The Very Hungry Caterpillar Beanie Hat Crochet Pattern for Story Reading Time

The Very Hungry Caterpillar Beanie Hat Crochet Pattern for Story Reading Time

 free crochet pattern from cRAfterChick.com

My mother, who is a teacher, requested that I make her a hat for reading / story time in her classroom for when she reads The Very Hungry Caterpillar book by Eric Carle.  It’s a classic children’s book that I remember from my own childhood.  So I wanted to make it as close as possible to how the caterpillar on the book cover (see picture below).  I was pretty happy with how it turned out and it was a giant hit in the classroom.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar Beanie Hat Crochet Pattern for Story Reading Time Notes

Project requires:
Bright Red Yarn for Beanie Hat-  (I use a lot of Red Heart Saver yarn but any medium to normal weight yarn will do)
Dark Green Yarn for eyes, nose and trim
Yellow Yarn for outer part of eye
Bright Blue or Dark Purple Yarn for antennae
“J” hook (6.0 mm)
“H” hook (5.00 mm)
Scissors or Yarn Cutter
Blunt large eye yarn / tapestry needle to weave in ends
Small amount of fiberfill stuffing for antennae

Abbreviations used in this pattern:
ch – chain
st – stitch
sl st – slip stitch
sc – single crochet (US)
sctog – single crochet two st together (US)
dc – double crochet (US)
hdc – half double crochet (US)

Pattern Instructions:

*Note: This project is worked in the round on the base of a magic ring. If you do not know how to do this, please see tutorial here from: yarntomato on CrochetMe

The hat in this picture is made with my Easy Peasy  Pre-Teen / Teen / Women Double Crochet Beanie Pattern which you can find here as a foundation for the project.  Want it in another size? No worries. Head over to Easy Peasy All Family Sizes Free Double Crochet Beanie Patterns to select the size you want for your project.

Hat Base: using red yarn
Use Easy Peasy Crochet Beanie Size of your choice

Once you have completed your beanie for the base you are ready to start on making your own Very Hungry Caterpillar Beanie!

Contrast Band: using dark green yarn

Starting off we are going to put a simple contrast color band to the bottom of the hat.  For this sl st your Dark Green yarn to a st on the last round. Ch 1, then work 1 sc in each st around, sl st to top of first st in round before finishing off.

Outer Eyes (Make 2): using yellow yarn 
Round 1: In Magic Circle, Ch 1 before placing the following st in this order: 1 sc, 3 dc, 4 sc, 3 dc and 3 sc. Sl st to top of first st in row.  (8 sc, 6 dc)
Round 2: Ch 1. 1 sc in first st, 2 dc in next, dc in next, 2 dc in following st, sc in each of the 4 sc in a row from previous round, 2 dc in next st, 1 dc in next, 2 dc in last dc from previous round, 1 sc in each of the last 3 st for round. Sl st in top of first st in row. (8 sc, 10 dc)
Round 3:  Ch 1. 1 sc in first st, 2 sc in next, 1 sc in next 3 dc st, 2 sc in next st, 1 sc in next 4 st, 2 sc in next, 1 sc in next 3 dc, 2 sc in last dc, 1 sc in last 3 st. Sl st to top to of first st in row.  (22 sc)
Pull yarn through leaving a long enough tail when cutting so you will have a suitable enough length to secure to hat when sewing on. Put this to side for moment.

Inner Eyes (Make 2): using dark green yarn
Round 1: In magic circle, ch 1 before placing the following st in this order: 1 sc, 2 dc, 3 sc, 2 dc and 2 sc. Sl st to top of first st in row. (6 sc, 4 dc)
Round 2: Ch 1, sc in 1st st, 2 dc in next 2 st, 1 sc in next 3 st, 2 dc in next two st, 1 sc in last 2 st. Sl st to top of first st in row. (6 sc, 8 dc)
Cut yarn leaving a long enough tail to secure on to the center of the yellow eye  back from previous step.  Using yarn needle, place green eye center on top of yellow eye part and sew it in to place. It doesn’t have to be anything fancy. 🙂 I just do a basic in and out stitch to weave it together.  Fasten off.
Now take the tail from the yellow eye part and using your yarn needle, secure the finished eyes on to the hat in your desired position. You can see mine from the photos.

Nose:  using dark green yarn 
Round 1: In a magic circle, ch 1 before placing the following st in this order: 3 sc, 1 hdc, 1 dc, 1 hdc, 1 sc. Sl st in top of first st in row. (3 sc, 3 hdc, 1 dc)
Round 2:  Ch 1 and turn so you can place (1 sc and 1 hdc) into the last hdc st from previous round, in next st (1 hdc, 1 dc, 1 hdc), in next st (1 hdc, 1 sc). Sl st into last st. (2 sc, 4 hdc, 1 dc)
Pull yarn through leaving the last 2 st unworked. Before cutting yarn make sure you have enough of a tail length to now sew on to hat using your yarn needle. You can see my placement of it from pictures.

Antennae (Make 2): Switch to “H” hook (5.00 mm) and bright blue yarn 
Round 1: Starting in a magic circle  ch 1 before placing 6 sc in circle. Sl st to top of first st in round. ( 6 sc)
Round 2: Ch 1, place 2 sc in each st around. Sl st to top of first st in round. (12 sc)
Round 3-7:  Ch 1, place 1 sc in each st around. Sl st to top of first st in round. (12 sc)
This is a good time to put most of your fiberfill stuffing in the antennae. You can add it as you continue. You want them to have enough stuffing to be able to stand upright but not so much that it makes them heavy and weighed down. Then they won’t stand upright at all.
Round 8: Ch 1, sctog first two sc, *sctog next two st together, continue from * around until end of round. Sl st to top of first st in round. (6 sc)
Round 9-12: Ch 1, place 1 sc in each st around. Sl st to top of first st in round. (6 sc)
Cut yarn after pulling it through leaving a long enough tail to secure antennae to top of hat.  Using your yarn needle sew your antennae in to place (you can see my placement in pictures below) securely, fasten off any ends.
All done. 🙂 One Very Hungry (and special) Caterpillar Beanie Hat all ready to wear.

Here are pictures to show how it looks worn and from different directions when completed:

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