Children's Earflap Hat Pattern

Last month my nephew was diagnosed with leukaemia. He is just 5 years old. I made a hat for him, for when he has chemotherapy :( Hence the name, Chemo Earflap Hat.

I knitted it wishing "get better soon love" in every stitch. Then I thought...maybe the hat could keep on giving. So I am posting the pattern here to raise money for the Child Cancer Foundation.

Heres how it will work....
If you wish to use this pattern please make a donation to the Child Cancer Foundation (NZ). Money raised is used to provide support for children and young people with cancer and their families, and the health professionals involved in their care.

The easiest thing to do is pick up your cellphone and txt FIGHT to 336. This makes an automatic donation of $3. That's it! Thank you for supporting the great work that the ChildCancer Foundation does.

If you wish to donate in some other way there is a list of ways to donate on the website here.

Now....I know that not everyone wanting to use this pattern is in New Zealand and can use their phone to donate in this way. If you are one of these people please take a few minutes to find a child cancer organisation or child hospital in your area and make a small donation. While it may not seem like you are donating much, every little bit helps and you are supporting those that help children battle cancer and other illnesses.

I am not gatekeeping the pattern (because frankly I dont have the time) so if you want to use it, please make a small donation and enjoy! Feel free to leave a comment if you wish but I don't need any proof you made a donation, I trust that if you use the pattern you have made an effort to help sick children in need. I think karma has a special place for people who lie about these sorts of things.

Now for the knitting!! There are lots of notes at the end of the pattern so please read through before starting.

This pattern is for personal use only. Swaps, gifts and donations are fine. Do not sell this pattern. Do not sell items made from this pattern. Do not copy and paste this pattern elsewhere, you are welcome to link. If in doubt flick me an email.

CHEMO EARFLAP HAT

Size:
NB - head circumference approx 36cm
Baby 0-6m - head circumference approx 40cm
Toddler 1-2y - head circumference 45-49cm
Child 3-5y - head circumference 48-52cm

You will need:
50g of double knit/8ply wool of your choosing. For the child size hat I used 110m of yarn so for the larger sizes you may need an extra ball depending on yardage. Some of my test knitters found the toddler size hat used 50g and they needed to do the edging and ties in a contrast yarn.

For plain coloured yarn I prefer Cleckheaton Country 8ply. For self striping yarn I use Freedom Spirit by Twilleys of Stamford (both pictured).

Pair of 4mm needles (or size to obtain gauge)
Darning or tapestry needle for sewing up
2 stitch holders

Gauge:
22st/10cm in st st

Directions:

Earflaps (make 2)

CO1

Knit, purl, knit into stitch (=3st)

Purl across

KFB, knit to last stitch, KFB

Purl across

Repeat last 2 rows until 15 (17,21,23)st ending on a purl row. Break yarn. Place stitches on a holder (or spare needle).

Main Hat

CO 9 (10,12,13) knit across 15(17,21,23)stitches from holder, CO 16 (18,22,26) stitches, knit across 15(17,21,23) stitches from 2nd earflap, CO 9 (10,12,13) stitches (=64(72,88,98) stitches)#

Begin with a purl row, stockinette stitch straight for 8 (9.5,10.5,12)cm. End with a purl row. For the toddler size hat you will need to increase 1st at each end of the last row (=90st). For the child size hat you will need to decrease 1st at each end of the last row (=96st)

Decr for crown as follows

[K6(7,8,10) K2tog] across

Next and alt rows - Purl across

[K5(6,7,9) K2tog] across

Continue in this way until last decrease row (all sizes) is K2tog across.

Cut yarn leaving a 30cm tail, thread through remaining stitches, secure and use tail of yarn to sew up back seam. Sew in all yarn ends.

Finishing

Starting at one earflap point pick up and knit 50 (55,65,70) stitches along cast on edge of the hat, ending at other earflap point. Cast off on next row. (It is better to pick up more, rather than less stitches - otherwise the hat will be too tight around the face).

Repeat for other side

Cut 3 pieces of yarn of 60cm length. Thread these through the bottom most point of the earflap and pull to halfway so that you have six equal lenghts of yarn threaded through the point. Plait (each plait strand is made of 2 pieces of yarn) and tie off to the desired length. Trim ends

Sew in any yarn ends. Block or press lightly if desired (check your ball band for instructions).

Notes

Please feel free to email me any comments on the pattern or sizing. It was test knitted (big thanks to all the lovely people who knitted this for me!) so hopefully there won't be anything majorly wrong, although in saying that, this is the first time I've ever written up something so be gentle :) I did check this several hundred times but there is probably a typo or 2 that sneaked in.

KFB= knit forward & back (increase one)

The earflap directions - to make them pointy cast on one stitch then increase into it twice to end up with 3 stitches...or just cast on 3 to begin with...whatever works for you

For the toddler and child size hat the pattern tells you to adjust the final stitch count slightly before shaping the crown so that the decreases at the top of the hat occur evenly and symmetrically.

Babies come in all different sizes so ages are approximate, check measurements if you can.

The baby size hat will fit a small baby up to about 6mth depending on head size.

The toddler size hat fits my 2year old (head 48cm)and my 6month old (45.5cm). If you are making this hat for a 6-9month old then I suggest do 10cm before decreasing (or if you like hats with plenty of coverage do 10.5cm...they will always grow into it and personally I like the fact the hat is long enough to cover some of her neck).

This is a very simple pattern which should be perfect for beginners. I am happy to help if you get stuck , just email me. The thing that tripped up some of my new-to-knitting test knitters was joining on the earflaps. If it is easier to work out what to do try placing your earflaps on spare needles of the same gauge and once you have cast on using your working needle, just knit across the earflap stitches like you normally do. When you are asked to cast on at the end of the row, you can either do it like this or simply turn your work and cast on with a cable cast on (watch the video here). Try and keep your stitches at an even tension on this row but your edging should hide any less than perfect bits. When you sew in your threads at the end you can also use them to hide anything at the joins you are not happy with.

I prefer to sew up using mattress stitch

This hat looks great in variegated yarn. Check out the one Knewbie Knitter made here.

Make the hat your own! Try a crochet edging, contrast trims, an icord instead of plait...
The straight part of the hat is perfect for trying out new techniques, colourwork, fairaisle.

If you prefer working in the round follow the pattern to # then join in the round and continue on, knitting every round. You will need a set of DPNs to use when you are shaping the crown.

I have this pattern available as a Word97 doc, if you would like a copy in this format just email me. The Word doc doesn't have all the extra stuff, just the pattern and a very small photo. I will eventually get this done as a PDF as well.