My daughter asked me if I could make her a unicorn hat... and I can't say no to my sweet little girl when it comes to crochet projects!! But I thought about attaching a mane of hair and didn't want to attach tons of threads of yarn to a hat (although I'm sure it would be awesome). Then I remembered when I was young, I made Yarnables (link here, although I don't like that someone posted the patterns free, you can see pics of them all) - my Dad worked at the company that makes Bernat yarn and brought home these kits and I loved making them! So I incorporated hair from the Curly Yarnable, simply doing dc and it will hold the curl. Improvised some details and VOILA! A hat! Free pattern is below!
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Pattern makes a child size for ages ~2-4 years. You can adapt for 4-12 easily by using a hook that's half a mm bigger for the hat base.
Materials:
- 4 mm crochet hook
- Worsted weight yarn of your choice
- Tapestry needle
- A small amount of stuffing / batting
Stitches: (click here for a good instruction guide of basic stitches)
ch - chain
sl st - slip stitch
sc - single crochet
sc2tog - single crochet 2 stitches together (decrease)
sc3tog - single crochet 3 stitches together
hdc - half double crochet
dc - double crochet
tr - treble (triple) crochet
dtr - double treble (triple) crochet
magic loop/magic ring (instructions here)
PATTERN
General note: when I do my dc rounds, I ch 2 and dc in the NEXT stitch, not the same stitch. Then I finish in the same stitch as the ch 2 and sl st with the first dc. A couple pics are below. This creates a slight arc where the rounds join but I find it to be the cleanest way to do dc in the round. The other option is to ch 2 and dc into the same stitch. Whichever way you do it, make sure you count your stitches to ensure you're not adding an extra stitch to the row or missing a stitch!
Hat:
Round 1: ch 2, 12 dc into magic loop, sl st into first stitch
Round 2: ch 2, 2 dc in each st around, sl st into first dc (24 st)
Round 3: ch 2, *2 dc in next st, dc in next st* repeat until end of round, sl st into first dc (36 st)
Round 4: ch 2, *2 dc in next st, dc in next 2 st* repeat until end of round, sl st into first dc (48 st)
Round 5: ch 2, *2 dc in next st, dc in next 3 st* repeat until end of round, sl st into first dc (60 st)
Round 6: ch 2, dc in each st around, sl st into first dc
Rounds 7-12: repeat Round 6
Round 13: ch 1, sc in each st around, sl st into first sc
Rounds 14-17: repeat Round 13
Fasten off
Horn: (worked continuously without joining and end of round unless otherwise stated)
Round 1: 6 sc into magic loop, sl st into first stitch (6 st)
Round 2: *2 sc in next st, sc in next 2 st* repeat once more (8 st)
Round 3: sc in each st around (8 st)
Rounds 4-8: repeat Round 3
Round 9: *2 sc in next st, sc in next 3 st* repeat once more (10 st)
Round 10: sc in each st around (10 st)
Round 11-15: repeat Round 10
Round 16: 2 sc in each st around (20 st)
sl st into first st of round
Fasten off, leaving long tail for sewing
Ear: (make 4 - can do 2 pieces in a contrasting color for inner ear)
Row 1: ch 10, sc into second ch from hook and across, ch 1, turn (9 st)
Row 2: sc in each st across, ch 1, turn (9 st)
Row 3: sc2tog, sc in each st across until the last 2 st, sc2tog, ch 1, turn (7 st)
Repeat Rows 2-3 twice more (3 st)
Row 8: sc3tog
Fasten off
Holding two ear pieces together (with a right side facing a wrong side), starting at the bottom right when right side is facing you, sc 2 sides of the triangle through both thicknesses, doing 3 sc in the top st and leaving the bottom of the ear open. Fasten off, leaving a long tail for sewing.
Back Mane: (make 16)
ch 51, dc in 3rd ch from hook and across (50 st), fasten off.
Front Long Curls: (make 2)
ch 41, dc in 3rd ch from hook and across (40 st), fasten off
Front Short Curls: (make 2)
ch 31, dc in 3rd ch from hook and across (30 st), fasten off
Note: you can really make as much hair as you want for the mane, whatever length you want. This is just a guideline! If you form the curls with your fingers, they should stay in place. You can spray them with fabric stiffener if you want to keep them very curly!
Eyes: (make 2)
With center eye color:
Round 1: 6 sc into magic loop, sl st into first sc
Round 2: 2 sc into each st around (12 sc)
Round 3: *2 sc into next st, sc into next st* repeat until end of round (18 st)
sl st into first sc of round, changing to second eye color
Round 4: *2 sc into next st, sc into next 2 st, hdc and dc into next st, tr into next st, dtr into next st, dc and hdc into next st* repeat once more (24 st)
sl st into first sc of round, changing to outline eye color
Round 5: *2 sc into next st, sc into next 3 st* repeat until end of round (30 st)
I use the loose threads to clean up any spots where the color changes were obvious. The picture below shows an unfinished eye at the top and a finished eye below (including a 'shine' embellishment)
Assembly:
Center the horn in the middle of the front of the hat, 2 rows forward from the top middle of the hat. Stuff it as firmly as desired and sew in place. Sew the ears in place on either side of the middle, slightly in front of the middle of the hat. They should be sewn in a position so they curve forward on the edges to shape them. You can add a bit of stuffing if desired, I simply left a small gap between the front and back pieces to help give them their shape.
Attach the eyes so that they touch the first sc row at the bottom of the hat and angle towards the ear. There should be 6-8 stitches of space between them at the front, centered under the horn. Sew along the outer sc edge of the eyes to secure them in place.
Attach the short curls spaced evenly between the ears, with the longer front curls 1 round behind them. Then attach the mane pieces along the back, centered on the hat back. Put 4 curls together on a row, with 4 rows in total. The rows in my hat are spaced 2 rounds apart at the middle.
To secure the hair, I simply tied the 2 yarn ends together in a double know on the underside of the hat and trimmed. If you were more ambitious, you could sew them in place and weave in the loose ends. It's best to tie them first to ensure you're happy with their placement.
Overall time taken for this project is around 2 hours for me - the crocheting takes about 1 hour for the hat and half an hour for the pieces and the assembly takes another half hour or so.
Please feel free to make and sell items made from this pattern, but please link back to my post if you do. Please do not copy my pattern and claim it as your own, or publish the pattern elsewhere without permission. Happy crafting!
Link to pattern in Ravelry, please share your finished projects! Unicorn Hat
