You know the song. “It’s my party, and I’ll cry if I want to…” For the first few months of a baby’s life it IS their party, and even 5 hours a day of crying can be totally normal.

This hat has several options. You can choose between top-down and bottom-up; ribbed or rolled brim; and I-cord top or not. Our favorite is worked top down beginning with an umbilical cord (I-Cord). At first the tears (eyelets) are close together, but as the hat grows they get further and further apart. At the end it’s smooth sailing with a few inches of stockinette stitch.

This hat was designed to support the “Click for Babies” Period of Purple Crying ® campaign, sponsored by the Legacy Emanuel Children’s Hospital Child Safety Program, the Children’s Trust Fund of Oregon Foundation, and the National Center on Shaken Baby Syndrome.

This project seeks to spread awareness about the Period of Purple Crying ® – the first five months of life when the amount of infant crying can become frustrating and overwhelming to caregivers. The ultimate goal is to prevent Shaken Baby Syndrome.

Skill level: Advanced beginner (knitting in the round, choosing from design options).

UPDATES:
Version 2: The pattern was updated in July 2012 with more design options, including top-down or bottom-up construction, eyelet or plain crown, and rolled or ribbed brim.

Version 2.1: The pattern was updated in October 2012 to fix errata on page 3, top-down version, plain crown version, round 1. Increase on this round only should be kfb, not kfbf.

Version 2.2: The pattern was updated in September 2013 to include a note explaining the choices between options.