more experienced, I'd tell them to (p2tog) instead of (k2tog) so the decreases would show better.

 

You need:

--an ounce or less of baby yarn, your choice

--four #5 double-pointed needles (after a frantic phone call from one of the students today, I'll specify that I know they come in packs of five, but that you only need four because the decreases are easier to keep track of if you use three needles to hold the stitches and one to knit with.)

 

Cast on 48 stitches. You may work flat or in the round for the first couple of rows. Working a row or two flat, that is, back and forth, will make it easier not to twist the stitches. Most people are most comfortable dividing the stitches evenly on three needles, which would mean you would have sixteen stitches on each needle.

Rows 1-7: K2, P2 around.

Row 8: Knit around. If you have been working flat, join and knit around.

Repeat Row 8 until hat is 4" tall.

Decrease rows:

Decrease Row 1: (K6, k2 tog) around. 42 stitches remain on the needles.

Row 2: Knit around.

Row 3: (K5, k2tog) around.

Row 4: Knit around.

Row 5: (K4, k2 tog) around.

Row 6: (K3, K2tog) around.

Row 7: (K2, K2 tog) around.

Row 8: (k1, K2tog) around.

Row 9: (K2tog) around. Leaving a few inches of tail, cut or break yarn. Thread tail of yarn through all stitches and knot firmly.

[PBLKNP]

Thank you for sharing...It's always good to find new preemie hat patterns! We have a LYS that collects them for a local hospital.