Animal Winter Wear!

As promised, since this is going to be the last update for a few weeks, it’s a big one! A friend of mine asked me to make a unicorn hat for her daughter, and that got me thinking… It’s getting pretty damn cold even here in Alabama, and my kids need some hats. My daughter loves cats and my son is too young to have a preference, so I get to put as much frog stuff on him as I want to.

The hats will fit children and toddlers. They’ll stretch easily (the hats stretch to fit around my head). They’re a bit big on my kids. My daughter is a small toddler and has small hands. The way I had to make the first one was to add rows to the cuffs until they would fit around her wrists, and then add rows to the thumb and the hand until they were long enough for her hands. She was very patient as I kept trying them on her.

I will periodically update Facebook, and watch Facebook for information on The Craft Frog selling completed items and taking commissions!

Also, my children are horrible models.

Edit: Here we are four years later, and these hats still fit the kids. We’ve had to make successively larger mittens (I need to make a new pair for my son as soon as the yarn gets here, Ironman mittens instead of paw mittens this time), but the hats are still good to go. They are almost-5 and 6 now (and my almost-5-year-old has a large head).

Gauge:  For the hat, rnds 1 and 2 = 2.75 inches in diameter. For the mittens, 12 sc = 2.5 inches. You can make the hat bigger by adding more rows, or putting more DC into row 1. You can make the mittens bigger by adding more rows to the cuffs- to make compatible with the pattern, add more rows in multiples of three.

Materials:

• I used worsted weight white, black, cream, emerald, baby pink, and some weird gray colour. I used sport weight medium green, but I tried worsted weight green for the cat’s eyes and it looks just fine.
• I used an I hook for the hat, and a G hook for everything that got sewn onto the hat and the mittens. The size of the hook for the bits getting sewn onto the hat isn’t really important. Some things are stuffed, so as long as the stitches are close enough together to hold in stuffing, that’s fine.
• Scissors to cut the yarn.
• Needle suitable for yarn. There’s a lot of sewing.
• I used polyfiber stuffing, but any stuffing will do.
• Safety pin, optional.

Some of the unicorn and the frog are worked in continuous rounds. Use a stitch marker to keep your place and move it up as you complete rows. I use a safety pin and just put it through the last stitch of a round.

As a warning, sewing to DC is a little harder than sewing to SC, but be patient and it can be done.

Hat (The same basic pattern was used for all three hats)
1) ch 4, join with sl st to form ring, ch 3 (counts as first dc throughout), 11 dc in ring, join with sl st (12)
2) ch 3, dc in same st, 2 dc in each dc around, join with sl st (24)
3) ch 3, 2 dc in next dc, *dc, 2 dc in next dc* around, join with sl st (36)
4) ch 3, dc, 2 dc in next dc, *dc2, 2 dc in next dc* around, join with sl st (48)
5) ch 3, dc2, 2 dc in next dc, *dc3, 2 dc in next dc* around, join with sl st (60)
6-14) ch 3, dc in each dc around, join with sl st (60)
15) ch 1, sc in each sc around (60)
Break yarn, finish off, weave in ends.

Unicorn
Nose Sides (make 2)
1) ch 5, 2 sc in 2nd ch from hook, sc2, 5 sc in last ch, sc2 in bottom loops, 3 sc in 2nd ch from hook, sl st to join (14)
2) ch, sc6, 5 sc in next sc, sc6, 5 sc in next sc, sl st to join (22)
break yarn, finish off
Nose
1) ch 23, sc in 2nd ch from hook to end (22)
2-12) ch 1, turn, sc in each sc (22)
break yarn, finish off
embroider nose slits before assembly
Eyes (make 2)
1) ch 2, 6 sc in 2nd ch from hook, join with sl st (6)
break yarn, finish off
Horn
stuff as you go
1) sc 2, 6 sc in second ch from hook (6)
2-3) sc in each sc (6)
4) sc, 2 sc in next sc* around (9)
5-8) sc in each sc (9)
9) sc2, 2 sc in next sc* around (12)
10-14) sc in each sc (12)
15) sc3, 2 sc in next sc* around (15)
16-17) sc in each sc (15)
18) sc3, dec over 2 sc* around (12)
19) dec over 2 sc around (6)
Break yarn, finish off.
Ears (make 4)
1) ch 9, sc in 2nd ch from hook to end (8)
2-8) ch 1, turn, sc in each sc (8)
9) sc, hdc, dc, tc, tc, dc, hdc, sc (8)
break yarn, finish off

Kitty
Muzzle
1) sc 2, 6 sc in 2nd ch from hook, join with sl st
2) ch 1, 2 sc in each sc around, join with sl st (12)
3) ch 1, *sc, 2 sc in next sc* around (18)
4) ch 1, *sc2, 2 sc in next sc* around (24)
5) ch 1, sc in each sc around (24)
break yarn, finish off. Embroider nose and mouth before assembly.
Eyes (make 2)
1) ch 3, 2 sc in 2nd ch from hook, 5 sc in last ch from hook, 3 sc in bottom loop of 2nd ch from hook, join with sl st (10)
2) ch 1, sc4, 3 sc in next sc, sc 4, 3 sc in last sc, join with sl st (14)
break yarn, finish off. Embroider pupils before assembly.
Ears (make 4)
1) ch 9, sc in 2nd ch from hook to end (8)
2) ch 1, turn, sc in each sc (8)
3) ch 1, turn, dec over 2 sc, sc4, dec over 2 sc (6)
4) ch 1, turn, sc in each sc (6)
5) ch 1, turn, dec over 2 sc, sc2, dec over 2 sc (4)
6) ch 1, turn, sc in each sc (4)
7) ch 1, turn, dec over 2 sc twice (2)
8) ch 1, turn, sc in each sc (2)
9) ch 1, turn, dec over 2 sc (1)
10) ch 1, turn, sc (1)
break yarn, finish off

Froggy
Eyes (make 2)
1) ch 2, sc6 in second ch from hook (6)
2) 2 sc in each sc around (12)
3) sc, 2 sc in next sc* around (18)
4) sc2, 2 sc in next sc* around (24)
5-7) sc in each sc around (24)
8) sc2, dec over 2 sc* around (18)
9) sc, dec over 2 sc* around (12)
stuff
10) dec over 2 sc around (6)
break yarn, finish off
White of Eye (make 2)
1) ch 2, sc6 in second ch from hook (6)
2) 2 sc in each sc around (12)
3) sc, 2 sc in next sc* around (18)
break yarn, finish off
Pupil (make 2)
1) ch 2, sc6 in second ch from hook (6)
break yarn, finish off
Mouth
1) ch 21, sc in 2nd ch from hook to end (20)
break yarn, finish off

Mittens
Cuff
1) ch 7, sc in 2nd ch from hook to end (6)
2-24) ch 1, turn, in back loops only sc in each sc (6)
sl st row 1 to row 24. turn inside-out
Hand
1) ch 1, working in the ends of each row of the cuff, *sc 2, 2 sc in next sc* around (32)
2-4) ch 1, sc in each sc, join with sl st (32)
5) ch 1, 2 sc in each of first 2 sc, ch 4, 2 sc in sc 31 and 32 of row 4, join with sl st (12)
This forms the thumb
6) ch 1, sc in each sc and ch around, join with sl st (12)
7-10) ch 1, sc in each sc, join with sl st (12)
11) dec over 2 sc* around, join with sl st (6)
break yarn, finish off, sew closed
To form the rest of hand, join to next empty sc on row 4 of hand
5) sc in each sc around (28)
sl st to side of sc of thumb, sl st along bottom loop of each ch, sl st to side of sc of thumb, sl st to 1st sc of row 5 of hand
6) ch 1, sc in each sc around, sc in 4 sl st across ch, join with sl st (32)
7-15) ch 1, sc in each sc around, join with sl st (32)
16) ch1, *sc6, dec over 2 sc* around, join with sl st (28)
17) ch 1, *sc5, dec over 2 sc* around, join with sl st (24)
18) ch 1, *sc2, dec over 2 sc* around, join with sl st (18)
19) ch 1, *sc, dec over 2 sc* around, join with sl st (12)
20) ch 1, *dec over 2 sc* around, join with sl st (6)
Break yarn, finish off, weave in ends.

Kitty Paws
Large Paw Pad (make 2)
1) ch 2, 6 sc in 2nd ch from hook, join with sl st (6)
2) ch 1, 2 sc in each sc around, join with sl st (12)
3) ch 1, *sc, 2 sc in next sc* around, join with sl st (18)
4) ch 1, *sc2, 2 sc in next sc* around, join with sl st (24)
5) ch 1, *sc3, 2 sc in next sc* around, join with sl st (30)
break yarn, finish off
Small Paw Pad (make 8)
1) ch 3, 2 sc in 2nd ch from hook, 5 sc in last ch from hook, 3 sc in bottom loop of 2nd ch from hook, join with sl st (10)
break yarn, finish off

Assembly
Unicorn: Sew nose around nose sides, one at each end. There are the same number of stitches in each row of the nose as there are around the edge of the nose sides. Stuff, sew the nose closed. Sew to hat. Sew on eyes. For the horn, rows 18-19 are the bottom, so sew row 17 to the hat. Sew two ear pieces together around the sides and top, leave the bottom unsewn. Fold the ear in half and sew to hat, sewing through the entire base (4 rows). I started on the inside and worked out, I found that easier. Repeat for the other ear. Cut lengths of yarn to twice desired length, and tie around the posts of the DC for hair.

Kitty: Sew on muzzle. Sew on eyes. Sew two ear pieces together around the sides and top, leave the bottom unsewn. Sew the ears to the hat, sewing through the entire base (2 rows). Cut lengths of yarn to twice desired length, and tie around the posts of the DC for whiskers. Remember that the longer the whiskers are, the more likely they are to droop.

Froggy: Sew a white of eye to an eye, then center and sew the pupil onto the white of eye. Repeat for other eye. Sew eyes to hat. Sew on mouth.

Kitty Paws: Sew a large paw pad in the middle, as close to the bottom of the hand as you can get before the cuff. Arrange four small paw pads above the large one to give you an idea of where they should go so they’ll all fit, and sew them on.