Baby knitting patterns are where almost everyone starts, and there is a good reason for it. A baby hat is a tube with a closed top and it uses a hundred yards of yarn, so a first attempt that goes sideways costs you an evening instead of a month. Adorable knits for babies are some of my favorite things ever. When I was expecting my son I made a bear he still keeps, and the blankets I made for my daughters are tucked away as heirlooms now. I taught myself to knit while I was expecting, which tells you how forgiving this end of the craft is. Everything below is baby sized, most of it is free, and each pattern links back to the knitter who wrote it.
1. Knit Baby Blanket
A loose loopy white, gray and yellow blanket draped over the side of a crib with a small brown bear sitting on it. The stitches are huge and open because there are no needles involved and no ordinary yarn either. Make & Do Crew works it in Lion Brand Off the Hook, a jumbo chenille that comes with the loops already made, so the yarn holds the gauge for you. Twist each loop of the row below a half turn to the left, then pull the next loop of working yarn through it. You never turn the work. Sixty five loops wide gives a blanket about 41 by 50 inches.
Get the full tutorial at Make & Do Crew.
2. Baby Girl Bunny Ear Hat
A soft pink baby hat with two upright ears and a cream bow sitting at the base of them, photographed beside red tulips. Gina Michele knits the hat itself in the round on US 7 sixteen inch circulars, 52 stitches in garter stitch to six inches, then decreases the crown. The ears and the bow are worked flat on straight needles and sewn on afterward, which is the part worth knowing, because shaping an ear on two needles is far easier than trying to knit one out of the crown. Pinch each ear at the base before you stitch it down. Three sizes, twelve months up.
Get the full tutorial at Gina Michele.
3. Fisherman's Rib Baby Blanket
A mustard gold blanket bunched to show its depth, with small multicolored pompoms at the corners. Hands Occupied works it in fisherman’s rib the whole way through, which is the stitch responsible for that thick squashy texture, and the fabric comes out reversible and much deeper than ordinary ribbing. It takes three skeins of LB Collection Superwash Merino in Dijon on US 6 circular needles with a 24 or 32 inch cord, and finishes at 24.5 inches wide by 36 long without the pompoms. The pattern is free.
Get the full tutorial at Hands Occupied.
4. Sheep Baby Blanket
A pink blanket laid over a crib rail with rows of little white sheep across it, their bodies worked in a fuzzy yarn so they stand out from the flat pink background, and soft toys sitting on top. Two Sisters knits it in Vanna’s Choice pink with Bernat Pipsqueak in white on a size 8 circular, using intarsia for the sheep and embroidering the black legs and heads in afterward. It is deliberately small, sized as a bouncy chair or car seat cover rather than something to lie on.
Get the full tutorial at Two Sisters.
5. Loom Knit Cowboy Hat
A cream cowboy hat sized for an infant, shaped brim and all, sitting on a display head over a blue collar, under a typeset title. GoodKnit Kisses builds it on a 31 or 41 peg round loom from 236 yards of Red Heart Super Saver, and the brim and the body are two separate pieces sewn together, with an i cord threaded through the sides for the band. Stiff yarn is the recommendation and it matters here more than usual, because a limp yarn gives you a sun hat rather than a cowboy hat. Free pattern.
Get the full tutorial at GoodKnit Kisses.
6. Knitted Baby Uggs
Two pairs of olive green booties with folded over cuffs, stacked on a china saucer next to a teacup, and they are unmistakably tiny Uggs. Things for Boys knits them in Rowan Pima Cotton DK or a similar DK weight at five to six stitches to the inch, in one piece with very little seaming. Short rows build the three dimensional shape of the foot, then stitches are picked up and closed with either Kitchener stitch or a three needle bind off. Three sizes, 3 to 6, 6 to 12 and 12 to 18 months. Free, and downloaded over half a million times.
Get the full tutorial at Things for Boys.
7. Sweet Baby Bonnet
A dusty pink bonnet with an eyelet band around the crown, tied under the chin, worn by a baby sitting up against a white background, under a typeset title. Little Red Window knits it flat to begin with, then moves onto double pointed needles for the crown decreases, in a worsted weight on US 7 straights with dpns in the same size. The i cord ties are knitted on. The free pattern covers the six month size, and the paid PDF adds 0 to 3 months, twelve months and 2T and up.
Get the full tutorial at Little Red Window.
8. Easy Chunky Knit Blanket
A thick cream blanket with a baby sitting on a wooden floor pulling it over one shoulder, the stitches so large you can count them from across the room. The Merrythought uses Sirdar Big Softie in Meringue, 196 yards, on US 36 needles, which are 20mm and about the thickness of a broom handle. Cast on 45 stitches, work seed stitch until there is just enough yarn left to bind off, and it finishes around 36 inches square. Big needles are forgiving of uneven tension, which is why this is such a good early project.
Get the full tutorial at The Merrythought.
9. Cloud Puff Booties
Three pairs of gray booties with blue, white and pink pompoms hanging on white ribbons against a pale background, the cuffs turned high so they look like tiny boots. This is a Bernat Design Team pattern hosted on AllFreeKnitting, worked in Softee Baby, one ball each of the main and contrast color, on 4mm US 6 needles. It is knitted flat in garter and stockinette with shaping for the sole and the foot, so there are no double pointed needles anywhere in it, then seamed. Three sizes, 3, 6 and 12 months. Free.
Get the full tutorial at Bernat Design Team via AllFreeKnitting.
10. Knit Easy Garter Stitch French Macaroon Baby Sweater Pullover
Three little sweaters pegged on a line in soft green, coral and butter yellow, each with contrast sleeves and a plain body, shown above a second shot of the same set. The pattern is garter stitch all the way through, which means every single row is a knit row and there is nothing to learn beyond that. A boat neck takes the head with no fastening to work, the shoulders close with a three needle bind off and buttons go down the back. DK weight, and it comes in six sizes from newborn to four years.
Get the full tutorial at Caro in the City via Ravelry.
11. Simple Sailboat Blanket
A soft blue blanket in a textured stitch, draped over a large brown teddy bear so the folds show the depth of the fabric. The name points to a sailboat motif somewhere in the pattern, though none is visible in this photograph and the source could not be opened to settle it. What the picture does show is a deep, evenly textured fabric in a single soft blue, which is a forgiving thing to knit and an easy thing to live with in a nursery that has not settled on a color scheme. Nothing about the yarn, the needles or the finished size is claimed here.
Get the full tutorial at Peace but Not Quiet.
12. Baby Doll Blanket
A small striped blanket in pinks and cream with a fluffy fringe along the ends, folded on a wooden table under a typeset title, with a close up of the stripes below. Jennie Moraitis writes it as a scrap project: five or six coordinating yarns, no more than ten yards of each, cast on 50 stitches on size 9 needles and change color every three to five rows until it is as long as you want it. Doll size is an underrated place to start, because it is a full blanket in miniature and the stripes are the only decision you have to make.
Get the full tutorial at Jennie Moraitis.
13. Basic Baby Beanie
A striped beanie in pink, yellow, blue and white on a doll head, with a typeset title above and the designer’s name below. Goddess Crochet, despite the name, writes this one as a knitting pattern: stockinette body, ribbed brim, simple crown decreases, on size 6 sixteen inch circulars with double pointed needles for the top. It takes about 80 yards of light weight 3 yarn, which is one ball with plenty left. Two sizes, newborn to a year at 78 stitches and one to two years at 84. Free.
Get the full tutorial at Goddess Crochet.
14. Easy Knit Baby Blanket
Wide bands of cream, misty blue and gray in a garter stitch blanket, shown folded in a corner and again close up under a typeset title. B.Hooked knits it flat in garter stitch on a US 15 circular of at least 36 inches, using 510 yards each of three colors of Red Heart Super Saver Brushed, and it finishes about 35 inches square. Garter is every row knit, so there is genuinely nothing to learn except how to change color, which makes this the pattern to point a brand new knitter at.
Get the full tutorial at B.Hooked.
15. How to Finger Knit a Chunky Baby Blanket
Two panels, a hand pulling a loop of thick cream roving through another loop, and the finished blanket with a small white dog sitting in the middle of it. No needles are involved at all, which is what makes this the gentlest possible entry point to knitting for a baby: the loops are made over your fingers, so the stitch is visible the whole time and there is no tool between you and the yarn. Start with a chain, then work rows of loops. Chunky yarn, and the size is whatever you decide to stop at.
Get the full tutorial at DIY Joy.
16. Baseball Baby Hat
A white beanie with red stitching curving over it like the seams of a baseball, worn by a baby sitting with a real baseball in both hands. Little Red Window knits it in the round in worsted white and red on US 7 sixteen inch circulars with dpns for the crown, starting with a long tail cast on, then a ribbed cuff and a stockinette body. The seams are embroidered on afterward in red, which is why the curve looks right rather than pixelated the way colorwork would. Free in the twelve month size.
Get the full tutorial at Little Red Window.
17. Baby Headbands
Three knitted headbands laid on stone in olive, plum and pale pink, each gathered into a fat knot at the front so they read as bows. Cpeezers knits them in Knit Picks Swish DK, and the construction is the part worth knowing: the band is a plain garter stitch rectangle whip stitched into a loop, then gathered in at the join, and a separate narrow stockinette strip wraps around that gather to make the knot. Stretchy, warm over the ears, and a genuinely fast use for one ball.
Get the full tutorial at Cpeezers.
18. Baby Bonnet Hat Pattern
Two panels under a typeset title, a gray bonnet folded flat beside a ball of yarn and a needle, and below it a baby wearing the finished hat with the ties done up. Sew in Love knits the Modern Baby Bonnet from Hadley Fierlinger’s book, in Bendigo Woollen Mills Stellar, a half wool half bamboo yarn that stays warm without getting heavy. The bumpy texture is nothing but knit and purl stitches, so it looks far harder than it is. The back shaping is the one fiddly part. Straps tie under the chin, which is what keeps it on a head this small.
Get the full tutorial at Sew in Love.
19. Tina and Nina Mermaid
Two knitted mermaid dolls on a pale surface, one sitting up with blue hair in buns and one lying propped on her elbows with red hair, both in teal tails. Red Heart’s pattern is knitted rather than crocheted despite how amigurumi usually goes, and it works from one ball of Red Heart Amigurumi yarn, which carries all the colors you need, on US 2 2.75mm circulars with a 29 inch cord. Small needles and tight fabric are what stop the stuffing showing through. Free, and rated intermediate.
Get the full tutorial at Red Heart.
20. Loom Knit a Cap, E-Wrap Method
An orange bobble hat with a fur pompom on white boards, above a shot of a coral round loom with yarn being wrapped onto the pegs. Dream a Little Bigger teaches the e wrap on a large round loom, which is the technique worth learning first: tie on at a side peg, wrap clockwise around every peg, push the loops down, wrap back counter clockwise, then lift the bottom loop over the top on each peg and repeat. Keep the yarn loose or the tension fights you. Ten inches gives a fitted hat.
Get the full tutorial at Dream a Little Bigger.
21. All-in-one Knitted Baby Top
A white baby top with a pastel striped yoke and small buttons running down the front, laid flat on a pale surface. Marianna’s Lazy Daisy Days writes it as a top down knit in DK on 4mm needles at 22 stitches to four inches, worked from the neck downward in stockinette with eyelet details, and the whole thing comes off the needles finished. That is the selling point: no sewing at all, which removes the step that stops most people from finishing a garment. Sizes run from small newborn to six months. Free.
Get the full tutorial at Marianna's Lazy Daisy Days.
22. Dishcloth Turned Bib
A bright pink bib with a scalloped edge and a small heart button at the neck, photographed on a laptop keyboard, which tells you something about how fast this one gets made. Cheryl’s Knitting works a 20 row repeat five times in worsted cotton on size 7 to 10 needles, then binds off and knits a garter strap with a buttonhole for the closure. Cotton is the right fiber here because bibs get washed constantly. Short rows shape the circle, and the small holes they leave are deliberate. Sized 0 to 9 months.
Get the full tutorial at Cheryl's Knitting.
23. Moccasins Baby Booties
A pair of cream booties with suede fringe across the front, tied with thin leather laces, sitting on a fluffy white rug beside a striped woven cushion. Mama In A Stitch keeps the knitting genuinely basic: garter stitch on size 8 needles in an aran weight, cast on 18, a few decreases, knit to four inches, cinch the toe and sew the seam. You need the knit stitch and the ability to knit two together, nothing more. The fringe is hand stitched on afterward, and that is what does all the work.
Get the full tutorial at Mama In A Stitch.
24. Knit Newborn Hats For Hospitals
Ten small striped hats in blues, pinks and grays arranged in a circle under a typeset title, each with a little knot at the crown. The Make Your Own Zone sizes them properly for a newborn: about 4 inches tall with a 10 inch circumference, cast on 48 stitches in a size 4 soft yarn on US 6 straights, ribbing then stockinette, decreases at the crown and a seam. Each one takes about 35 yards. Worth a call before you start, since not every hospital accepts handmade items now.
Get the full tutorial at The Make Your Own Zone.
25. Wise Baby Sun Hat Pattern
A small bucket shaped sun hat in bright pink with a deeper pink band, sitting on a pale knitted blanket, brim turned up all the way round. Knit Kat Paddywhack works it flat and bottom up on 3.25mm straights in Moda Vera Gelato or any smooth four ply cotton held double, which is the detail that matters: two strands of a fine cotton give a firm fabric with a brim that stands, where one strand would flop. A garter brim, a butterfly stitch panel, then crown decreases. Sized about 0 to 3 months, free PDF.
Get the full tutorial at Knit Kat Paddywhack.
26. Pretty Bow Tie Cardigan
A gray cardigan with pink edging on the button band, cuffs and hem and a small pink bow at the neck, worn by a baby lying on a fur throw. Patons works it in Beehive Baby Sport on US 4 and US 5 needles, in two sizes that finish at 17 and 18 inches around, and rates it easy. Gray with one accent color is a smart choice for a baby garment, because it does not date the way a whole cardigan in a pastel does, and the bow lifts off the design easily enough if it is not wanted. Free download, no sign up.
Get the full tutorial at Yarnspirations.
