A Basic Guide to Bunny Hats

In two whole years, ever since I got my rabbit, I have come to one important conclusion.

NOTHING is cuter than a bunny. Well, except a bunny with a hat...

In this Instructable, I'll show you how to make easy bunny hats; designed with your rabbit's comfort and safety in mind.

Get creative! There are thousands of yarn choices out there. Have fun choosing yarn that will complement your bunny's fur color. I mean, you could even use your own hair ties and scrunchies as bunny hats! Just make sure that whatever you're using is soft and light. You don't want to irritate your bunny, after all.

The materials I'll be using for these examples are:

• Yarn, any color
• Darning needle
• Crochet hooks
• Knitting needles

This is Pepper, my three-year old lionhead bunny; aka Fluffy Baby Bunnykins. She likes head rubs and bananas, and is extremely patient and forgiving.

Take your bunny's personality and bitty quirks into mind when designing your bunny hat. Would they be tolerant of something on their head, even for a short time? Test it out with a scrunchie. If your bunny absolutely despises it, maybe only give them the hat for a quick photoshoot :)

The rule of thumb for bunny hats is "The looser and lighter the better". A good bunny hat should still allow free ear movement. It should never pinch. You need to be able to fit at least three fingers between the hat band and your bunny's ears.

That said, here are two types of bunny hats.

The Ideal Bunny Hat

This type of hat is what I like to call the ideal hat. It's light, minimal, and as you can see, has plenty of space. I find that, because it's light, and interferes so little with Pepper's natural ear movement, she barely notices it at all! Unless she shakes her fur, it can stay on for hours.

The Photoshoot Hat

Although you can certainly use the simple bunny hats in a photoshoot, sometimes you just want to make a really, well, fancy hat for your bunny. Probably something beautiful, but not very practical. Some good examples would be this fascinator-inspired hat I made last year, or this hat with a big red bow. Both are nice, but I would only put them on Pepper for a short while, because eventually, it would just get annoying.

Making this kind of hat is as simple as:

• Chain-measuring around your bunny's ears
• Crocheting a thin band in the round
• Creating cute mini flowers and/or leaves
• Putting it all together

Making this kind of hat is slightly more complicated. Because they usually have bigger decorations, you might need to give it either a smaller diameter and/or a greater width. Just make sure you stick to the three finger limit. Personally, if I am making a wider headband, I like to knit in the round. It's stretchier than a crocheted headband, and is also more aesthetically pleasing. :)

Aside from that, just follow the basic steps above.

I have now imparted to ye the basic knowledge of bunny hats. How do you feel? Empowered? INSPIRED?

Go forth and create!

I have spoken.