My friend Allegra is expecting a baby girl in June, and since she’s a longtime friend and dedicated reader I knew I wanted to make the baby’s gift. I already had the perfect Texas weather appropriate lightweight blanket worked up (from my round ripple affair, here) and I just needed a sweet little something to top it off. I had small amounts of leftovers from the blanket, so I came up with a simple bonnet.

When I moved into this (my grandmother’s) house, I found a bag of crocheted items that had been made for my mom. One of them was the white bonnet above, which I used as a guide. I actually thought that the bonnet was made for a doll because it was so teeny tiny, but then I measured it and compared it to sizing standards and lo and behold, babies are actually very teeny tiny when they are first born. I worked it in solid double crochet stitches for just the right balance of sun protection and breathe-ability, then added a little flower for fun and to tie it into the blanket.

I find it interesting that bonnets seem to have gone out of fashion (what do I know, I don’t have kids, but going on what customers who come in to the yarn store say)– when they are on, they really just look like cute aviator style hats. If you have kids, you know that that strap is very important, because what baby wants to keep a hat on?