Knit up this adorable otter hat with my newest knitting pattern for newborns, babies and toddlers! This cute little sea otter will be the talk of the ocean!
Baby V’s favorite thing to do is make animal sounds. She can tell us what almost any animal says, including a bunny (“hop!”) or an alligator (“chomp, chomp!”). But I was looking at one of her books the other day and was stumped by a cute little otter. That obviously inspired this adorable otter hat…but, what DOES an otter say?
Anyway, whatever an otter says, this otter hat is too cute for words. And Baby V seems to like her otter hat too, which is really all that matters!
Looking for the pattern? Here’s how it works: This pattern is available for FREE in one size right here on my site (keep scrolling down). Or for just a few dollars, you can choose to purchase an upgraded PDF pattern that is nicely formatted and easy to print. Besides being easy to print, the PDF pattern also contains MORE SIZES with instructions for additional sizing including 0-3 months, 6 months, 12 months and 2T+! Thank you for supporting Little Red Window!
Adorable Otter Hat Knitting Pattern
(12 mo. size, see PDF for other sizes)
Gauge: 20 st. = 4 inches
Adorable Otter Hat Supply List:
- Worsted weight yarn in tan and brown
- US 7 16″ circular knitting needles
- US 7 double pointed needles
- Yarn needle
(If you need help, my favorite knitting reference book for everyone from beginners to advanced knitters is THIS ONE!)
Adorable Otter Hat Instructions:
Using long-tail cast on, cast on 72 stitches onto your circular needles with the tan yarn. Join to knit in the round and knit 1 stitch, purl 1 stitch in a rib stitch for 5 rounds. Then knit all rows until the hat is about 5 inches long.
Decrease (divide the stitches between 3 double pointed needles and knit with the 4th):
Round 1: (k6, k2tog) repeat to the end of the round
Round 2: Knit all stitches
Round 3: (k5, k2tog) repeat to the end of the round
Round 4: Knit all stitches
Round 5: (k4, k2tog) repeat to the end of the round
Round 6: Knit all stitches to the end of the round.
Round 7: (k3, k2tog) repeat to the end of the round
Round 8: Knit all stitches to the end of the round
Round 9: (k2, k2tog) repeat to the end of the round
Rounds 10: Knit all stitches
Round 11: (k1, k2tog) repeat to the end of the round
Rounds 12: Knit all stitches
Round 13: k2tog repeat to the end of the round
Cut yarn, pull through loops and close. Weave in ends.
Ears (make 2):
Using double pointed needles as straight needles, cast on 6 stitches using the tan yarn. Leave a long tail to stitch the ears to the hat.
Rows 1-3: knit all stitches
Row 4: k2tog, k2, ssk
Bind off and weave in that end. Thread the long cast on tail onto your yarn needle and use it to securely stitch each ears to each side of the hat as shown.
Snout:
Using double pointed needles as straight needles, cast on 10 stitches
using the tan yarn. Leave a long tail to stitch the snout to the
hat.
Purl all even rows
Row 1: kfb, k8, kfb
Row 3: kfb, k10, kfb
Row 5: knit all stitches
Row 7: k2tog, k10, ssk
Row 9: k2tog, k8, skk
Bind off and weave in that end. Thread the long cast on tail onto your yarn needle and use it to securely stitch the snout to the front of the hat as shown.
Nose:
Using double pointed needles as straight needles, cast on 6 stitches using the brown yarn. Leave a long tail to stitch the nose to the hat.
Purl all even rows
Row 1: kfb, k4, kfb
Row 3: k2tog, k4, ssk
Row 5: k2tog, k2, ssk
Bind off and weave in that end. Thread the long cast on tail onto your yarn needle and use it to securely stitch the nose to the front of the hat as shown.
To make the face:
First, thread a length of brown yarn on your yarn needle and use it to stitch two short horizontal stitches for the eyes. Then stitch one vertical stitch and two horizontal stitches (like an upside-down ‘T’ for the mouth.
Finally, stitch three long stitches on either side of the nose for the whiskers (photo C). Make sure all of these stitches are fairly loose so they don’t pull when the hat stretches.
And that’s it! Enjoy your Adorable Otter Hat!
If you liked this, you may also like some of my other posts…
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Janet says
Have you got an adult size version of this pattern? Or might you have the completed measurements of this pattern so I can adjust the math accordingly (novice knitter w decent math skills here!).
Thanks for any timely assistance … trying to crate this for a friend’s post-radiation/pre-chemo head shaving next week!
Cassie May says
Hi there!
You can add 8 or 16 more stitches to the 2T cast on and another inch to inch and half in height before the decrease and that should work for an adult! 🙂
Ellisen says
Thank you. Very cute Otter hat.