Knitted Baby Hat - Incredible Expanding Gnome Cap

Knitted Baby Hat - Incredible Expanding Gnome Cap

When expecting my fifth baby, I knitted a set of baby cardigan, baby hat and baby booties - this baby hat was knitted using a free pattern from Ravelry. 

In fact, I did 3 different hats because I did 3 different sets - one unisex, one for a girl and one for a boy (it was a fun practicing knitting), as demonstrated by my lovely dollies models:

Using 3.25mm circular needles and DK yarn, CO 100st, I did 8 rounds of pattern repeat to achieve 4 inches. 

It's a very easy pattern to follow and indeed very stretchy, especially with cable cast on. 

Also, as I was going for an extra pointy baby hat, I repeated the last round and instead of finishing with 12 sts, I P2Tog, K1 the next round (8 sts), then K2Tog the final round to finish with 4 sts before doing icord and small tassel.

Update: My baby turned out to be a boy, and ended up wearing his incredible expanding gnome cap most of the time! And it was a perfect match for my handsome cables baby boy cardigan free knitting pattern.

Isn't he a doll? Perfect hat for a newborn...

...but a bit too small for 10 month old.

Note: For safety reasons I would strongly advise not to make the cord too long so it does not go around baby's neck or into their mouth.