RAWR! It's dino hats!

It's the invasion of the Dino Hats. The humans wearing these will be on the hunt for tricks or treats this Halloween. And I have two more beasties in the queue, thanks to a custom Etsy order.

Slimey the Green Dino enjoys frolicking in the summer sun while eating M&Ms.

Slushy the Blue Dino prefers an autumn bonfire and a cup of espresso.

Dino Hat pattern notes

Loom: Yellow 41-peg Knifty Knitter round loom

Yarn: Two strands of Vanna White worsted, 1 skein each of main color, orange for scales, white for eyes

Note: Knit stitch is the flat knit or regular knit stitch, not the e-wrap.

Crochet cast-on 41 pegs.

For the hat base ... Follow a rib-knit pattern (knit 2, purl 2) for 1.5 inches. This is your brim, which can lay flat or be folded up. From here, knit in stockinette for 7.5 inches for an adult hat. If you plan to do a gather bind-off, knit until the hat measures 9 inches total for an adult hat. If you plan to decrease for a crown using the flat-panel method, knit about 7.5 inches and begin shaping.

If you're doing the crown shaping, divide the stitches into four groups. On the yellow KK loom, the last group will have 11 and that's OK. Start the first section with your working yarn and knit 10 stitches. Turn and knit 10 back. Move the loop on Peg 1 onto Peg 2. Move the loop on Peg 10 to Peg 9. Knit the next row, knitting 2 over 1 on the first and last pegs. Then knit a row back. Repeat this decreasing on the end pegs, with a normal row after each decrease, until 2 stitches remain. Move the last loop over the first loop and knit 2 over 1. Wrap one more time and knit. Cut 12 inches and pull the yarn through to make a knot.

Join the yarn to the next section and repeat the above instructions for all sections. For the section with 11 stitches, just work in the extra stitch on a knit-back row at the end. You should have four triangles. Seam them together on the wrong side and you have a smooth crown for your hat.

For the scales, I knit in garter stitch (knit one row, purl one row). You may use any loom with at least 9 pegs. I started with 9 pegs and decreased one stitch on every other row (the knit row) on alternate sides.

The eyes were made on the pink 12-peg Knifty Knitter flower loom. I used the drawstring cast-on by Brenda Myers. Place a slipknot on the anchor peg. Wrap the yarn around the outside of all pegs. Place your working yarn above the strand on Peg 1 and knit the bottom loop over. Purl Peg 2. Repeat Knit 1, Purl 1 for one round.

Using garter stitch, I knit 8 rows of the main color. At this point, you can close the cast-on edge by removing the slipknot from the anchor peg and pulling to cinch it closed. Pull the yarn tail to the inside of the opening. Weave the yarn tail around the opening and knot it to secure the top of the eye. Switch to white yarn and garter-stitch 14 rows. Do a gathered bindoff but don't pull the bottom completely closed until it's stuffed with fiberfill. I used buttons for the pupils. When attaching the eyes to the hat, I found they sit best if I sewed them on the bottom and a little up the back.

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If you like the hats but lack the time, you can send me an email to buy baby-size ones!

Purple Dino Hat, toddler size $20

Orange Dino Hat, newborn size $20

Blue Dino Hat, newborn size $20