Earflap Hats in School Colors

This red and blue earflap hat is designed for my friend's granddaughter. She is in her school band and these are the school colors.

School colors make great theme designs for knit hats. Even grade schools have their own designated school colors now days.

A really big deal in the state of Oregon are the school colors for the University of Oregon Ducks and the Oregon State Beavers, both of whom are ranking high nationally in football this year.

I have been kept delightfully busy with custom orders for both schools. I share with you some examples of the color combinations for both.

Since I am a graduate of the University of Oregon, I must say, "Go Ducks"!!!!!

Since some family members are graduates of Oregon State University, I must say, "Go Ducks"!!!!!!!

Children's Earflap Hats

Earflap hats can also be made for toddlers. Here are photos of three. I have added pattern changes in posted patterns under "Hats". There is also a pattern change for medium or "Youth" size.

The hat fit perfectly for toddlers. They stretch enough to allow room without drowning the little child.

Email me if you have any questions on construction. They are fun, easy and rewarding to make and to wear.

I have used more traditional colors with these samples but any colors will work. Get creative. Give yourself a break. Give others a treat.

More Earflap Hats

These hats have proven so easy to make, I have posted the pattern on the Knifty Knitters group list, under Hats with the name of Nan's Earflap Hat. I am adapting the pattern for different head sizes with success. These hats were made on the green loom. The adapted versions use the red and purple looms.


Model Mark really likes these hats but Tonga climate is not friendly to earflap warmth.

See "Older Posts" for more earflap hats.

Earflap Hats

Fall comes to Oregon and hat offerings for Saturday Market change. After much searching, I found an earflap hat pattern using the Knifty Knitter by Rowena back in 2005. It has been extensively revised and these photos show the results.

The handsome model is Mark, about to leave for Tonga with the Peace Corps minus any warm hats from his Auntie Nan.

Thanks to Carmen, this pattern is very simple to do, with gratifying results. I am happy to share it with anyone interested. Let me know if you want a copy.

On some I used bulky Heirloom yarn with standard 4 ply. All yarn is easy care acrylic. Our winters are mild here and these hats offer adequate warmth for the Pacific Northwest. I am going to make one for myself in wool for those rare snowy East winds we get.

Commissioned Hats

Tim's 5 year old boy wanted a red hat with racing cars. The cars more resemble VW Bugs but he was thrilled anyway. The black beads represent a road. I used the red KK loom and doubled the acrylic yarn.








These two commissioned "critter hats" were made for a Market customer's nephew. The green one is a Cyclops. It had two eyes and I tried to cut the second one to look like a "wink". Failure, even using a small straight length of icord for the closed, winking eye, giving birth to the Cyclops Critter.



























The last commission was for Stacie. She wanted something in yellow after she saw the toddler "corn" hat. This creation made her happy.

Commissioned hats are fun to do because you know where they are going before you start. Don't accept too many details for the finished project. Tight reins can kill creativity.

Traveling Hats

I took a glorious trip to some of the New England states with lots of plane and driving time. The Knifty Knitter proved reliable in all situations and resulted in 6 hats.

I shopped a yarn store in Salem, Mass. and talked knit-chat with the owner, stayed ahead of Hurricane Bill by one day and heard tributes to beloved Ted Kennedy from everyone.



Here are the 6 travel hats modeled by Deven and Jaden. I never measured the hats because I forgot my ruler and I didn't count rows for other reasons so, the hats came out large or small.

The yellow and purple hat on Deven came out gigantic but he thought it was cool

I bought some natural wool yarn from a sheep farm owner in Vermont. It is beautiful and smells earthy and warm. That will become a hat for me to wear this winter to stay connected to the memories of East Coast travel.

Watermelon Hats and More

All hats are for sale on ETSY, seller is "birchlimb".

Summer time at the Farmer's Market. Hat sales are slow The watermelon hats always sell, both toddler and adult size.




The first one is seedless with a colorful button.











I flipped this one so the red is on the bottom. It and the next one are both seeded.


















Just get some little black beads. Sew on as many as you feel like.






















































The rest of the hats are bright colors mixed with Homespun and fun fur. I love the garter stitch brim and sometimes use a different color yarn for the purl row. It literally stands out.
































Braided dreadlocks are fun. This green hat has 5 but I will someday make one with 12. Teens love the concept.













































This little hat is a blueberry. It sold quickly.
















The last 2 are pumpkin toddler hats. They also sold fast. The darker one is a combination of a suede like yarn and a strand of brown acrylic 4 ply.

Garden Hats

Selling warm knit hats at the summer Saturday Market can be tricky. I will offer some for sale with garden themes.


The first hat is a purple petunia with garden themed buttons sewn on above the rib stitch brim. It is adult size. All the rest of these are toddler/pre-schooler size except as mentioned.

All on sale at ETSY, by seller, "birchlimb" Free shipping.

The next three have flowers, tools and lady bug buttons.

I got inspired with sunflower, apple, corn and bumble bee designs and then decided I had better make an adult size lady bug hat to go with the toddler size.

The corn design was a stretch of the imagination. Annie thought it was a pineapple. I got some little alphabet beads and attached the word CORN near the top.

All of these shots and others are taken in my neighbor's beautiful garden. Thanks Carol.

Will this marketing ploy work? Well, warm hats are year-round staples for Oregon beaches and wilderness spots. We shall see.

Check out ETSY seller, "birchlimb" on all hats for sale.

Colorful Hats

Here are three 4th of July ideas. The first one has little red and blue star buttons.










Number 2 has lots of pom poms. I got carried away on the red and white stripes but just had to go both vertical and horizontal.









The third hat called for some pom poms and I love the way the fun fur white yarn stands out on the bottom.








A big stripe of fun fur brightens up this soft brown hat. A big brown button adds a little class on the garter stitch brim.

Our local high school's colors are purple and yellow so I will offer some of these hats at Saturday Market. School time is a long way off so these will probably sell in the fall.

This last hat is the start of some garden themes. The black and red is accented with lady bug buttons.