CHILD sizes: sweet treats cupacake/ sundae beanie

First let me tell you, the idea was not originally mine. I was looking for a cupcake beanie pattern for my 5 year old daughter and I found this beautiful pattern by Twinkie Chan. I just loved the diagonal swirls and really thought that it was a brilliant idea. But the pattern is for adult size. Also it involves crocheting the top and the brim separately and then sewing them together, which I personally don't prefer. So I made this hat my way to avoid sewing and adjusting the stitch count for my 5 year old. I also used a pom-pom for cherry instead of amigurumi sphere. Much easier, right? But the idea of diagonal swirls is definitely not mine.I scaled this pattern to different sizes like baby, child and adult.

For the colour options, sky is the limit. You can use 2 colours, alternating every other row to get sundae effect, or can use self striping rainbow yarn. Beanie can also be made in strawberry or watermelon colours. Just let your imagination fly. Check out the beanies made by the testers.

Click here for Baby sizes and adult sizes.

Materials

• Worsted weight yarn (9-10 WPI) in 3 different colours: colour A (for top/ icing, colour B for brim/ cake and colour C (for pom pom/ cherry)
• 5 mm and 4 mm crochet hook (or hook to obtain the gauge and 2 sizes smaller hook). 
• 2 stitch markers in different colours
• Scraps of coloured yarn
• Pair of scissors
• Yarn needle

Sizing

Beanie has 2" negative ease.

1- 3 year, 3-5 year, 6-10 year (to fit head circumference 19", 20", 21")

Gauge

Please see the notes before starting gauge swatch. All the stitches are worked in back loop only.

Gauge swatch:

Row 1: ch 16, 2 hdc in 2nd ch from the hook, hdc in each ch to last 2 ch, hdc2tog over last 2 ch. (15 sts)

Row 2: ch 1, turn, hdc2tog over 1st 2 sts, hdc in each st to last st, 2 hdc in last st. (15 sts)

Row 3: ch 1, turn,  2 hdc in 1st st, hdc in each st to last 2 sts, hdc2tog over last 2 sts. (15 sts)

Repeat rows 2 and 3 for 2 more time. Repeat row 2 (total 8 rows).

The swatch should measure 4" by 4" (Measure the sides of the rhombus formed.)

[It's best to obtain perfect row gauge as well as stitch gauge. But if you are unable to get that both right, try to achieve exact row gauge. Because for this particular project, row gauge is more important than the stitch gauge.]

For ribbing, use 2 sizes smaller hook or any hook to get 16 rows/ 4 inch of sc-blo ribbing.

Abbreviations

US terms

Ch: chain
Hdc: half double crochet
Hdc2tog: half double crochet two together
Sl st: slip stitch
Sc: single crochet
Sc-blo: single crochet in back loop only

Notes:

1. Ch1 does NOT count as a hdc or sc.
2. All the stitches are worked in back loop only, including hdc2tog and 2 hdc in single stitch.
3. I highly recommend the use of 2 stitch markers in 2 different colours. One colour for increase side and another colour for decrease side. Place your st markers in 1st st of every row.
4. The instructions are for regular beanie. For slouchy beanie, add extra 3-4 chains when beginning the top.

Pattern

Top of the beanie/ icing:

Make a slip knot leaving a long tail to sew the top later.

Row 1: ch 25 (25, 27), 2 hdc in 2nd ch from the hook, hdc in each ch to last 2 ch, hdc2tog over last 2 ch. (24, 24, 26 sts)

Row 2: ch 1, turn, hdc2tog over 1st 2 sts, hdc in each st, to last st, 2 hdc in last st. (24, 24, 26 sts)

Row 3: ch 1, turn,  2 hdc in 1st st, hdc in each st to last 2 sts, hdc2tog over last 2 sts. (24, 24, 26 sts)

Repeat rows 2 and 3 for 15 (16, 17) more times. Repeat row 2. (Total 34, 36, 38 rows). The length of the finished piece should be 17" (18", 19"). You can adjust the number of rows in order to get final length mentioned.

Attaching sprinkles:

Wrong side facing you (pointed end/increase side of the parallelogram 

should be on the lower side), use scraps of coloured yarn and attach them in random spots with your crochet hook, so they look like sprinkles. You can also use pestry needle to sew the yarn scraps. Cut the excess yarn tails off. (For babies, instead of knots, sprinkles can be attached with hot glue gun/fabric glue on the right side or can be sewn on using fine thread and needle. First try the glue on scrap piece of yarn to check if it melts the yarn.)

Lay the parallelogram flat, right side facing you (pointed end on top). Fold it as shown in the picture. Join with sl sts to the 1st row. Turn it inside out.

Switch to the smaller hook, and add 62 (66, 70) sc evenly across the rows all around. You need to add 8 sts across 4 rows, and then 7 sts across next 4 rows. Continue in this manner. You might need to adjust 1 or 2 stitches at the end. COUNT THE STITCHES, join to 1st sc with sl st, at the same time changing to colour B. Fasten off colour A. (62, 66, 70 sts)

Brim/ cake:

1 row is worked across each beanie stitch. Work total 62, 66, 70 rows.

Row 1: ch 7 (9, 9), sc in 2nd ch from the hook and in each ch, slip stitch to 1st stitch on beanie, sl st to next st on beanie. (6, 8, 8 sts)

Row 2: ch 1, turn, sc-blo in next 5 (7, 7) sts, sc in last st. (6, 8, 8 sts)

Row 3: ch 1, turn, sc in 1st st, sc-blo in next 5 (7, 7), 5) sts, sl st into next 2 sts on beanie. (6, 8, 8 sts)

Continue rows 2 and 3 all around. Join with 1st ribbing row with sl sts. Fasten off. 

Click here for the video tutorial for the ribbing.

Closing the top of the beanie:

Thread the yarn tail on to a tapestry needle. Work running stitches along the top edge of the hat and pull the yarn tight to close the top  of the hat. Tie a knot to secure.

Attaching a pom pom:

With colour C/red yarn, make a large pom pom and attach at the top of the beanie.

Now weave in all the ends.