Knitting for the New Baby & Pixie Bonnet Tutorial

Since having children knitting has become a self-care practice for me and a way to escape consumerism. My mother told me that back when she had me she needed to knit and sew because it was the only way to have something different than what was found in the stores. In todays days of online shopping and garments made in sweat shops I belive we need a revolution of creating a few pieces of clothing on our own for our children. I offer one-on-one workshops for women and mothers to be who want to make a baby hat with me or we sew a simple baby outfit together. Click here for more information.

Knitting, sewing, or crocheting for your new baby or your friends baby connects you to the life that is growing inside. If you are a friend who takes the time to knit a hat or boots for the new baby of a friend I am sure this present will be treasured forever.

If you are a mama and would like to knit a simple hat for your new baby start with this post. I am not a professional knitting instructor, nor do I know if this works out (so please give me feedback) but I believe that you too can knit a simple hat for your baby by the time it is born. It will be a great feeling to have created something so personal for your child and the internet has many instructional videos and explanations if your mom or grandma isn’t around to teach you.

How to incorporate older siblings: My son learned to crochet in waldorf school and enjoys making the straps for knitting hats for baby. Between the ago of 5-6 I taught him how to finger knit and knitting and crocheting helps him makes straps for what he builds now. Instructions for a single crochet strap are very easy to find online or you may know it. Furthermore, once you have finished, older siblings can use the newborn pixie bonnet on their dolls to understand just how tiny their little brother or sister will be.

The hat in the picture was a simple Pixie Hat I came up with and the boots are linked here.

Simple Instructions:

!!! dont know how to cast on, knit and purl (I linked videos for each in the instructions)

I made this pixie hat and baby boots for my son and he has been wearing both since birth. The pattern for the boots can be found here

What you need:

100% wool yarn (4ply fingering or other) – I prefer alpaca for a new baby
knitting needles (size 3)
one extra needle
dawning needle
crochet hook (size 3 for straps)

Newborn Pixie Hat:

Cast on 42 stitches of 4ply yarn fingering weight (less or more stitches if you are using a different yarn)
Knit 6 rows
Knit and purl (stockinette stitch) 26 rows
Divide your stitches over two needles, with right sides together use a three needle bind off to close off the pixie hat
Create single crochet chain or a crochet i-cord for the pixie hat straps and sew onto both sides.
Done!

Any Size Pixie Hat:

Measure your child’s head from 1/2 inch below one ear to the other
Depending on which yarn you use cast on enough stitches to measure the length of the ear to ear distance minus one inch – we deduct one inch because once you knit the stitches it will increase in length a bit
Knit 6 rows
Knit and purl (stockinette stitch) until the length of the knitted piece reaches from the childs hairline to the center back of the hat
Divide your stitches over two needles, with right sides together use a three needle bind off to close off the pixie hat
Create single crochet chain or a crochet i-cord for the pixie hat straps and sew onto both sides. Done!

A nice video and instructions on how to knit in general can be found here.

Thank you for reading
xoxo,

Sabine.

About the Author: Sabine Bryant is the designer and creator of Kinderbonnets. She currently resides in Germany with her family of 5. Aloha Werkstatt Blog shares her inspiration for Kinderbonnets, environmentally friendly life choices, and creative craft projects inspired by the simplicity of nature, and love for gathering amongst women and families of young children – to inspire a sense of self-sufficiency, creativity, and less materialism.