Leafy Baby Hat is a seamless lace baby hat knitting pattern worked in the round using sport-weight yarn, designed to match the Leafy Baby Blanket.
In July 2011, I have published my Leafy Baby Blanket, which was my first proper pattern. For the past several years, I’ve been toying with the idea of making other matching items – and the first one that I’m ready to share with you is the Leafy Baby Hat.
Earlier this year, I made the blanket using a slightly thinner yarn (held double as usual) as a part of my Leafy Baby Blanket KAL. I made some changes to the pattern (yet again). While the original blanket pattern is available as free PDF download , the 2025 version is only available as a part of the bundle that can be purchased from my website or Ravelry.
I used the same yarn for the hat, but with one strand only. The hat is made in round which makes following the lace pattern a bit easier. So if you a beginner and consider making both the hat and the blanket, I recommend starting with the hat.
The full pattern is available below, but I also have a pdf version for sale – for comfortable, ad-free use. It is now also available for purchase on Ribblr, which converts terms and measurements, and allows you to follow the pattern line by line. It’s quite neat, I have to admit!
Materials
- 20g Hobbii Twister Solid (55% cotton, 45% acrylic, 400m/100g = 437 yd/3.5 oz) – 0,2 skeins (so 4 skeins is enough for swatching, the blanket and the hat), used 1 strand at a time. You can use any other sports weight yarn that gives the same gauge
- 3mm/ US 2 ½ needles.
- 2.75mm/ US 2 needles.
- Stitch markers (optional).
Depending on your preference, you can either use circular needles and magic loop technique, or DNPs.
Size
Newborn. Finished measurements unstretched – 15 cm/6in wide by 13 cm/5 in long.
Gauge
1 pattern repeat unstretched = 5cm (2 in).
Abbreviations
k – knit
k2tog – knit 2sts together (right slanting decrease)
k3tog – knit 3sts together (right slanting decrease)
p – purl
sl1wyib – slip next stitch with the working yarn at the back of your work
sk2togp – slip one stitch knitwise, knit next 2 stitches together, pass the slipped stitches over
sl2wyib – slip next 2 stitches with the working yarn at the back of your work
ssk – slip, slip, knit – left slanting decrease, you can also use a skp instead
sts – stitches
yo – yarn over
Instructions
Using smaller needles, cast on 90 stitches, join in the round using your preferred method. I used the long tail cast on.
If you are adjusting the pattern to your gauge/size here are some guidelines:
- The pattern repeat is 15 stitches, so 90 stitches is 6 repeats.
- Depending on the number of repeats, your total number of stitches will either be divisible by 4, or you will have 1, 2 or 3 stitches left after the 4 stitches repeats of 2×2 ribbing. In my pattern below, I have 2 stitches left.
- If your number of stitches is divisible by 4, just do a regular (K2,p2) ribbing for round 1 and afterwards. If you have 1 stitch left, you can just do (K2, P2) for ribbing, and add 1 purl stitch to the last repeat
- If you have 3 stitches left, you use the pattern below, but finish the round with 1 more knit stitch
Ribbed brim
Round1: p1, (k2, p2) until last stitch of the round, k1.
Rounds 2-12: repeat round 1.
Round 13: p1, (sl2wyib, p2), until last stitch of the round, sl1wyib
Rounds 14-16: repeat round 13. This creates a fold that stays in place
Rounds 17-28: repeat round 1
Main body
From experience, a lot of people have difficulties in the beginning of the lace pattern with the stitch count. The best way to help yourself is to use stitch markers to separate pattern repeats. The stitch pattern is a multiple of 15 Place the stitch markers as follows: first one at the beginning of the round, and then after each 15 stitches. After finishing each 15-stitch repeat, count the new stitches you have just made and make sure there are still 15.
Switch to larger size needles.
Round 29: (p2, k13) x6
Round 30: repeat round 29
Round 31: (p2, k10, k2tog, yo, k1) x6
Round 32: (p2, k9, k2tog, k2, yo) x6
Round 33: (p2, k8, k2tog, k1, yo, k2) x6
Round 34: (p2, k7, k2tog, k3, yo, k1) x6
Round 35: (p2, k6, k2tog, k2, yo, k3) x6
Round 36: (p2, k5, k2tog, k4, yo, k2) x6
Round 37: (p2, k4, k2tog, k3, yo, k4) x6
Round 38: (p2, k3, k2tog, k5, yo, k3) x6
Rounds 39-40: repeat round 29
Round 41: (p2, k1, yo, ssk, k10) x6
Round 42: (p2, yo, k2, ssk, k9) x6
Round 43: (p2, k2, yo, k1, ssk, k8) x6
Round 44: (p2, k1, yo, k3, ssk, k7) x6
Round 45: (p2, k3, yo, k2, ssk, k6) x6
Round 46: (p2, k2, yo, k4, ssk, k5) x6
Round 47: (p2, k4, yo, k3, ssk, k4) x6
Round 48: (p2, k3, yo, k5, ssk, k3) x6
Rounds 49-50: repeat round 29
Crown decreases
Round 51: (p2, k9, k3tog, yo, k1) x6 = 14 sts
Round 52: (p2, k7, k3tog, k2, yo) x6 = 13 sts
Round 53: (p2, k5, k3tog, k1, yo, k2) x6 = 12 sts
Round 54: (p2, k3, k3tog, k3, yo, k1) x6 = 11 sts
Round 55: (p2, k1, k3tog, k2, yo, k3) x6 = 10 sts
Round 56: (p1, k3tog, k4, yo, k2) x6 = 9 sts
Round 57: (k2tog, k3, yo, k2, k2tog) x6 = 8 sts
Round 58: (ssk, k4, k2tog) x6 = 6sts
Round 59: (sk2togp, k3tog) x6 = 2 sts
Round 60: ssk x6 = 1 sts
Break off the yarn leaving a longer tail, using darning needle, thread the yarn through the stitches taking them off the needle at the same time. Pull tight to close the gap, thread the yarn to the inside of the hat. Weave in the ends, wash and block.
The chart
As you are working in the round, read all rounds from right to left, and the. The stitches highlighted in grey are the repeat part of the pattern. The chart does not depict the ribbing and the crown of the hat! Please, consult the abbreviation section for more details.
Please tag your creations #leafybabyhat on social networks and visit my Instagram – @leyla_knits_and_crochets – to have a look at Leafy Baby Blanket stories highlights.
Please share your questions and comments below – I love hearing from you. I’m also very curious to know what items people are making as baby gifts? Are baby socks still a thing for example?