Basic Double Crochet Hats: Preemie-Adult

-This post is sponsored by mormon.org and the #LightTheWorld Christmas Campaign. All ideas and opinions are my own-

I love Christmastime. It is one of my favorite times of the year. There is so much wonderful stuff about Christmas time. It is a time to focus on Christ and his birth, it is a time to think about others and a time of giving. I think it seems like in general people tend to be more charitable and giving around Christmas but I also think that sometimes it is easy to get caught up in the business of the season and get lost in all of the other stuff that is going on so that in the end maybe we don't do as much as we would like. This year the LDS church, which I happen to be a member of, has a Christmas campaign that is encouraging everyone, regardless of religion, to participate in a month of service. They are using #LightTheWorld to share all of the acts of service being done around the world. If you want to participate through social media you can use that hashtag to share the things that you do. Beginning on December 1st they are starting 25 ways in 25 days, 25 ways to serve over the course of 25 days ending with Christmas. If you go to their site mormon.org, they have an advent calendar with different themes or ideas for each day beginning with a worldwide day of service on December 1st. Some of the ideas are really simple, writing a letter, or making a phone call, small things that can brighten someones day. Others may be bigger things that require a little more planning but you can do anything that you want. There is no specific thing you have to do, just a reminder to focus on being Christlike and serving and helping those around us.

As part of this they asked several different bloggers to post a way that they can provide service that ties into one of the themes. I looked over the calendar and thought about what I wanted to post about, each of the days has a theme that is Jesus ____ and so can you, like Jesus fed the hungry and so can you, or Jesus honored his parents and so can you. One of the days that caught my eye was Jesus healed the sick and so can you. I'm not a doctor and I am obviously not able to actually heal people but I do think that there are things that I can do. The ideas that they have to go along with that day are things like signing up to be an organ donor, giving blood, or even just praying for someone who is sick. I think that the reason this particular day stood out to me as one that I wanted to focus my post on is because a few months ago a week after my baby was born he got sick and we ended up being admitted to the hospital. We spent a week in the hospital with him. Luckily we live close to a children's hospital where he was able to get the help that he needed to get better. Really, the issue we were there for, although serious at first, was easily taken care of and pretty minor compared to a lot of kids that were there. I had the opportunity to attend a church meeting there where I met parents who were there with children who had cancer, transplants, and other serious issues, children who were spending not just a week in the hospital but months.

Any time we have had to go there for things with our kids they always seem to have little things to give the kids, a blanket, a stuffed animal, a hospital doll, or books. Something little to make it an easier time for the child. I thought, maybe I can't heal a sick kid but maybe I can make a little something to help them through a difficult or scary time in their life. I looked at the website for the hospital to see what kind of donations they are looking for. They had several different things on their site and I'm sure each hospital is different but one of the items on the list was hats. I thought, I can make hats, so I picked up some yarn in lots of bright fun colors and got started. I decided to make a basic double crochet hat pattern in several different sizes from preemie to adult that can be used to easily make hats to give to charities. I added some little accents to some of the hats to make animals or add flowers or bow, others I just did stripes. If you want to make something like this but not donate to a hospital there are lots of other places you could donate to, homeless shelters, foster organizations, schools, etc. The hospital I am donating my hats to actually doesn't use preemie hats so I won't be donating those, I included the pattern for them just in case someone wanted to donate to a place that did accept preemie hats.

I encourage you to check out all of the ideas on mormon.org and try to find ways to provide service for those around you this Christmas season. If you would like to make hats to donate somewhere here is my basic hat pattern in 4 preemie sizes, newborn, 0-3 months, 3-6 months, 6-9 months, 12 months, toddler, preschooler, child, teen, adult small, and adult large.

How to Make Basic Double Crochet Hats: 15 Sizes Preemie-Adult Large

You will need:

• Worsted weight yarn in desired colors (I used Loin Brand DIYarn, other similar weight yarns would be Vanna's Choice, Red Heart Super Saver, Red Heart With Love, etc.)
• I crochet hook
• scissors
• yarn needle

All hats start with a magic ring, ch 2 at the beginning of each round DOES NOT count as a stitch

Gauge: 4 rows x 7 stitches = 2"

Finished sizes are measured from top to bottom and across the bottom when laid flat

(sorry the preemie hats are out of order, somehow I mixed up the first two)

Preemie 1-2 pounds

finished size: 3 1/2" tall, 4" across

Round 1: in mr ch 2, 10 dc, sl st to first dc to join (10 dc)

Round 2: ch 2, 2 dc in each stitch around, sl st to first dc to join (20 dc)

Round 3: ch 2, [2 dc in first stitch, 1 dc in next 4 stitches] 4 times, sl st to first dc to join (24 dc)

Round 4-6: ch 2, 1 dc in each stitch around, sl st to first dc to join (24 dc)

Round 7: ch 1, 1 sc in each stitch around, sl st to first sc to join (24 sc)

Finish off and weave in ends

Preemie 2-3 pounds

finished size: 3 1/2" tall, 4 1/2" across

Round 1: in mr ch 2, 9 dc, sl st to first dc to join (9 dc)

Round 2: ch 2, 2 dc in each stitch around, sl st to first dc to join (18 dc)

Round 3: ch 2, [2 dc in first stitch, 1 dc in next stitch] around, sl st to first dc to join (27 dc)

Round 4-6: ch 2, 1 dc in each stitch around, sl st to first dc to join (27 dc)

Round 7: ch 1, 1 sc in each stitch around, sl st to first sc to join (27 sc)

Finish off and weave in ends

Preemie 4-5 pounds

finished size: 4" tall, 5" across

Round 1: in mr ch 2, 9 dc, sl st to first dc to join (9 dc)

Round 2: ch 2, 2 dc in each stitch around, sl st to first dc to join (18 dc)

Round 3: ch 2, [2 dc in first stitch, 1 dc in next stitch] around, sl st to first dc to join (27 dc)

Round 4: ch 2, [2 dc in first stitch, 1 dc in next 8 stitches] around, sl st to first dc to join (30 dc)

Round 5-7: ch 2, 1 dc in each stitch around, sl st to first dc to join (30 dc)

Round 8: ch 1, 1 sc in each stitch around, sl st to first sc to join (30 sc)

Finish off and weave in ends

Preemie 5-6 pounds

finished size: 4" tall, 5 1/2" across

Round 1: in mr ch 2, 9 dc, sl st to first dc to join (9 dc)

Round 2: ch 2, 2 dc in each stitch around, sl st to first dc to join (18 dc)

Round 3: ch 2, [2 dc in first stitch, 1 dc in next stitch] around, sl st to first dc to join (27 dc)

Round 4: ch 2, [2 dc in first stitch, 1 dc in next 3 stitches, 2 dc in next stitch, 1 dc in next 4] twice, [2 dc in first stitch, 1 dc in next 3 stitches] twice, sl st to first dc to join (32 dc)

Round 5-7: ch 2, 1 dc in each stitch around, sl st to first dc to join (32 dc)

Round 8: ch 1, 1 sc in each stitch around, sl st to first sc to join (32 sc)

Finish off and weave in ends

Newborn

For the newborn hats I did a girl version with wide stripes, changing color every 2 rows, for the boy version I added little ears to the top to make a bear hat.

finished size: 4 1/2" tall, 6" across

Round 1: in mr ch 2, 9 dc, sl st to first dc to join (9 dc)

Round 2: ch 2, 2 dc in each stitch around, sl st to first dc to join (18 dc)

Round 3: ch 2, [2 dc in first stitch, 1 dc in next stitch] around, sl st to first dc to join (27 dc)

Round 4: ch 2, [2 dc in first stitch, 1 dc in next 2 stitches] around, sl st to first dc to join (36 dc)

Round 5-8: ch 2, 1 dc in each stitch around, sl st to first dc to join (36 dc)

Round 9: ch 1, 1 sc in each stitch around, sl st to first sc to join (36 sc)

Finish off and weave in ends

0-3 Months

For this size I made a little pink owl hat for a girl by making half light pink and half bright pink and adding eyes, a beak, and little tufts for the ears. For the boy version I did the last 2 rows in a contrasting colors and on the last row alternated front post and back post to make a ribbed band, then added a matching pom pom on top.

finished size: 5 1/2" tall, 6 1/2" across

Round 1: in mr ch 2, 9 dc, sl st to first dc to join (9 dc)

Round 2: ch 2, 2 dc in each stitch around, sl st to first dc to join (18 dc)

Round 3: ch 2, [2 dc in first stitch, 1 dc in next stitch] around, sl st to first dc to join (27 dc)

Round 4: ch 2, [2 dc in first stitch, 1 dc in next 2 stitches] around, sl st to first dc to join (36 dc)

Round 5: ch 2, [2 dc in first stitch, 1 dc in next 8 stitches] around, sl st to first dc to join (40 dc)

Round 6-9: ch 2, 1 dc in each stitch around, sl st to first dc to join (40 dc)

Round 10: ch 1, 1 sc in each stitch around, sl st to first sc to join (40 sc)

Finish off and weave in ends

3-6 Months

For this size I made one row stripes in two colors for the girl hat and I replaced the last single crochet row with a row of shells in white. For the boy hat I opted for a simple one color hat with a contrasting  row of single crochet around the bottom.

finished size: 6" tall, 7" across

Round 1: in mr ch 2, 9 dc, sl st to first dc to join (9 dc)

Round 2: ch 2, 2 dc in each stitch around, sl st to first dc to join (18 dc)

Round 3: ch 2, [2 dc in first stitch, 1 dc in next stitch] around, sl st to first dc to join (27 dc)

Round 4: ch 2, [2 dc in first stitch, 1 dc in next 2 stitches] around, sl st to first dc to join (36 dc)

Round 5: ch 2, [2 dc in first stitch, 1 dc in next 3 stitches] around, sl st to first dc to join (45 dc)

Round 6-10: ch 2, 1 dc in each stitch around, sl st to first dc to join (45 dc)

Round 11: ch 1, 1 sc in each stitch around, sl st to first sc to join (45 sc)

Finish off and weave in ends

6-9 Months

For the girl hat in this size I went for an ombre type look going from bright pink to light pink to white and then added a simple flower. For the boy hat I alternated red and white each row with a contrasting green around the bottom. 

finished size: 6 1/2" tall, 7 1/2" across

Round 1: in mr ch 2, 9 dc, sl st to first dc to join (9 dc)

Round 2: ch 2, 2 dc in each stitch around, sl st to first dc to join (18 dc)

Round 3: ch 2, [2 dc in first stitch, 1 dc in next stitch] around, sl st to first dc to join (27 dc)

Round 4: ch 2, [2 dc in first stitch, 1 dc in next 2 stitches] around, sl st to first dc to join (36 dc)

Round 5: ch 2, [2 dc in first stitch, 1 dc in next 3 stitches] around, sl st to first dc to join (45 dc)

Round 6: ch 2, [2 dc in first stitch, 1 dc in next 8 stitches] around, sl st to first dc to join (50 dc)

Round 7-11: ch 2, 1 dc in each stitch around, sl st to first dc to join (50 dc)

Round 12: ch 1, 1 sc in each stitch around, sl st to first sc to join (50 sc)

Finish off and weave in ends

12 Months

I used 4 colors to make a rainbow colored striped hat for a little girl and added dino spikes down the back of the little boy hat for the 12 month size. 

finished size: 6 1/2" tall, 8" across

Round 1: in mr ch 2, 9 dc, sl st to first dc to join (9 dc)

Round 2: ch 2, 2 dc in each stitch around, sl st to first dc to join (18 dc)

Round 3: ch 2, [2 dc in first stitch, 1 dc in next stitch] around, sl st to first dc to join (27 dc)

Round 4: ch 2, [2 dc in first stitch, 1 dc in next 2 stitches] around, sl st to first dc to join (36 dc)

Round 5: ch 2, [2 dc in first stitch, 1 dc in next 3 stitches] around, sl st to first dc to join (45 dc)

Round 6: ch 2, [2 dc in first stitch, 1 dc in next 4 stitches] around, sl st to first dc to join (54 dc)

Round 7-11: ch 2, 1 dc in each stitch around, sl st to first dc to join (54 dc)

Round 12: ch 1, 1 sc in each stitch around, sl st to first sc to join (54 sc)

Finish off and weave in ends

Toddler

For the toddler size a make a single stripe around the girl hat and made a little bow to sew on the outside and made the boy hat into a little monster. 

finished size: 6 3/4" tall, 8 1/2" across

Round 1: in mr ch 2, 9 dc, sl st to first dc to join (9 dc)

Round 2: ch 2, 2 dc in each stitch around, sl st to first dc to join (18 dc)

Round 3: ch 2, [2 dc in first stitch, 1 dc in next stitch] around, sl st to first dc to join (27 dc)

Round 4: ch 2, [2 dc in first stitch, 1 dc in next 2 stitches] around, sl st to first dc to join (36 dc)

Round 5: ch 2, [2 dc in first stitch, 1 dc in next 3 stitches] around, sl st to first dc to join (45 dc)

Round 6: ch 2, [2 dc in first stitch, 1 dc in next 4 stitches] around, sl st to first dc to join (54 dc)

Round 7: ch 2, [2 dc in first stitch, 1 dc in next 17 stitches] around, sl st to first dc to join (57 dc)

Round 8-12: ch 2, 1 dc in each stitch around, sl st to first dc to join (57 dc)

Round 13: ch 1, 1 sc in each stitch around, sl st to first sc to join (57 sc)

Finish off and weave in ends

Preschooler

My 3 year old thought that the girl hat needed to be a Frozen hat so I used light blue and white and added a snowflake. For the boy hat I did an ombre style from black to white with a contrasting color on the bottom. 

finished size: 7" tall, 9" across

Round 1: in mr ch 2, 9 dc, sl st to first dc to join (9 dc)

Round 2: ch 2, 2 dc in each stitch around, sl st to first dc to join (18 dc)

Round 3: ch 2, [2 dc in first stitch, 1 dc in next stitch] around, sl st to first dc to join (27 dc)

Round 4: ch 2, [2 dc in first stitch, 1 dc in next 2 stitches] around, sl st to first dc to join (36 dc)

Round 5: ch 2, [2 dc in first stitch, 1 dc in next 3 stitches] around, sl st to first dc to join (45 dc)

Round 6: ch 2, [2 dc in first stitch, 1 dc in next 4 stitches] around, sl st to first dc to join (54 dc)

Round 7: ch 2, [2 dc in first stitch, 1 dc in next 8 stitches] around, sl st to first dc to join (60 dc)

Round 8-13: ch 2, 1 dc in each stitch around, sl st to first dc to join (60 dc)

Round 14: ch 1, 1 sc in each stitch around, sl st to first sc to join (60 sc)

Finish off and weave in ends

Child

Both of the child size hats I decided to stick with pretty basic stripes. For the boy hat I made 3 wide colored striped on a black hat, for the girl hat I alternated between 4 colors every two rows. 

finished size: 8" tall, 9 1/2" across

Round 1: in mr ch 2, 9 dc, sl st to first dc to join (9 dc)

Round 2: ch 2, 2 dc in each stitch around, sl st to first dc to join (18 dc)

Round 3: ch 2, [2 dc in first stitch, 1 dc in next stitch] around, sl st to first dc to join (27 dc)

Round 4: ch 2, [2 dc in first stitch, 1 dc in next 2 stitches] around, sl st to first dc to join (36 dc)

Round 5: ch 2, [2 dc in first stitch, 1 dc in next 3 stitches] around, sl st to first dc to join (45 dc)

Round 6: ch 2, [2 dc in first stitch, 1 dc in next 4 stitches] around, sl st to first dc to join (54 dc)

Round 7: ch 2, [2 dc in first stitch, 1 dc in next 5 stitches] around, sl st to first dc to join (63 dc)

Round 8-14: ch 2, 1 dc in each stitch around, sl st to first dc to join (63 dc)

Round 15: ch 1, 1 sc in each stitch around, sl st to first sc to join (63 sc)

Finish off and weave in ends

Teen

I did simple striped hats in all of the bigger sizes. I did wider stripes for the boy version and smaller stripes for the girl. 

finished size: 8 1/2" tall, 9 1/2" across

Round 1: in mr ch 2, 9 dc, sl st to first dc to join (9 dc)

Round 2: ch 2, 2 dc in each stitch around, sl st to first dc to join (18 dc)

Round 3: ch 2, [2 dc in first stitch, 1 dc in next stitch] around, sl st to first dc to join (27 dc)

Round 4: ch 2, [2 dc in first stitch, 1 dc in next 2 stitches] around, sl st to first dc to join (36 dc)

Round 5: ch 2, [2 dc in first stitch, 1 dc in next 3 stitches] around, sl st to first dc to join (45 dc)

Round 6: ch 2, [2 dc in first stitch, 1 dc in next 4 stitches] around, sl st to first dc to join (54 dc)

Round 7: ch 2, [2 dc in first stitch, 1 dc in next 5 stitches] around, sl st to first dc to join (63 dc)

Round 8-15: ch 2, 1 dc in each stitch around, sl st to first dc to join (63 dc)

Round 16: ch 1, 1 sc in each stitch around, sl st to first sc to join (63 sc)

Finish off and weave in ends

Adult Small

The adult small size is also considered an adult woman size so I only made a more feminine hat for this size and chose more masculine colors for the large, which could also be considered an adult man size. 

finished size: 9" tall, 10 1/2" across

Round 1: in mr ch 2, 9 dc, sl st to first dc to join (9 dc)

Round 2: ch 2, 2 dc in each stitch around, sl st to first dc to join (18 dc)

Round 3: ch 2, [2 dc in first stitch, 1 dc in next stitch] around, sl st to first dc to join (27 dc)

Round 4: ch 2, [2 dc in first stitch, 1 dc in next 2 stitches] around, sl st to first dc to join (36 dc)

Round 5: ch 2, [2 dc in first stitch, 1 dc in next 3 stitches] around, sl st to first dc to join (45 dc)

Round 6: ch 2, [2 dc in first stitch, 1 dc in next 4 stitches] around, sl st to first dc to join (54 dc)

Round 7: ch 2, [2 dc in first stitch, 1 dc in next 5 stitches] around, sl st to first dc to join (63 dc)

Round 8: ch 2, [2 dc in first stitch, 1 dc in next 8 stitches] around, sl st to first dc to join (70 dc)

Round 9-16: ch 2, 1 dc in each stitch around, sl st to first dc to join (70 dc)

Round 17: ch 1, 1 sc in each stitch around, sl st to first sc to join (70 sc)

Finish off and weave in ends

Adult Large

finished size: 9 1/4" tall, 11" across

Round 1: in mr ch 2, 9 dc, sl st to first dc to join (9 dc)

Round 2: ch 2, 2 dc in each stitch around, sl st to first dc to join (18 dc)

Round 3: ch 2, [2 dc in first stitch, 1 dc in next stitch] around, sl st to first dc to join (27 dc)

Round 4: ch 2, [2 dc in first stitch, 1 dc in next 2 stitches] around, sl st to first dc to join (36 dc)

Round 5: ch 2, [2 dc in first stitch, 1 dc in next 3 stitches] around, sl st to first dc to join (45 dc)

Round 6: ch 2, [2 dc in first stitch, 1 dc in next 4 stitches] around, sl st to first dc to join (54 dc)

Round 7: ch 2, [2 dc in first stitch, 1 dc in next 5 stitches] around, sl st to first dc to join (63 dc)

Round 8: ch 2, [2 dc in first stitch, 1 dc in next 6 stitches] around, sl st to first dc to join (72 dc)

Round 9-17: ch 2, 1 dc in each stitch around, sl st to first dc to join (72 dc)

Round 18: ch 1, 1 sc in each stitch around, sl st to first sc to join (72 sc)

Finish off and weave in ends