Tiny Elephant Hat Knitting Pattern

Knit up this cute elephant hat with big floppy ears and an adorable trunk with my newest knitting pattern!

If you’ve been here for any length of time, you probably wondered when I was going to get to an elephant hat…no? You didn’t? You aren’t up at night, unable to sleep and wondering what I’m going to come up with next? Ok, well, I guess that’s probably a good thing. I did in fact, start this elephant hat a couple months ago, I even took pictures of it, but I just did not like the first version of the trunk. Don’t get me wrong, it was fine. It totally looked like an elephant trunk. It just didn’t match what I saw in my brain. And sometimes, for me, the feeling of really not wanting to sit down and write an actual post about a project is a sign that it needs more work. So a couple weekends ago, I sat back down and tried again and now I LOVE the trunk! I’m so happy that I didn’t settle. And I’m totally excited to share this cute new elephant hat knitting pattern with you guys! Scroll on down to see it!

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!

Tiny Elephant Hat Knitting Pattern Supply List

(12 mo. size, see PDF for additional sizes)

This pattern is copyright Little Red Window Design 2017 and is intended for personal use. You may not not distribute, reproduce or sell this pattern either physically or digitally.

Gauge: 20 st. = 4 inches

(If you need help, my favorite knitting reference book for everyone from beginners to advanced knitters is THIS ONE!)

Tiny Elephant Hat Knitting Pattern Instructions

Using long-tail cast on, cast on 72 stitches onto your circular needles with the medium gray yarn color. Join to knit in the round and knit 1 stitch, purl 1 stitch in a rib stitch for 4 rounds. Then knit all rounds 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 4):
Using double pointed needles as straight needles, cast on 20 stitches using the medium gray yarn. Leave a long tail to stitch the ears together and to the hat.

Rows 1-2: knit odd rows, purl even rows

Row 3: kfb k18 kfb

Row 4: purl all even rows unless otherwise noted

Row 5: kfb, k20, kfb

Rows 6-12: knit odd rows, purl even rows

Row 13: ssk,ssk, k16, k2tog, k2tog

Row 15: ssk,ssk, k12, k2tog, k2tog

Row 17: ssk,ssk, k8, k2tog, k2tog

Bind off and weave in that end.

Elephant Trunk:
Using double pointed needles as straight needles, cast on 6 stitches using the medium gray yarn. Leave a long tail to stitch the trunk to the hat.

Row 1: kfb, k4, kfb

Row 2: pfb, p6, pfb

Rows 3-8: knit odd rows, purl even rows

Row 9: k4, k2tog, k4

Rows 10-12: knit odd rows, purl even rows

Row 13: k3, k2tog, k4

Rows 14-16: knit odd rows, purl even rows

Row 17: k3, k2tog, k3

Rows 18-20: knit odd rows, purl even rows

Row 21: k2, k2tog, k3

Rows 22-24: knit odd rows, purl even rows

Row 25: k2, k2tog, k2

Rows 26-32: knit odd rows, purl even rows

Row 33: purl all stitches

Bind off and weave in that end.

To assemble the ears:
Take two of the ear halves and put them right (knit) sides together and use one of the cast on tails to whipstitch them together along the sides and top, leaving the flat bottom cast-on edge open Turn the ears right side out. Then use the remaining cast on tail to stitch each assembled ear securely to the sides of the hat

To make the face:
Use the long cast on tail from the trunk to stitch it to the front center of the hat, allow the very bottom of the trunk to hang a bit below the brim of the hat . Finally thread a length of charcoal yarn on your yarn needle and use it to stitch two short horizontal stitches for the eyes. Make sure those stitches are fairly loose so they don’t pull when the hat stretches.

And that’s it! If you want a super easy to print pdf baby elephant hat pattern that includes sizes 0-3 months, 6 months, 12 months, 2T+

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Cassie May

Craft and Knitwear Designer at Little Red Window Design

Welcome to Little Red Window! I’m Cassie, a professional craft and knitwear designer working in the field for more than 10 years. I have a degree in Art History from Northwestern University and a Master's Degree in Architecture and Design from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. I've designed more than 300 separate knitting patterns, hundreds of craft projects, and I love to bring joy to your crafts and knitting with well-designed, easy to understand tutorials and patterns.

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