The Sweet Baby Hat is a super soft and squishy crochet beanie for newborn babies with sizes from preemie up to 1-year old.
This crochet hat pattern is my contribution to the Preemie Challenge 2021, which will be hosted this August by Helen and Sara over at Sunflower Cottage Crochet.
Last year, I took part in this beautiful charity event with the Preemie Bonding Square. This year, I thought it was time to design a beanie for preemies.
After soaking up lots of info from the web, I learned that there are mainly two hat sizes for premature babies, which range between 10″-12″ (25-30 cm) and 12″-13″ (30-33 cm) in circumference.
Boy, these preemie beanies are so sweet and tiny! They fit in the palm of one hand!
Of course, I wanted to include also larger sizes, so I crocheted an entire range of baby hats for both boys and girls up to 9-12 months of age. The free pattern in this post will guide you through the two preemie sizes. For the full pattern with all the sizes, you can check my Ravelry, LoveCrafts, and Etsy stores!
Find more baby hat patterns here on the blog…
Add this pattern to your Ravelry queue here, or save it for later to your favorite crochet board on Pinterest using this Pin!
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SIZE & YARDAGE
The pattern is written for the following sizes:
| Size | Head Measurement | Yardage |
| Preemie S | 10”-12” (25-30 cm) | 53.5 yds, 50m |
| Preemie M | 12”-13” (30-33 cm) | 65 yds, 60 m |
| 0-3 Months | 13″-14.5″ (33-36 cm) | 76.5 yds, 70 m |
| 3-6 Months | 14.5″-16″ (37-40 cm) | 99.5 yds, 91 m |
| 6-9 Months | 16″-17″ (40-43 cm) | 115 yds, 105 m |
| 9-12 Months | 17″-18″ (43-46 cm) | 145 yds, 133 m |
Printable PDF Pattern
In this post, you’ll find the free pattern for the Preemie Small and Medium hats. Get all the sizes from preemie to 9-12 months by purchasing the ad-free printable pattern of the crochet Sweet Baby Hat in my Ravelry, LoveCrafts, and Etsy stores.
Materials
- Sport (2, Fine) Weight Yarn
- 3.5-mm (E/4 USA, 9 UK) Hook
- 4-mm (G/6 USA, 8 UK) Hook
- One Stitch Marker to Work in the Round
- Tapestry Needle
Yarn Recommendations
I used:
- Drops Baby Merino
- and Katia Merino Baby
Other suitable yarns can be
- Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino
- MillaMia Naturally Soft Merino
- Lana Grossa Cool Wool Merino
- Phildar Merinos 3,5
If you don’t like wool, you can try this cotton blend yarn
Or any other equivalent Sport weight yarn.
Construction
This hat is crocheted top-down working in the round. It mainly uses the third loop half double crochet. If you need help with how to crochet in the third loop, take a look at this step-by-step tutorial.
The brim is crocheted directly to the bottom of the hat.
Abbreviations (US Terms)
- BLO – Back Loop Only
- Ch – Chain
- Hdc – Half Double Crochet
- MC – Magic Circle
- Sc – Single Crochet
- Sl St – Slip Stitch
- St – Stitch
- Yo – Yarn Over
Special Stitches
Back Loop Only (BLO) Stitches
Learn how to crochet in the back loop here.
Magic Circle
Find a step-by-step tutorial on how to crochet the magic circle here.
Crochet in the Third Loop
You can find a step-by-step tutorial on how to crochet in the third loop when working in the round here.
Gauge
3 rounds of third loop hdc in 2″ (5 cm)
Free Crochet Hat Pattern for Preemie Babies
With your 4.0-mm hook, make a MC.
Round 1. Ch 1, hdc 11 in MC. (11 sts)
Round 2. Third loop hdc inc 11. (22 sts)
Round 3. (Third loop hdc inc 1, third loop hdc 1) 11 times. (33 sts)
Round 4. (Third loop hdc inc 1, third loop hdc 2) 11 times. (44 sts)
Preemie S Only
Round 5. (Third loop hdc inc 1, third loop hdc 21) twice. (46 sts)
Round 6-13. Third loop hdc around. (46 sts)
Round 14. Third loop sc around. (46 sts)
Do not bind off, and continue with the brim.
Preemie M Only
Round 5. (Third loop hdc inc 1, third loop hdc 10) 4 times. (48 sts)
Round 6. (Third loop hdc inc 1, third loop hdc 23) twice. (50 sts)
Round 7-15. Third loop hdc around. (50 sts)
Round 16. Third loop sc around. (50 sts)
Do not bind off, and continue with the brim.
Brim – Both Sizes
Switch to your 3.5-mm hook, sl st into the first st of the last round of the hat (step 1), and ch 4 (step 2).
Row 1. Sc in the second ch from your hook, sc 2 (step 3), sl st into the first st of the last round of the hat (step 4), sl st into next 2 sts (step 5). (3 sc, 3 sl sts)
Row 2. Without chaining, turn your work so that you are now facing the wrong side of the brim (step 6). BLO sc across (step 7). (3 sc)
Row 3. Ch 1, turn (step 8). BLO sc across. Sl st back into the same st where you did the last sl st of row 1, sl st into next 2 sts. (3 sc, 3 sl sts)
Repeat Rows 2 and 3 all around.
Fasten off leaving a relatively long tail for sewing.
Finishing
Using the yarn tail, close the brim by sewing the first and last rows together.
Weave in all your ends.
Your crochet Sweet Baby Hat is ready!
Find more crochet patterns for babies and kids here on the blog…
Tried to get this pattern using the code SWEETPREEMIE and it is not working. 😕
I cannot make it work 😫 How are the stitches doubled when only doing one in each stitch?
Hi,
in round 2, the stitches double because the pattern says to third loop hdc inc in each stitch. “Inc” stands for increase, which means that you need to work 2 sts in each st from the previous round.
I hope it makes sense now 🙂
Best,
Raffaella
I see the time and date where you are is much further ahead than where I am. It’s only 8:49 PM, August 31st here.
Do you have a video tutorial showing how you crocheted the brim of the sweet baby hat? I am struggling with that part.
Thank you
Hi,
Unfortunately, I still don’t have a video tutorial but if you search for something like “add crochet brim to top-down hat” on YouTube, something should come up 🙂
And I’ll definitely add this to my to-do list!
Best,
Raffaella
I wanted to thank you for you pattern. I wanted to give back to the hospital that my twin granddaughters were born at 3 weeks early. Since I have plenty scrap yarn from other projects this is a way I know I can give back for the care my daughter in law and granddaughters got from the fine nurses and doctors.