This adorable gathered butterfly hat knitting pattern is the cutest spring or summer baby hat you can make! Your little one will be the cutest butterfly in the garden!
I have wanted to make a butterfly hat forever, you guys! But I was drawing a total blank on how I wanted it to look. And I couldn’t wrap my head around the construction of the butterfly wings because I knew I wanted them to be easy to make and not super fiddly and frustrating.
The weekend I made this hat, I had one of those days where NOTHING I did came out right or how I imagined and I had to keep redoing things and I was super frustrated. And then the next day, it was complete opposite. I woke up, I sat down and envisioned these butterfly wings, and they came out perfectly on the first try.
Boy, do I wish designing always worked like that! Anyway, while this butterfly hat caused me some stress, it won’t cause YOU any stress because it’s really super easy to make. No fancy stitches, too many needles, or millions of ends to weave in. Honestly, they’re super easy and so cute!
I would love it if you make your own butterfly hat, go on over and share it on Ravelry, those projects linked to my patterns really help, friends!
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!
Butterfly Hat Knitting Pattern
(12 mo. size, see PDF for other sizes)
Gauge: 20 st. = 4 inches
Butterfly Hat Supply List:
- Worsted weight yarn in blue, pink and purple
- 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!)
Butterfly Hat Instructions (12 month size, see pdf pattern for other sizes):
Stitch notes:
sl1: slip one stitch purlwise
Using long-tail cast on, cast on 72 stitches onto your circular needles with the blue yarn. Join to knit in the round.
Rounds 1-5: (k1, p1) 17times, k1, sl1, (k1, p1) 18 times
Rounds 6-16: k35, sl1, k36
Finally knit all stitches until the hat is about 5 inches long.
Decrease (divide your stitches evenly between 3 double pointed needles or use magic loop):
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
Round 7: (k3, k2tog) repeat to the end of the round
Round 8: knit all stitches
Round 9: (k2, k2tog) repeat to the end of the round
Round 10: knit all stitches
Round 11: (k1, k2tog) repeat to the end of the round
Round 12: k2tog and repeat to the end of the round
Cut yarn, thread through loops and pull to close. Weave in ends.
To make the butterfly wings (make 2):
Using long-tail cast on and double pointed needles as straight needles, cast on 11 stitches with the pink yarn.
Row 1 (RS): kfb, k4, sl1, k4, kfb
Row 2 (WS): kfb, k5, bring yarn to front, sl1, bring yarn to back, k5, kfb
Row 3: k7, sl1, k7
Row 4: k7, bring yarn to front, sl1, bring yarn to back, k7
Rows 5 & 6: repeat rows 3 & 4 again
Row 7: k2tog, k5, sl1, k5, ssk
Row 8: k2tog, k4, bring yarn to front, sl1, bring yarn to back, k4, ssk
Row 9: k5, sl1, k5
Bind off and weave in cast on end only. Leave a long cast off tail to sew the butterfly together.
To make the butterfly body:
Using your double pointed needles cast on 3 stitches with purple yarn and knit an icord for 12 rows. Then bind off and weave in that end.
To assemble the hat:
Thread the cast off tail of one wing on a yarn needle and stitch it to the side of the icord body, hiding the stitches on the back side.
Repeat with other wing. Then use the cast on tail from the icord body, threaded on a yarn needle, to gather the hat at the slip stitch and stitch the butterfly securely to the hat.
And that’s it! Enjoy your beautiful butterfly hat!
If you liked this, you may also like some of my other posts…
- Easy DIY Knit Halloween Costumes (Just Add Pajamas) - October 10, 2024
- Witchy Black Cat Hat Knitting Pattern - October 7, 2024
- Big Squishy Pumpkin Knitting Pattern - October 2, 2024
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