Now I can’t be the only person who looks forward to holidays as an opportunity to dress up their beloved pet in adorable yet hilarious outfits? As someone whose rabbit can wriggle out of any cape or collar, I have decided that hats are the way to go!
The wonder of this pattern is that just be changing the colour of the yarn, and the accoutrements, you can switch from an elf to Santa herself.
What you’ll need:
- Cotton yarn (I used an 8 ply) in red and white for a Santa hat, or green for an elf hat2 different colours of yarn - a base colour and a contrast colour for the stripe at the top. I used
- 2.5mm crochet hook (or appropriate for your yarn size. We want a tight stitch for this, so you should be 1 or 2 sizes smaller than recommended for the yarn.)
- White pom pom, cotton thread and sewing needle for Santa hat
- Gold bell for elf hat
- Scissors to trim
- Yarn needle to weave in ends
Stitches you'll need to know:
- Chain - CH
- Single crochet - SC (double crochet in UK/AU terms)
- Increase - INC. Stitch 2 sc into the same stitch, so that you increase the number of stitches in the row by one.
- Slip stitch - SLIP
- Puff - PUFF
Let's get stitching!
Start with red for Santa or green for elf hat. Please note we will be working in continuous rounds - don’t break yarn at the end of each round, just keep crocheting.
Round 1: Create a slip knot and chain 2, then perform 6 double crochets (dc) into the second chain from the hook (this is just my preferred method to start off, but you could also do 6 dc into a magic ring if you would prefer). You now have (6) stitches in this row.
Round 2: *Inc, sc*, repeat from * 3 times (9)
Round 3: Sc all (9)
Round 4: *Inc, 2 x sc*, repeat from * 3 times (12)
Round 5: Sc all 12)
Round 6: *Inc, 3 x sc*, repeat from * 3 times (15)
Round 7: Sc all (15)
Round 8: *Inc, 4 x sc*, repeat from * 3 times (18)
Round 9: Sc all (18)
Round 2: *Inc, 5 x sc*, repeat from * 3 times (21)
Round 10: Sc all (21)
Round 11: *Inc, 6 x sc*, repeat from * 3 times (24)
Round 12: Sc all (24)
Round 13: *Inc, 7 x sc*, repeat from * 3 times (27)
Round 14: Sc all (27)
Round 15: *Inc, 8 x sc*, repeat from * 3 times (30)
Round 16: Sc all (30)
Round 17: *Inc, 9 x sc*, repeat from * 3 times (33)
Round 18: Sc all (33). 1 x slip stitch to even out the row
If you are making the Santa hat, switch to white yarn now. For elf, keep going with green.
Round 19: Chain 1 loosely to get the height you need to start puff stitches. *Puff, sc*, repeat from * 16 times, puff and slip stitch into first stitch of the row to finish (33). Trim yarn and weave in ends.
For Santa hat:
Using the cotton thread, tie a knot in one of the 6 original stitches at the top of the hat. Using the sewing needle, sew through the pom pom from top to bottom, and then back down to the bottom. Tie a knot through another of the original 6 stitches to attach the pom pom to the hat. Repeat again to secure. Thread both ends of the white cotton thread inside the hat to hide and knot to the inside of the hat to secure further.
For Elf hat:
Take the original end of the green yarn from when you made the first slip knot. Thread the yarn through the bell, and knot to one of the original 6 stitches to secure. You can repeat this again if you are worried about it falling off, but it makes the connection point more visible so I preferred to do only one. Thread the green yarn inside the hat to hide and knot to the inside of the hat to secure.
And you’re done! Now you just need to find enough treats to convince your pet to stay still long enough for a photoshoot :)
