Wednesday, March 9th, 2011
The Scrappy Gnome Hat Pattern
Clearly my presence here has been kind of spotty lately. I thought about doing a “where I’ve been” type post, but then I figured I’d never get around to it, so how’s about a cute free knitting pattern instead?
These two are just silly!
Though the silly hats aren’t actually for them, they are for these little guys…
This pattern is pretty much as easy as knitting gets. It’s the perfect keeping-your-hands-busy-while-doing-something-else kind of knitting, in two sizes, that as it turns out, fit just about everyone. It also happens to be the ideal stash busting project. In fact, that’s the whole idea behind it! It also knits up extremely quick. Like, need a gift for tomorrow? This is the way to go, quick.
So this is what you’re going to need:
A set of size 13 double point needles
and
A bag, basket, pile, whatever (!) of scrap yarns, both worsted and bulky weight, in colors that complement each other.
that’s it.
Scrappy Gnome Hat
For the pattern in an easy to print PDF version, click here.
The hat comes in two sizes. The baby/toddler size is first, fitting around 6 months-2.5 years (It’s shown here on both a one year old and a two year old), with directions for the kid/adult version following in parenthesis (shown here on a 3 year old, a 5 year old and a 31 year old). The entire hat is worked in the round while holding both a strand of worsted and a strand of bulky yarn. As you run out of one yarn, replace it with another like weight yarn. The two different colored yarns are what give the hat it’s heathered appearance. Switching one yarn at a time means that one section kind of blends and fades into the next.
CO 42 (52) sts, pm, join in the round
K 3 rounds
Round 4: K2tog, K 20 (25), K2tog, K to end
Continue even until hat measures 4 3/4″ (5 1/2″)
On the next round: *K8, K2tog* 4 times (*K8, K2tog* 5 times)
K 3 (4) rounds
On the next round: *K7, K2tog* 4 times (*K7, K2tog* 5 times)
K 3 (4) rounds
On the next round: *K6, K2tog* 4 times (*K6, K2tog* 5 times)
K3 (4) rounds
On the next round: *K5, K2tog* 4 times (*K5, K2tog* 5 times)
K 3 (4) rounds
On the next round: *K4, K2tog* 4 times (*K4, K2tog* 5 times)
K 3 (4) rounds
On the next round: *K3, K2tog* 4 times (*K3, K2tog* 5 times)
K 3 (4) rounds
On the next round: *K2, K2tog* 4 times (*K2, K2tog* 5 times)
K 1 round
K1, K2tog around
Larger size only:
(K 1 round
K2tog around)
Both sizes:
K 5 rounds
K2tog around
switch to knitting a i-cord for around 6 repeats
bind off and work in ends
If you knit it, let me know how it turns out! And, as always, I’d love to see pictures!
You can check out other people’s gnome hats and post your own here on Ravelry.
Hee-hee! He looks like a little garden gnome, doesn’t he?
And who knows? Maybe someday I’ll even get around to posting about that sweater.
March 10th, 2011 at 12:26 pm
Thank you so much for posting this pattern! My boys have been after me for gnome hats.
March 12th, 2011 at 4:58 am
Cute hats! And I’m glad to see that my little guy isn’t the only one who chews on the backpack straps when I’m wearing him!
March 12th, 2011 at 4:33 pm
Love it! How cute. Thanks for sharing.
March 13th, 2011 at 8:17 am
I see why we must have gnomes in out next play! The hats are too cute!
March 14th, 2011 at 6:01 am
So cute!! I was looking for a quick something to knit, that will be it!
Thanks for sharing.
March 14th, 2011 at 10:40 am
This is perfect for my niece! Thanks!
Skaldi
July 22nd, 2011 at 3:49 pm
How adorable. I keep 3 little girls in my home (2 two yr olds and 1 year old) and this will be a quick and adorable gift for any occasion. I have been knitting for about 2 years and am always looking for quick and easy ways to enjoy my craft. I make lots of character and animal hats and look forward to sharing with everyone. thanks again. love it
August 19th, 2011 at 9:35 am
This was brill! Thanks for sharing. I was looking for something to keep me busy on a trip to Wales but I finished it before I even set off…hehe, popped to the local yarn shop and bought more yarn to make an adult one in the car! love it!
August 21st, 2011 at 2:09 pm
these hats are great. Not sure what i-cord is ; please advise.
August 21st, 2011 at 7:28 pm
Thank you everyone! I’m glad you are enjoying the pattern. I’m enjoying watching little gnome hats pop up on Ravelry.
Dear chatty cathy,
No problem! Here is an excellent video explaining the technique: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=700AG7Kvbhc
And here is an article describing how to knit an i-cord, if you prefer to learn that way:
http://knitting.about.com/od/knittingskills/qt/icord.htm
If you have any more questions, please don’t hesitate to ask!
August 21st, 2011 at 9:11 pm
I do hope you post about the sweater!! it’s gorgeous, would love to knit one for my little guy!
August 22nd, 2011 at 10:58 am
I found your pattern and liked it the best so I just made it and LOVE the hat! thank you so much! I’m a total beginner, just having picked up knitting a few weeks ago, and this was just the perfect project. I did it on one pointed needles, though, because the dpns were just an extra stretch for me. still came out great!
September 7th, 2011 at 4:40 am
To be sure – it’s the little people, so it is!
September 17th, 2011 at 10:19 am
What do you mean by “Continue even until hat measures 4 3/4″ (5 1/2″)”?
September 18th, 2011 at 10:37 am
When a pattern like this says to “continue even” or “work even”, it means to keep working in the set pattern without any increases or decreases until the point stated. So, in this case it means that you would continue working in stockinette stitch (knitting every round) until the hat measures 4 3/4″ (for the small version) or 5 1/2″ (for the larger version). I hope this helps! If you have any further questions, feel free to ask away!
Happy knitting,
Melody
September 25th, 2011 at 10:59 am
Thank you so much for this pattern. When one has a little one, there are countless friends, birthday parties and now the holidays coming. This is a perfect gift for everyone. We have cold winters in Colorado and this is a great hat to lift the spirits on those grey days.
Looking forward to a pattern for the little sweater you show on the little boy sitting down. I love that sweater. Would so enjoy making it for my granddaughter. Thank you.
September 25th, 2011 at 7:02 pm
THE PATTERN SAYS PM AND AN I CORD. WHAT ARE BOTH OF THESE?
THANK YOU.
PLEASE REPLY WHY CAN’T WE PRINT THESE?
September 25th, 2011 at 7:35 pm
Hi Jeannine,
You are welcome to print the pattern. I haven’t put this one together into a PDF that is easy to print yet (maybe sometime next week). But you absolutely can print it. It’s just that all of the pictures, the comments and the other parts of the post will print along with it.
PM stands for “place marker”
If you read through the comments above, I linked to a tutorial and a youtube clip that explain how to knit an i-cord.
If you have any other questions, please feel free to ask!
September 25th, 2011 at 7:37 pm
To everyone wondering about the sweater, it’s an Elizabeth Zimmerman Baby Surprise Jacket. One of these days I’ll try to dig out those old pictures and post about it (I knitted it well over a year ago, along with a matching one for this little guy’s brother).
September 25th, 2011 at 7:51 pm
I think it’s so cool that you’re giving away this pattern. It’s good karma. Can I make these to sell at my church bazaar? I would not sell your pattern, EVER, but would like to make a couple hats to sell at my church. thannks!
October 16th, 2011 at 3:35 am
Thanks so much for the pattern. We decided our littlest was going to be a gnome for Halloween, and I can’t wait to see how she looks with her now finished hat in the morning. This was a fun and quick project – and I’m more a crocheter than a knitter!
http://www.ravelry.com/projects/genhere/the-scrappy-gnome-hat-2
October 16th, 2011 at 1:32 pm
Totally cute Genevieve! I happen to have a little girl with a red gnome hat all ready for Halloween as well.
October 20th, 2011 at 2:36 pm
Very cute! I’m going to make this for my family for halloween. This may be a dumb question but how do you knit in the round? Do I need a circular needle? I’ve only even knitted on straight needles and then sewn the seams together. Thanks!
October 22nd, 2011 at 5:20 pm
Hi Hannah,
The only dumb knitting questions are the ones that don’t get asked and result in a huge waste of time! You will need what are called double point needles for this pattern. You will cast on to several of these (probably 4 will be most comfortable for you) and then you will bring all of the needles in to a circle (sort of, it will have sides obviously because the needles are straight, so really a triangle for 3 needles a square for 4, etc) and start knitting with the first stitch that you cast so that everything is now connected. Then you just keep working your way around the circle. Stockinette Stitch, which is used for this pattern is just knitting every stitch. This can be a bit confusing because when you knit flat, as you have been, you knit one row and then purl a row to create the same pattern. If you are able to, I suggest checking out a couple of youtube videos on knitting in the round. I think it’s much easier to understand if you can actually see someone doing it. And feel free to write again if you have any questions. I’m happy to help.
~Melody
November 7th, 2011 at 10:57 am
Oh. Mah. Gawd!!! I just posted on FB that I needed a knitted hat pattern and my dad found yours…I neglected to mention it was for me, but never you mind that….these are the cutest, most adorable, absolutely delicious little hats I have ever seen! (Your kids are cuter, but we’re talkin’ about hats here…) I love them.
December 19th, 2011 at 9:15 am
I haven’t knitted in 14 years and I decided to pick up the needles once again. After a visit to our local knitting shop away I went. To my surprise your pattern was very easy to follow. However, there were was another surprise… my newborn gnome hat was HUGE!
That was O.k., because my nearly 2 yr old LOVED it and won’t take it off. He even sleeps in it!
Many Thanks again for your adorable well loved hat pattern.
*I have photos to share but don’t know how to attach them within this comment box
December 19th, 2011 at 9:35 am
I’m so glad that you found the pattern easy to follow! I don’t actually have a newborn size for this pattern (yet. I’m thinking I might add one in the future). As it says in the pattern, the smallest size is for around 6 months- 2.5 years. Babies heads do *a lot* of growing in those first 6 months. It’s a shame that it doesn’t fit it’s intended recipient, but great that you found someone to love it anyway!! I don’t know if it’s possible to post photos within the comments, but you could email it to me at: melody@littlehomeblessings.com. But if you are going to start knitting again, it might be time to set up a Ravelry account! Ravelry is a knitting community with a lot of great resources. You can share your projects there and then if you wanted to share with us here, you could post a link.
January 21st, 2012 at 2:45 pm
I love your hat… I also will love to have the cardigan pattern. Is it your own? Where could I get it?
Thanks again for your adorable hat pattern.
January 21st, 2012 at 5:26 pm
The cardigan is Elizabeth Zimmerman’s Baby Surprise Jacket. The pattern is available through Schoolhouse Press.
January 26th, 2012 at 10:01 pm
crochet sweater patterns…
[...]The Scrappy Gnome Hat Pattern | Little Home Blessings[...]…
April 14th, 2012 at 5:52 am
I am only new to knitting I am still to work out the correct needles sizes, could you confirm if it is an English or American size 13 needle? In Australia we go by mm’s.
Thank you so much.
April 14th, 2012 at 8:28 am
American size 13 or 9.0 mm. Happy knitting!
May 20th, 2012 at 9:18 am
great hat…a definate one for my 4 grandkids….and i adore the sweater…Did you make up the pattern? is it available …just what i was looking for unique and simple …thanks
May 29th, 2012 at 5:48 am
I am going to try this sometime soon!
June 1st, 2012 at 3:49 pm
Just copied your Gnome hat pattern. Question? On page 5, you mention….”swth to knitting i-cord for around 6 repeats.” What does that mean? I’m a novice knitter. Thank you,
Norman
June 1st, 2012 at 4:47 pm
Hi Norman,
There are a couple of links in the comments above to tutorials on knitting i-cords. They should clear things up for you. Just repeat the steps 6 times or for as long as you want the little curly bit on the top to be.
Thanks for writing and happy knitting!
~Melody
October 6th, 2012 at 12:42 am
Wonderful hats although I’m finding it a little too small (for myself and my 5 year old who has a big head). I did it in the larger size but perhaps I made an error… going to restart again and see what happens. Am I the only one who found the hat a little small????
October 6th, 2012 at 8:48 am
I haven’t had any other complaints. Which is not to say that there aren’t other people out there who have had a problem and just haven’t said anything. But all the feedback that I’ve gotten is that it’s very stretchy and accommodates a large range of head sizes. Are you generally a tight knitter?
October 13th, 2012 at 10:56 am
I thought that was the baby surprise jacket! I <3 knitting those! I love all of Elizabeth Zimmerman's books! Just that sweater reminds me that I need to bust one out. Also, thanks for the pattern. I was too lazy to work out the decreases myself on a hat a have half done already.
November 23rd, 2012 at 2:19 pm
I too am a new knitter. I adore this hat and am so excited to give it a try. I’ve read through all the comments which have cleared up most of my questions. I do have one regarding the two types of yarn. Do I use both strands so I’m knitting 2 strands together (if that makes sense)? I’m just not sure what “holding” both strands means/looks like. Thank you for the clarification
Blessings,
Jennifer
November 23rd, 2012 at 10:24 pm
It means exactly what you think it means! Good luck and feel free to ask questions any time!
happy knitting,
Melody
December 5th, 2012 at 12:30 am
Okay. I got my needles & yarn in the mail today – woot! woot! Just sat down and started making the hat (I’m the newbie knitter!)… anyway, I completed Round 4 and then it says “continue even until hat measures 4 3/4 ” – do I continue just straight knitting, or do I continue knitting as I did for round 4 (with K2tog at the start and after the K20).
Thanks!
Jennifer
December 5th, 2012 at 12:58 am
Just plain knitting without any increases or decreases.
January 18th, 2013 at 12:56 pm
That is just cruel. Imagine the bullying they’ll get if they are seen by boys in jauntily angled baseball caps.
January 26th, 2013 at 6:46 am
[...] questi due giorni ho realizzato questo cappellino, usando questo schema QUI non avendo ferri nr 9 e lana così grossa ho adattato lo schema a quello che avevo, ho usato ferri [...]
February 4th, 2013 at 9:38 am
Hi, is it possible to knit this in the round with a circular size 13 needles?
February 4th, 2013 at 10:06 am
Yes, if you use the magic loop method. If you are unfamiliar with that technique, just do a quick google search and you should be able to figure it out. Good luck and happy knitting!
February 9th, 2013 at 2:48 am
[...] prossimo cercherò naturalmente di modificarlo un po’. Se non capite guardate questo modello QUI che è quello che avevo seguito un po’ di tempo fa ma mi era uscita una [...]
February 19th, 2013 at 3:19 am
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April 28th, 2013 at 11:56 am
Hi,
I’m not from the US. What is worsted wool?
Do you have to knit with both the bulky and the worsted together?
Thank so much!
April 30th, 2013 at 8:45 am
Hi Jesse,
Worsted weight yarn is a medium weight yarn, heavier then sport or dk,
lighter then bulky. Here is a chart that lays out the different weights of
yarn, along with their gauge, to help you determine what might be a good
substitute:
http://crochet.about.com/gi/o.htm?zi=1/XJ&zTi=1&sdn=crochet&cdn=hobbies&tm=65&f=20&su=p284.13.342.ip_&tt=11&bt=5&bts=5&zu=http%3A//www.craftyarncouncil.com/weight.html
Yes, you hold both yarns together and knit them at the same time.
Please let me know if I can help with anything else!
happy knitting,
Melody