10+ Adorable Baby Hospital Hat Knitting Patterns!
Keep brand-new babies warm and cozy!
10+ Adorable FREE Baby Hospital Hat Knitting Patterns!
Newborn babies are the perfect recipients of handmade hats! New babies are sensitive to temperature changes and need as much cozy protection as possible in those early days. Whether there’s a new baby on the way or you want to make a stack of hats for hospitals, I put together a round-up of newborn hat knitting patterns that are both quick and cute.
Fortunately, baby hats are quite easy to make! As you can imagine, baby heads come in different sizes but no matter what, newborn baby hats are typically very tiny. Some babies, such as our precious preemies, need even smaller hats knit to fit.
Today, we’re talking about some fun and cutesy baby hat knitting patterns! Some of these will focus on being ultra cute while others will be more functional to keep these babies snug on their trip home from the hospital.
No matter what you’re looking for, we’ve got it!
What You Need for Baby Hat Knitting Patterns
Baby hat knitting patterns don’t require a lot to finish. But you will need specific materials to cater to your little pumpkin’s sensitive skin. So check these out!
- Knitting Needles – The most important tool for knitting is a pair of sturdy knitting needles. You can find the recommended gauge in your knitting pattern’s list of materials or on your yarn skein’s wrapper. For these tiny hats we recommend using a set of DPN knitting needles, perfect for small circumference projects.
- Yarn – For new babies, choose acrylic or plant-based yarns. With such new babies, it’s hard to know whether they might be allergic to animal fibers!
Make sure to check the pattern to see what yarn weight to use. Each pattern should list a recommended brand or weight in the “suggested yarn” section of the free baby hat knitting pattern you’re following! You can make sure you have the right weight by checking the yarn band.
- Scissors – A pair of scissors is another important tool that you will use for all of your knitting projects. You’ll need them to cut the yarn and trim any leftover yarn tails when you’re done!
- Stitch markers – You might need stitch markers to keep track of where you are, especially if you’re doing increases or decreases to shape the crown of the baby’s beanie. If you don’t have stitch markers, you can use a strand of scrap yarn—preferably in a different color so it’s easy to see.
- Yarn/darning needle – You will need a yarn needle or darning needle to sew in the loose ends.
- Pompom makers – Some baby hat knitting patterns might require you to use pom pom makers. So make sure to have a few ready! Remember, if you’re adding pompoms to make sure they’re very well attached, anything added to a hat after it’s finished could become a choking hazard.
- Free baby hat knitting pattern – We can’t forget about the baby hat knitting pattern that you will be following. So make sure to download a copy!
10+ Adorable Baby Hospital Hat Knitting Patterns!
Ready for the coziest baby hospital hat knitting patterns? Great! Brace yourself for some major cuteness!
Disclaimer: This article contains links to external unaffiliated websites.
1. Stay Warm Baby Hat
By: Yarnspirations Design Studio
YARN: DK
SIZE: Preemie – 24 months
Autumn and winter can be particularly chilly months for newborns. Keep your little one warm and cozy with this adorable baby hat knitting pattern!
This easy pattern uses simple ribbed stitches to give them extra stretchiness for a snug fit.
2. Preemie Hat (Knit)
By: Bernat Design Studio
YARN: DK
SIZE: Preemie
Our beloved little preemies need a bit more help in keeping their noggins warm.
This Preemie Hat pattern by Bernat Design Studio can surely help with that! This hat is knit with simple stockinette stitch which makes it fast. Rather than decreases at the top to finish the hat, this pattern uses a quick folded seam.
PS: this pattern has a crochet option too!
3. Snow Bunny Pom Hat
By: Melody Rogers
YARN: Super Bulky
SIZE: Preemie – 10 years old
Even hats designed to be super warm can also be over-the-top adorable too!
This Snow Bunny Pom Hat has huge pompoms at the top, perfect for your newest little “mini me”. Making pompoms is even easier if you have a pom pom maker!
4. Simple Baby Hat
By: Alison Williams
YARN: Sport
SIZE: Preemie – Toddler
Babies are so cute that even a Simple Baby Hat pattern will get a lot of “aww’s” from anyone who sees it!
This simple knit baby hat makes it easy to whip up a whole stack of hats in different colors and sizes for your kiddo to grow into over the years.
5. NOAH Baby Hat
By: marianna mel
YARN: DK
SIZE: Preemie – 3 Months
Texture is always a nice little detail to add to your baby’s beanie. The NOAH Baby Hat pattern adds a few rows of purl stitches that serve as interesting stripes without making adding anything complicated to this quick project.
6. IONA Baby Hat
By: marianna mel
YARN: DK
SIZE: Preemie – 9 Months
This IONA Baby Hat combines cables with basic knit stitches to create preciously intricate baby caps! Even though the stitch pattern is a little more complicated than the simpler designs above, it’s still a great beginner-friendly knitting pattern. It’s also a great time to practice simple cable patterns!
7. Little Boy Blue Ribbed Baby Hat
By: Tonya Wagner
YARN: Aran
SIZE: Newborn
Ribbing is also a great way to get a snug fit on a baby hat. Ribbing is 2-3x stretchier than other knitting stitch patterns. This ribbed hat will stretch and grow with the baby so that it can be used for a whole season!
8. Newborn Baby Cable Hat
By: Annanitato Lolo
YARN: Worsted
SIZE: Newborn Infant
Even newborns can wear statement clothing! This Newborn Baby Cable Hat is perfect for fashionable tiny tots. Easy cables with a garter stitch background also mean this hat will be able to stretch to fit over a whole season of wear.
9. Elf Hat
By: Sammy Bristow
YARN: DK
SIZE: Preemies – Newborn
It might be a little early for Christmas-themed knits but this little Elf Hat pattern was so cute that I just had to add it in!
Knit your little elf a cute beanie using this free baby hat knitting pattern. You can also knit this pattern any time of the year by changing the colors of the stripes to something less seasonal!
10. Heart Hat
By: Sammy Bristow
YARN: DK
SIZES: Preemie – 6 Months
Sometimes, one little detail is enough to take a knitted project to whole other level of cuteness.
This endearing Heart Hat pattern guides you through knitting a textured heart detail in the middle of your tiny beanie project!
11. The Fixie Baby Hat
By: Stitch Marker
YARN: DK
SIZES: Newborn
Another charmingly simple baby hat knitting pattern is the Fixie Baby Hat!
You can choose to use a solid color or mix and match as many colors as you like to create a unique little baby hat for your bundle of joy!
12. Bear Ears Hat
By: Tara Marie
YARN: Super Bulky
SIZES: Newborn – 12 Years Old
LOOK AT THOSE TEDDY BEAR EARS!
Now, this baby hat knitting pattern may be last on the list, but it’s definitely the cutest.
The Bear Ears Hat is one of my top favorites and for good reason. This is a simple baby hospital hat knitting pattern that will look absolutely adorable on every baby noggin!
Thoughts on Free Baby Hat Knitting Patterns
Beanies on newborns are one of the cutest things you can ever see. Plus, knit beanies are fantastic ways to keep baby heads warm! So, why wouldn’t we go into an internet deep-dive of the cutest baby hat knitting patterns to grace this planet?
My absolute favorites on this list are the Bear Hat Ears Toque Baby and the Snow Bunny Pompom Hat. What were yours? Let’s chat in the comments section below!
Looking for more baby-centered projects? Check out these 12 Free Baby Blanket Knitting Patterns, Free Baby Hat Knitting Patterns, or our collection of Free Baby Knitting Patterns for all sorts of accessories and toys!
the pattern says S1 to begin- as I am a beginner I need to know what S1 means and how to do it.