Knit a sweet watermelon hat for your baby or toddler with this free pattern!
So I know, watermelon is a summery food. And knit hats are a wintery thing. But you know what, I don’t know about where you live, but a lot of times, the air conditioning is out of control inside, especially in public places. Even in our house, where we keep the a/c at a reasonable level, our basement is freeeeeezing. So when I take Baby V down to play while I exercise or O is busy, I actually have to bundle her up. I’d turn the a/c down (or up? less cold is what I mean…) but then our second floor becomes nine thousand degrees. Old houses, man! Anyway, so a hat for us in the summer is not out of the question. Why not have a cute summery one? Or hey, wear it in the winter to remind you of those fun summer days! That works too! Scroll on down to get the FREE Watermelon Hat pattern!
-The PDF is an optional upgrade, keep scrolling down for the free version-
20 st. = 4 inches
Worsted weight yarn in green, white, pink and black
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!)
Using long-tail cast on, cast on 72 stitches onto your circular needles with the green yarn color. Join to knit in the round and k2, p2 in a rib stitch for 6 rounds. Switch to the white yarn and knit all stitches for 3 rounds. Then switch to the pink yarn for the rest of the hat.
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.
To make the watermelon seeds:
Thread your needle with a long length of black yarn and pull it halfway through so that you are sewing with double thickness. Make small vertical stitches (about three rows high) all over the hat to make the seeds.
Cut, knot and weave in yarn ends either as you go or when you’re finished. And that’s it! Enjoy your watermelon 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…
Cassie May
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Shirley nasci says
For seeds I opted to use embroidery thread (3 Or 4 strands) ..instead of yarn,is much easier to weave in/hide on backside..😀 sn.
tess says
Thank you for all of your free patterns. I’ve made a half dozen of these little watermelon darlings to donate.
I k5melon k1brown across on every 6th row to create an allover pattern of seeds but I can’t for the life of me hide the carried brown yarn effectively.
I’ve tried knitting in the ends as I go. I’ve tried weaving in ends w a yarn needle. I’ve searched the web & tried all sorts of methods for weaving in ends w no luck. What’s your secret.
Cassie May says
This is tough when you have one color that’s much darker. If you’re knitting the seeds in as you go along, honestly, I would just carry the brown yarn inside up to the next row that you need it. Every 6th row is a little bit long to carry it, but it would be worth it not to have ends for each of those rows! If you can reduce the number of ends that will really help!
pam says
If you are going to charge for patterns, then please learn how to write them professionally. I did not see gauge statement. Also your website is annoying.
Cassie May says
Hi Pam! I’m really sorry you’re having a bad day. Both the free and paid patterns contain gauge information. I’m sorry if it was hard for you to find. The gauge for this pattern is 20 stitches = 4 inches. I’m happy to provide a free version of this pattern and if you choose to upgrade to the ad free printable version, I sincerely appreciate the support, web hosting is so expensive! The few ads I do have help me pay for the hundreds of dollars a year it costs to host the site. I wish I could afford to do it for free, wouldn’t that be amazing if I was independently wealthy? Unfortunately, I am just a regular person, just like you. Please come back and enjoy the hundreds of posts and patterns I have provided for free again sometime. Have a wonderful weekend!
Lesley Brown says
My daughter is 21 and loves watermelon – might just knit this in her size…thanks for the idea!
Cassie May says
That would be amazing, I’d love to see a pic, lol!!
Kate from Vancouver now in London says
Hi!
Adorable pattern!
Just one question though… I note that the printed pattern says K1 P1 rib, but the photos show K2 P2 rib – is this a typo or did you mean for it to be K1 P1?
Just curious… will be making this up for my little girl in the near future. 🙂
Cassie May says
Hi Kate!
You know what? I do hats both ways, so really it doesn’t matter, you can pick which you think looks better. But you’re right, the pattern and the hat don’t match. I should update that! Thanks for pointing it out! Happy knitting!
Randi says
Such cuteness! Pinned this one for sure!
Have a lovely day!
Cassie May says
oh yay! Thank you so much!!