When you need a newborn gift and you need it in a hurry, a knitted baby hat is the perfect choice. Easy and quick to make, this bucket hat knitting pattern was designed by Tina Barrett for Knit Today magazine and now we're sharing it with you – for free!
This summer baby hat is made from lightweight cotton yarn, so it will keep the sun off a little one's head without making them too hot. We've chosen Rowan Handknit Cotton, but you could substitute any DK weight 100% cotton yarn from your stash. The brim on our sunhat is created by picking up stitches from around the bottom of the hat and then working in stocking stitch, which causes the edge to curl.
If you're a beginner knitter and still learning how to "read" your knitting, consider using a row counter to help you keep track of the stripe pattern and crown decreases in this baby hat. Just remember to change yarns after each purl row, and carry the unused yarn up the side of the work so you don't have lots of ends to weave in.
Needles at the ready and raring to go? Find the free knitting pattern below.
Free baby knitting patterns
We've got lots of fab patterns to cast on for the littlest members of your family! Choose from these and more gorgeous knitting patterns for babies:
This pattern is written in UK metrics but it's really easy to convert, just check out our yarn weight conversion chart and beginner’s guide.
Bucket hat knitting pattern materials
Rowan Handknit Cotton DK (100% cotton, 50g/85m), 1 ball each of:
- Yarn A Navy (227)
- Yarn B White (263).
- If you can't find these shades, try Thunder (335) and Bleached (263)
A pair of 4mm knitting needles
Bucket hat knitting pattern
Follow our standard knitting abbreviations to knit the pattern.
Finished bucket hat size
To fit a baby aged 0-6 months (head circumference 36cm)
Tension
Yarn used knits as DK to this tension: 20 sts and 28 rows to measure 10x10cm (4x4in) in stocking stitch using 4mm needles
Cast on your bucket hat knitting pattern
Using shade A and 4mm needles, cast on 60 sts. Working in stocking stitch throughout, work 13cm in stripe pattern as follows: Two rows in shade A, then two rows in shade B.
Shape bucket hat crown
Row 1 (K4, k2tog), rep to end. [50 sts]
Row 2 and all alt rows Purl.
Row 3 (K3, k2tog), rep to end. [40 sts]
Row 5 (K2, k2tog), rep to end. [30 sts]
Row 7 (K1, k2tog), rep to end. [20 sts]
Row 9 (K2tog), rep to end. [10 sts]
Row 10 (P2tog), rep to end. [5 sts]
Break off the yarn, thread through the remaining sts, pull tight and fasten off.
Bucket hat brim
With right side facing and using shade A, pick up and knit 60 sts around the cast on edge of the hat body.
Next row Purl to the end of the row.
Change to shade B and begin the increases for the brim as follows:
Row 1 Using shade B, (K3, kfb), repeat to the end of the row. [75 sts]
Row 2 Purl to the end of the row.
Row 3 Using shade A, (K4, kfb), rep to end. [90 sts]
Row 4 Purl to the end of the row.
Work a further two rows in shade B, then two rows in shade A, then two rows in shade B, then two more rows in shade A. Work three rows in garter stitch using shade A.
Cast off.
Making up the baby hat
Darn in the loose yarn ends. Using mattress stitch, sew up the back seam. Block the finished hat following the ball band instructions.
Download your bucket hat knitting pattern:
You can download the bucket hat knitting pattern below.The download is a printer-friendly version of the bucket hat knitting pattern. It is an A4 PDF with 2 pages. To save ink on your printer, we suggest you print just the second page of the bucket hat knitting pattern download.
Bucket hat knitting pattern PDF
More like the bucket hat knitting pattern
We have plenty more hats for you to try here on Gathered! Try our free cable hat knitting patterns and our how to knit a bobble hat tutorial. For little heads, try our basic baby hat knitting pattern and our free premature baby hat knitting pattern. We also have a Santa hat knitting pattern or Christmas pudding hat knitting pattern to cover other seasons, too! Want more? Check out our list of the 15 best baby knitting patterns.
