Baby Pom Pom Hat
When you need a baby gift that you can knit lickety split, cast on for our free Baby Pom Pom Hat pattern in our marvelously soft, new Fine Print sock yarn!
These darling hats couldn’t be easier. Knit in the round, you start with a 1×1 ribbed edging, then it’s all stockinette until you reach the simple k2tog decreases.
At the end of the decreases, you’ll cinch the remaining stitches to create a cute, slightly gathered top, the perfect nest for a perky little pom pom.
Fine Print is such a beautiful yarn for sensitive baby skin. It’s a super soft, super stretchy sock yarn, made with 75% superwash wool and 25% nylon. That means it’s machine wash- and dry-able, long-lasting, and no-pill!
Its cheerful palette is a bouquet of colors hand-printed onto a warm white base. With a lovely variegation in the dye, every stitch is a happy little surprise, while 50-gram balls allow you to mix and match away!
The colors are so delightful that we couldn’t resist knitting this easy, satisfying hat in every single shade of Fine Print!
One ball is plenty to knit one Baby Pom Pom Hat in either the newborn or baby size. Or pick up two colors and make two hats, one in each size with opposite color schemes. What a special hand-knit gift!
If you love the yarn used in this project, you’ll love all of our other yarn, too! Explore our 35+ lovingly created yarn collections, in nearly every natural fiber and spectacular color you can imagine… Only available here at Purl Soho’s online yarn shop!
Designed by Purl Soho designer, Gianna Mueller. See more of Gianna’s designs on her Instagram!
Share your progress and connect with the community by tagging your pics with #PurlSoho, #PurlSohoBusyHands, #PurlSohoBabyPomPomHat, and #PurlSohoFinePrint. We can’t wait to see what you make!
Materials
To make two hats in any size (switching Main Color and Contrast Color for the second one), you’ll need…
- Purl Soho’s Fine Print, 75% superwash wool and 25% nylon. Each ball of this fingering-weight yarn is approximately 218 yards/ 50 grams.
- Main Color: 1 ball; approximately 100 (130) total yards required.
- Contrast Color (for Pom Pom): 1 ball; approximately 50 total yards required.
- A set of US 1½ (2.75 mm) double pointed needles
- Stitch markers, including one unique
- A pom pom maker. We used Purl Soho’s Pom Pom Maker Set in Small + Large.
GAUGE
34 stitches and 41 rounds = 4 inches in stockinette stitch
SIZES
Newborn (Baby)
- Finished Circumference: Approximately 12¾ (15) inches
- Finished Height: 6 (7) inches
PATTERN
BODY
With Main Color, cast on 108 (128) stitches, we used a basic Long Tail Cast On.
Place a unique marker and join for working in the round, being careful not to twist the stitches.
Round 1: *K1, p1, repeat from * to end of round.
Repeat Round 1 eight more times, until piece measures approximately 1 inch from cast-on edge.
Knit every round until piece measures 3 (3¼) inches from cast-on edge.
CROWN
Set-Up Round: [K27 (32), place marker] 3 times, knit to end of round. [3 stitch markers placed]
Round 1: [Knit to 2 stitches before next marker, knit 2 together, slip marker] 4 times. [4 stitches decreased]
Round 2: Knit to end of round.
Repeat Rounds 1 and 2 nine (11) more times. [68 (80) stitches remain]
Repeat Round 1 eleven (14) more times. [24 stitches remain]
Cut yarn and thread tail onto a tapestry needle. Thread tail through remaining stitches. Pull taut and bring tail to inside of hat to weave in.
FINISHING
Weave in the ends and wet block before attaching pom pom.
POM POM
With Contrast Color, make a 2-inch pom pom. If you’re using Purl Soho’s Pom Pom Maker Set, use the Small Pom Pom Maker and the 2-inch Trim Guide. Follow along with our Pom Pom Tutorial for all the how-tos!
ATTACH POM POM
Thread each pom pom tail separately through the top of the Crown to the inside of the hat. Tie the tails into a knot, then thread the tails up through the pom pom and trim them flush with the pom pom. All done!
LEARN ABOUT FINE PRINT + ALL OUR BEAUTIFUL YARNS
Fine Print is the perfect yarn for this project, a classic 75% superwash wool + 25% nylon fingering-weight yarn that is springy, durable, and super soft. Each stitch is a joyful little surprise, with colorful dye printed onto the warm white base for a marbled fabric of incredible depth. 50-gram balls of this classic sock yarn give you creative license to mix, match, contrast, harmonize, and play!
More Free Knitting Patterns
- Be sure to explore our growing collection of free Fine Print knitting patterns and cast on!
More Fingering-Weight Yarns
- Shop our entire collection of fingering-weight yarns
- If you want to use a different yarn, be sure to take the time to get the correct gauge. Need help? Check our All About Gauge Tutorial!
More Yarns With Similar Fibers
- Shop superwash wool yarn
- Shop machine washable yarn
Looking for more inspiration? Explore all of our free knitting patterns and knitting tutorials, buy one of our many knitting kits and yarn bundles, and shop for beautiful yarn. We have over 35 gorgeous natural fiber yarns in 100’s of magnificent colors, designed to bring integrity, beauty, and joy to your next knitting project and only available at Purl Soho!
Wish the pattern included adjustments for a 2 year old.
Hi Ann,
Thank you for writing in! You might be interested in checking out our Basic Hats For Everyone pattern which includes sizes baby through adult large! I hope this helps but please let us know if you have any other question!
All the best,
Gavriella
They look good and easy. Thank you
At the risk of feeling really brain deficient, I don’t see that this can be cast on for knitting in the round, or the size needle. Is this supposed to be done using only double pointed needles, rather than using them at the end when you begin decreasing for the top? Thanks
Hi Jane,
Thank you for writing in! Since these hats have such a small circumference, we used A set of US 1½ (2.75 mm) double pointed needles to complete this project. If you find that using small circular needles works better for you, you can definitely do that!
All the best,
Gavriella
Hi,
Love your patterns…..and yarn. Wish there was some way to just print out the patterns themselves. This pattern, for instance is 15 pages long! Can anything be done about this?
Hi Nancy,
Thank you for asking! You can make a custom PDF using the print function of our patterns with the instructions below.
If you’re on a desktop version of the site, you will find a “print” icon in the right column just below the “Save To Favorites” button. If you’re on a mobile version of the site, you will find a “print” icon below the pattern and above the comments.
You can follow the easy on-screen instructions to delete whichever parts of the pattern you don’t want to print or save. For example, you may decide to shorten the pattern by omitting certain images or the list of materials. To remove images, click the drop down next to the image icon and change from 100% to 0%. You can also hover your mouse over any portions of the pattern you wish to delete, and click the trash can icon that appears. Then, you can click “Print” or “PDF” along the top left of the pattern preview box to print or save the pattern!
I hope this helps but please let us know if you have any questions!
All the best,
Gavriella
Wish you had a printer friendly link.
Hi Teri,
Thank you for writing in! You can follow the steps below for a fully customized PDF for printing.
If you’re on a desktop version of the site, you will find a “print” icon in the right column just below the “Save To Favorites” button. If you’re on a mobile version of the site, you will find a “print” icon below the pattern and above the comments.
You can follow the easy on-screen instructions to delete whichever parts of the pattern you don’t want to print or save. For example, you may decide to shorten the pattern by omitting certain images or the list of materials. To remove images, click the drop down next to the image icon and change from 100% to 0%. You can also hover your mouse over any portions of the pattern you wish to delete, and click the trash can icon that appears. Then, you can click “Print” or “PDF” along the top left of the pattern preview box to print or save the pattern!
I hope this helps!
All the best,
Gavriella
I can’t locate any needles of the 1.25 double pointed size – even from the link you posted. Can you suggest a different size?
Hi Elizabeth,
For this project you will actually need 2.75mm needles. In some brands this is a US 2 so I’d suggest looking for the correct millimeter size instead of the US needle number. Each needle size will also have the mm listed for easy access. I hope this helps!
Happy knitting,
Gavriella
Re: Ann’s request to make same hat for a 2 year old, Gavriella suggested using the Basic Hats for Everyone pattern. Is Nigh DK the same weight/gauge yarn as Fine Print so it should be a direct substitution if we want to make hat for older child?
Hi Elizabeth,
The Basic Hats For Everyone uses a slightly thicker yarn so unfortunately it is not an exact substitution. We’re sorry about that but please let us know if you have any other questions!
All the best,
Gavriella