Knit your little one this fun mini octopus hat with my free knitting pattern!
Did you guys see recently in the news that scientists caught a cute little purple octopus on film and people on the internet were going crazy for it? Well, I’ve had an octopus hat on my list for a while but when I was looking at my yarn stash, I thought of that adorable little guy and grabbed some purple yarns. But you could totally make your octopus shades of blue or pink or orange. It’ll be cute in any color! And of course, the most fun part is the curly tentacles. I actually had never knit a curly i-cord before this project but it was so fun and easy that I made a video for you. I promise, it’s not hard!
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!
Mini Octopus Hat Knitting Pattern
(6 mo. size, see PDF for other sizes)
Gauge: 20 st. = 4 inches
Worsted weight yarn in dark purple, white, black and light purple
US 7 16″ circular knitting needles
(If you need help, my favorite knitting reference book for everyone from beginners to advanced knitters is THIS ONE!)
Mini Octopus Hat Knitting Pattern Instructions
Using long-tail cast on, cast on 64 stitches onto your circular needles with the dark purple yarn color. Join to knit in the round and k2, p2 in a rib stitch for 1 3/4 inches. Switch to light purple yarn.
Round 1: (k3, kfb) repeat to the end of the round.
Knit all rows until the hat is about 5 inches long.
Decrease (divide the stitches evenly between 3 double pointed needles and knit with the 4th):
Round 1: (k8, k2tog) and repeat to the end of the round.
Round 2: Knit all stitches
Round 3: (k7, k2tog) and repeat to the end of the round.
Round 4: Knit all stitches
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.
To knit the eyes (make 2 of each):
Using double pointed needles as straight needles, cast on 3 stitches with white yarn, leave a long cast-on tail to stitch the eye to the hat.
Row 1: kfb, k1, kfb
Row 2: Purl all stitches
Row 3: kfb, k3, kfb
Rows 4 -10: Purl even rows, knit odd rows
Row 11: k2tog, k3, k2tog
Row 12: Purl all stitches
Row 13:k2tog, k1, k2tog
Bind off and weave in that end.
Using double pointed needles as straight needles, cast on 2 stitches with black yarn, leave a long cast-on tail to stitch the black pupil to the white eye.
Row 1: kfb, kfb
Row 2 – 4: Purl even rows, knit odd rows
Row 5: k2tog, k2tog
Bind off and weave in that end.
Tentacles (make 8):
To make the tentacles, you will knit 8 curly i-cords. I kept mine fairly short, 8 repeats each, but it’s up to you how long to make yours. Scroll down to see a video of this stitch!
Using double pointed needles as straight needles, cast on 3 stitches with light purple yarn, leave a long cast-on tail to stitch the tentacle to the hat.
Row 1: k3, slide stitches down to the other end of the needle without turning your work.
Row 2:k1, sl1 purlwise, k1, slide stitches down to the other end of the needle without turning your work.
Row 3: k1, sl1 purlwise, k1, slide stitches down to the other end of the needle without turning your work.
Repeat rows 1-3 until your tentacles are as long as you want. Then bind off and weave in that end.
To assemble the hat:
Using its long cast-on tail, stitch one black pupil to one white eye. Repeat with the other eye. Then using the white cast-on tail, stitch each eye to the front of the hat. Using the long cast-on tail from each tentacle, stitch each one to the hat, 4 on each side, just above where you switch colors from dark purple to light purple. And that’s it! Enjoy your octopus hat!
The PDF printable also contains instructions for sizes 0-3, 12 months and 2T+!
If you liked this, you may also like some of my other posts…
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- Peekaboo Black Cat Hat Knitting Pattern - September 26, 2023
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Donna lavonier says
So cute. Easy to follow instructions – just finished it.
Cassie May says
yay! Thanks for stopping by!