Easy But Cute Crocheted Cap

If you have ever learned anything about crochet, you can make this hat. There are no shells, no "treble crochets", and no pages of abbreviations to figure out. If you can make a chain, and add a row of single stiches to it, you can do this.

If not, find a video online, and learn the basics. This is a good first project.

Please customize this however you want.

You will need: two colors of yarn, thread, a small needle and a big one for yarn (does not need to be sharp), a good scissors, a crochet hook, and a button that coordinates with the yarn.

Use any colors of yarn you like, but for convenience' sake, I'm going to call them gray and pink.

Using the pink yarn, make a chain. The length will vary by how thick your yarn is, and how large a hat you're trying to make. For a newborn size hat, with medium weight yarn, I used seventy stitches. A fairly loose chain will be handier later on.

Loop the yarn around and attach the two ends like this. You should now have a circle.

Using a single stitch, work your way around the loop. When you reach the end, lay your circle down flat. Be sure you are making a loop, and not an infinity symbol. If your work is twisted, take a few stitches out and correct the problem.

Work your way around the circle again. It is best to count your stitches. If each row only varies by a few stitches, your hat will look lumpy and strange. If you find you have too many stitches in a row, you can drop one by skipping over a stitch. If you don't have enough, add an extra one by hooking the little loop at the base of the stitch before it. It is best not to add or drop more than one or at the most two, stitches per row. Best of all, of course, would be not to need to worry about it at all.

When you have a tube as tall as you want your hat, plus an inch or two, depending on the size of your hat, you are ready for the interesting part. Do not cut the yarn.

Here you do as I say, not do as I did. Use pink yarn and thread the yarn needle. I used gray for contrast, did a few stitches, then pulled it out. Working along the chain side of the tube, sew a thread through each loop. Pull the needle toward you, leaving a row of loops along the top. Leave several inches of yarn sticking out at the end. Work your way around the circle.

Pull gently on both ends of the yarn, sliding the loops together until you have only a small hole. You may need to slide the loops toward the center. Tie the ends together tightly.

Bingo! A hat! If your hat looks a little short, crochet a few more rows. If it looks tall, pull some out. Cut the thread off about five inches long, and knot it by crocheting a chain stitch, then pulling it all the way through.

Turn your hat inside out. The brim will be doubled back, showing the underside, so we want the underside to be on the outside. Make a new loop like this, and start crocheting along the bottom of the hat. Work your way around as many times as needed, until your happy with the width of the brim. If you're planning to decorate the hat the way I did, you'll want a fairly wide brim.

This step is optional. Decide whether or not you want a pom-pom on top.

1. Wind gray yarn (or a mix of the two if you like) around your hand. To make a small pom-pom, I wound the yarn around my hand 150 times. The more times you go around, the bigger your pom-pom will be.

2. Pinch a piece of yarn between two of your fingers, and pull your hand out. You will have a bunch of loops, hanging from a thread.

3. Tie the thread as tightly as you can without popping it.

4. Hold the threads in one hand, letting the pom-pom hang down. Slide one side of the scissors inside the loops and cut them in half. Give it a good shake.

5. Time for a haircut. Still holding the pom-pom upside down, trim the strands until they will stand stiffly. Give it another good shake, and your done.

Grab your yarn needle again. Turn the hat inside out, and use a few stitches to sew the hole shut. If you're not using a pom-pom, you'll want to be extra careful make this look good. Knot the ends of the yarn inside. Turn the hat right-side-out again.

To add the pom-pom: Thread one of the dangling threads through the needle, push it through the top of the hat. Unthread the needle, leaving the thread inside. Repeat with the other thread. Turn the hat inside out, pull the threads tight, and knot them together.

This is optional.

If you want to make a little flower on the brim like I did.

To make on petal: Chain three stitches. Go back to the first one and make a tiny loop. Now, chain one stitch, single stitch once. Chain once, single stitch once. This makes a circle. Repeat this until you have a circle as large as you want. When you are finished, single stitch once more to make less of a bump. Make a knot. Don't worry about the small bump that is left. It is impossible to make a circle this small without one, and it will be hidden. The tighter you work this, the smoother your circle will be.

If you count how many stitches you do, you can easily get make more circles exactly the same size. For a flower, make five. For a boy, a good alternative to a flower is one larger circle with a button in the middle.

Lay the circles out with the bump pointing in. Thread your small needle with pink thread. String the circles onto the string like beads. Pull the thread as tight as you can without making them overlap.

Lay the flower on the folded up brim of the hat. Arrange it to your satisfaction, then sew it onto the rim.

Add a button to make the center of the flower. Be very sure you sew the button on securely, as it could be a choking hazard.

And we're done!