Dinosaur Hat

After knitting my first couple of pieces, I started to feel adventurous and wanted to try something a little more challenging.I decided with it being so cold outside I would make a hat for my new nephew, but not just any hat - this is a hat that will keep all those monsters under the bed at bay

What you will need:

• 2 Shades of chunky wool - I got mine from John Lewis
• 10mm knitting needles - I got a pack of lots of sizes at a great discount from Curtzy
• White and black felt
• Black Thread
• Large sewing needle
• Scissors

Cast on 31 stitches.

Note: This will make a hat for about a 1-2 year old. Add or remove stitches to change the size you want to make, but keep it as an odd number

For this number of stitches, your hat needs to be about 8 inches long. I found it easier to measure the length every now and again, rather than counting the number of lines I've stitched

To get this style I did one full line of Knit and then 1 full line of Purl and repeat until you have your chosen length, finishing on a Purl line - this is called stockinette stitch. If you forget what line you need to do next then here is a simple way to remember - If the flat side is facing you then it should be a knit line and if a bumpy side is facing you it should be a purl line. I've added images of my two sides so you can see the difference

You might find the bottom of your hat rolls up - don't worry about this, it will help your hat fold over at the end

Two more lines need to be knitted to finish off the main hat shape,

Line 1

Knit 1For the rest of the line Knit 2 together (repeat until line finished - you should end up with 16 stitches on your needle)

Line 2

Purl 2 together (repeat until line finished - you should end up with 8 stitches

Cut the wool from the ball so you leave a length of wool that is at least double the length of your hat.

Put a large sewing needle on the end of the wool and then pass it through all your stitches on the knitting needle before removing the knitting needle out from under the stitches.

Pull on the end of your wool so that all stitches gather and and then tie a knot in the wool so that all the stitches are held

Weave the end of the wool in and out from the top of the hat down the sides, until you get to the bottom and there you have your hat shape. Finish by tying a knot and weave the end piece of the wool back into the hat (if it's too long then just weave it a few times and cut the rest off).

Turn the hat the right was out so any knots/weaving are on the inside. Your hat will also start naturally rolling itself up at the bottom - use this create a rim and give it a few stitches with thread to keep it in place

Next you want to start your spikes for on top of the hat.

• For this size of hat, you should cast on 8 stitches but you can do less if you want a smaller spike. Try and leave a long piece of wool at the end - this will be used for stitching your spike to the hat.

• Knit the first 2 together, then knit each other stitch in the row singly.

• Repeat this for each spike until there is only one stitch left and then cast off

• Congratulations - You have made your first spike. Now repeat to get 3 more!

Once you have all your spikes, take one and thread a large sewing needle on the end. Weave the tail of the spike in and out the top of the hat, pulling the final stitch through to the back and then weave the remainder on the inside of the hat to secure it.

Repeat for the other 3 spikes, leaving more room at the front than the back. I also followed the stitched line done the back of the hat to help cover it up

Next we need to work on the face.From the white felt cut out 2 large circles and some teeth. From the black felt, cut two small circles

Stitch the black circles to white ones - I did them slightly off centre, but play around with them on the front of the hat before stitching to get your positioning right.

Stitch the eyes to the front of the hat, slightly under the rim. Make sure you don't do the stitching too tight otherwise there will be no give in the hat then you are putting it on.

Stitch the teeth on the inside of the rim, making sure the stick out on the bottom - again don't stitch too tight!

And there you have it...one dinosaur hat, ready for any adventure out.