Free machine knit pattern for a baby Santa hat

Pretty much done with gifts, done knitting the annual order for Minnetonka Ski Team hats, finished with other holiday preparations, so I thought I'd knit a baby Santa hat for my grandson. The fish hat I thought about doing will have to wait. This hat is really soft---although it doesn't look like it in the picture.

Here's the pattern if you are interested.

Machine: Standard gauge (no ribber required)
Gauge of stockinette part: 7 st x 10 r = 1” at T 7
Yarn: Tamm Sky or yarn that will knit to gauge (a couple of ounces) white for brim and red for hat, and white Lion Brand Fun Fur (1/4 skein)for brim
Finished sizes: 0-3 months (6-9 months in parenthesis)—about 13.5” (15”) circumference unstretched at brim.

DIRECTIONS
Cast on with waste yarn over 101 (109) needles, every other needle. (I did every other needle to accommodate the doubled yarn of the brim then changed to single strand for the body of the hat.) Knit about an inch of waste yarn. Change to the strand of white and fun fur run separately through the mast and joined at the carriage. Yank the knitting down after every row to make sure the fur doesn’t get hung up on the gate pegs. Knit 20 rows at T 9, or twice the depth you want the brim. Hang a hem and knit one row to seal. Cut the two yarns leaving ends long enough to weave in later. Change to red, single strand, put the in- between needles into work and changing to T 7, RC 000, knit 44 (54) rows. Remove on waste yarn or garter bar and decrease every 8 stitches across. Knit 6 rows. Remove on waste yarn or garter bar and decrease every 7 stitches across, Knit 6 rows. Continue in this manner until you are decreasing every 4 stitches across, then knit 10 rows. After decreasing every 3 stitches across, knit 20 rows. Decrease every 2 stitches across and knit 10 rows. Continue decreasing evenly across until you have 4 or 5 stitches left. Change to I cord setting---consult your manual, but for Brother, push in one part button. Knit I cord for 20 rows and bind off.

TIE- knit a 4 stitch I cord 270 rows at T 7 and bind off.

FINISHING: Remove the waste yarn from the start of the hem. Seam the side of the hat leaving about 1 ½ inches open at the bottom. That is, leave the white part and a little of the red open. I did this because the doubled yarn of the brim wasn’t as stretchy as normal, and I thought I needed to allow for a larger head size. The tie can make the adjustment if necessary. (Baby not available right now for a fitting!) Run the I cord through the hem and make pom poms with the red yarn for the ends of the tie. Make one larger pom pom of the fun fur and white yarn for the tip of the hat. Hide all yarn ends. Brush the fun fur a little to make it move to the right side. Ho ho ho, really cute, don’t you think?

Side opening to adjust for size:


Note: On Ravelry I've seen some darling ones that have a much longer tip--- some that drape all the way to the ground. I opted to make a shorter one to avoid all thoughts of the possibility of the end being wrapped around the baby's neck. If you were using the hat just for a picture and wanted the longer end, just increase the number of plain rows between decreases to get the desired length.

And...... here's my cutie. I took some stills from a little video, hence the numbers at the bottom. I just thought his expressions were so sweet.

Yes, I'm besotted.