Crochet: Flippy Floppy Earflap Hat for Baby (Pattern)

I really, really should be sewing Easter dresses right now, but  I've had an earflap hat pattern on the brain for months now (since designing the Best Baby Cloche), and March is still acting like a lion rather than a lamb, which makes me feel like I could get away with making earflap hats in Spring. And I can't forget the southern hemisphere, where they really should be considering something like an earflap hat for the next few months. So here I've been crocheting away on Flippy Floppy hats for babies telling myself I can squeeze them in and still finish the other things on my list for Spring. I just might. We'll see.

So here we have a trio of earflap hats. These are very easy to make if you are familiar with crochet, and quite cute on boys and girls alike.

I wanted some sort of embellishment that would work for boys, but didn't really want to do a pom-pom. This is sort of a pared down pom and could possibly be construed as a flower, but it's certainly not too feminine for a boy, so I've come up with a "flippy floppy." That's just what it does too. It flips around and sometimes curls and generally gives the wearer a lighthearted appearance.

I like this hat in a solid color or with contrasting edging and flippy floppy.

This earflap hat provides great coverage for baby when going out in cooler weather. It's always nice when something cute works well too.

The pattern was designed for Lily Sugar'n Cream cotton yarn, but other worsted weight yarns will work as well, perhaps with slightly different results depending on the gauge (for instance, I found I had to use a larger hook when working with Hobby Lobby's  I Love This Cotton yarn). The hats are designed in small, medium and large a bit on the generous size for babies approximately 0-3, 3-6, and 6-12 months. Tess is wearing the 3-6 month size below... You could also make a newborn or preemie hat by using a lighter gauge yarn (I Love This Cotton, for instance) and following the directions for the small size.

I'm posting the Flippy Floppy Earflap Hat pattern for free downloading until April 8, 2011 and then it will be available in my shop. And, good news for some who asked a few weeks ago, the pattern also includes instructions for a ruffled rose embellishment: it's the Flippy Floppy and Ruffled Rose Earflap Hat pattern. I'll be showing that version in my next post...

Find the pattern here in my shop.