Looking for something quick and adorable to knit this Christmas? Wondering how easy it is to knit mini ornaments? There are so many choices of ornaments to knit for Christmas, it may be hard to pick one. If you are thinking of making mini hat ornaments, you may feel a little intimidated by having to work in the round with small double pointed needles. What if there was an easier way? How about knitting mini hats on straight needles (back and forth)? You can just sew up a back seam when you’re done. Keep reading for the tutorial on how to knit stocking cap ornaments…

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FREE MINI HAT PATTERN

How do you make a stocking hat ornament?

This tutorial will show you how to knit a mini hat on straight needles, decreasing as you get to the top. Next, just close your seam and add a tiny pom pom. Easy!

You will need the following supplies to make the mini hat ornaments:

Supplies

Size 5 (3.75 mm) knitting needles
approx. 10 yards of Medium weight (size 4) yarn to make 1 hat. I used Red Heart Super Saver acrylic in color ‘Eggshell’.
scissors, tapestry needle
optional – tiny pom-pom, crochet hook (e.g. size J, 6mm) to make a chain for hanging

Knitting Abbreviations

K – knit stitch K2tog – knit 2 stitches together

P – purl stitch

Sts – stitches Rep – Repeat

RS – Right Side (side that faces you when finished)

stockinette – knit 1 row, then purl the next row

PATTERN INFORMATION

The free pattern for the solid color mini hat ornament is provided below.

but you can also get the ad-free, printable pdf pattern for the 3 types of hat ornaments (solid, striped, snowflakes) as part of a bundle in the ETSY SHOP! The pdf has step-by-step tutorial photos included.

Knit Mini Stocking Hat - all styles, display

NOTES: You will be knitting the hats on straight needles, back and forth. The hats are knit from the bottom up, and steps are included to decrease to the top.

The finished hats each measure approximately 6″ height by 2” width (4” circumference) at the hat brim.

How do you make a mini knitted hat?

Follow the steps below to make a solid colored hat. Add a pom-pom if you wish. Lastly, hang the stocking cap with a chain of yarn.

Gauge isn’t necessary, as the mini hats can be any size.

Knit hat ornament pattern:

How do you make a yarn hat ornament? Easy as this…

Beginning with the size 5 knitting needles, cast on 18 sts with the size 4 yarn.

Ribbing on Brim of Mini Hat

Rows 1-2: *K1, p1; rep from * across. (18 sts)

Rows 3-4: work in stockinette (knit 1 row, purl 1 row). (18 sts)

Body of Mini Hat

Row 5 (RS): *K4, k2tog; rep from * to end. (15 sts)

Row 6: Purl across. (15 sts)

Rows 7-8: work in stockinette for 2 rows. (15 sts)

Row 9: *K3, k2tog; rep from * to end. (12 sts)

Row 10: Purl across. (12 sts)

Rows 11-12: work in stockinette for 2 rows. (12 sts)

Row 13: *K2, k2tog; rep from * to end. (9 sts)

Row 14: Purl across. (9 sts)

Rows 15-16: work in stockinette for 2 rows. (9 sts)

Taper Top of Mini Hat

Row 17: *K1, k2tog; rep from * to end. (6 sts)

Row 18: Purl across. (6 sts)

Rows 19-24: work in stockinette for 6 rows. (6 sts)

Row 25: *K2tog; rep from * across. (3 sts)

Row 26: Purl across. (3 sts)

Rows 27-30: work in stockinette for 4 rows. (3 sts)

Row 31: K2tog, k1. (2 sts)

Row 32: Purl across. (2 sts)

Bind off.

Cut yarn, leaving 10” tail to use for seam.

(in-process photos of the mini stocking hat are provided in the pdf file on Etsy)

Sew Seam

Use the yarn tail to sew a seam down the back of the hat.

Weave in ends.

Optional – add pom pom

Sew or hot-glue a tiny pom-pom to the end of the mini stocking hat if you’d like.

Create loop to hang the mini stocking hat ornament

The last step to finish your stocking hat ornament is to bend the top of the hat down, then add a loop for hanging.

Bend the top 2” of your hat downward if you’d like.

Next, you can simply grab some yarn or twine about 12” long, make a loop, and attach it to the bent section of the hat.

Another alternative is to crochet a chain as follows:

Join yarn at the back of the stocking.
Chain to your desired length with size J (6mm) crochet hook.
Slip stitch to the back of the stocking, where you joined the yarn.
Fasten off chain, weave in ends.

Now just place the hat on a branch of your Christmas tree to show it off!

Important Tips for Knitting your Stocking Hat Ornament

Some things to keep in mind as you knit the mini hats are:

Make sure to count the stitches on your needle after decrease rows, to ensure you didn’t miss anything.
The Right Side (RS) is always facing you when you knit, while the Wrong Side (WS) faces you when you purl.
Feel free to add more ribbing rows (see Rows 1-2) to the bottom of your hat if you would like a wider brim.

How do you knit little hats with stripes or snowflakes?

To add interest to your little knitted hat ornaments, you can make variations of them.

For a striped pair, alternate colors for every 2 rows.

I love how they look with cream and green stripes …

Knit Mini Stocking Hat - motif and striped

You could also add a snowflakes pattern to the hat by using different colored yarn in a falling snowflake motif:

Knit Mini Stocking Hat - motif, finished

Both of these alternative patterns are included in the CHRISTMAS HAT ORNAMENT BUNDLE.

These mini hat ornaments would make great gifts during Advent – package them with my FREE ADVENT GIFT TAGS!

Knit Mini Stocking Hat - solid color with tag

I hope you enjoyed learning how to make a knit stocking cap ornament. I’m sure you can handle the k2tog stitches if you are a beginner. This is a good project to practice that ‘decrease’ skill on, as it isn’t too complicated.

Don’t forget that the mini hat knitting pattern is also available in a pdf pattern bundle, which includes the striped and snowflakes patterns. Grab the CHRISTMAS HAT ORNAMENT BUNDLE and/or the similar CHRISTMAS MITTEN ORNAMENT BUNDLE in my Etsy shop.