Give a basic crocheted cap a Santa-style finish with red-and-white color changes, a folded point, and a pom-pom right at the top.
A few carefully placed increases are enough to turn a small magic ring into a tapered crochet hat with a distinctly festive silhouette. The finished shape can be worked in red and white for a crochet Santa hat or blue and white for a nightcap, while the folded tip and small pom-pom give the top its playful droop.
The crown grows through alternating increase and plain rounds, with the stitch count moving from 4 hdc to 42 stitches in clearly marked stages. After the shaping is complete, five white rounds create the contrasting brim, followed by the finishing details that form the bent tip. The crochet pattern keeps each stitch count visible so you can check your progress as the hat widens.
Credit Knotmonster
Choose Your Hat Colors
For a traditional Santa hat, use red and white yarn. For a nightcap variation, use blue and white instead.
The main color forms the tapered crown through Round 18. The white yarn begins at Round 19 and continues through Round 23, creating the contrasting brim.
The finished hat is built around 42 stitches before the white section begins, so the stitch count becomes an especially useful checkpoint as the crown grows.
What You’ll Need
- Yarn: Worsted weight / medium-weight yarn
- Red and white for a Santa hat
- Blue and white for a nightcap
- Hook: 4 mm (G), or 3.75 mm (F)
- Notions: Yarn needle, scissors, and a small pom-pom maker such as a small Clover pink pom-pom maker or a piece of cardboard
Crochet the Tapered Crown Pattern
The hat begins with only four hdc worked into a magic ring. From there, the increases are introduced in stages rather than in every round. This gives you a useful rhythm: some rounds widen the hat, while the following round simply works one hdc into each stitch.
Round 1: Work 4 hdc into a magic ring, then tighten the ring.
Round 2: Work (1 hdc, 1 hdc increase) 2 times around; 6 stitches.
Round 3: Work 1 hdc in each stitch around; 6 stitches.
Round 4: Work an increase in each stitch around, making 6 hdc increases; 12 stitches.
Round 5: Work 1 hdc in each stitch around; 12 stitches.
Round 6: Work (1 hdc, 1 hdc increase) 6 times; 18 stitches.
Round 7: Work 1 hdc in each stitch around; 18 stitches.
Round 8: Work (2 hdc, 1 hdc increase) 6 times; 24 stitches.
Round 9: Work 1 hdc in each stitch around; 24 stitches.
Round 10: Work (3 hdc, 1 hdc increase) 6 times; 30 stitches.
Round 11: Work 1 hdc in each stitch around; 30 stitches.
Round 12: Work (4 hdc, 1 hdc increase) 6 times; 36 stitches.
Round 13: Work 1 hdc in each stitch around; 36 stitches.
Round 14: Work (5 hdc, 1 hdc increase) 6 times; 42 stitches.
The stitch count is doing more than simply recording your progress here. Each increase round adds 6 stitches, while each plain round holds the current count steady. So after Round 14, the target is 42 stitches; checking that number before continuing helps confirm that the crown has widened at the intended rate.
Hold the Shape at 42 Stitches
Once the crown reaches 42 stitches, the pattern stops increasing. The next four rounds simply maintain that width, allowing the hat to continue developing without adding more stitches around the circumference.
Rounds 15–18: Work 1 hdc in each stitch around for 4 rounds; 42 stitches.
At this point, the hat should still be worked in the main color. The repeated 42-stitch rounds provide a clear transition between the increasing crown and the contrasting brim that comes next.
Add the White Brim
The color change happens after the main-color crown is complete. Switch to white yarn for the brim and continue working hdc stitches without changing the 42-stitch count.
Rounds 19–23: Switch to white yarn and work 1 hdc in each stitch around for 5 rounds; 42 stitches.
When the fifth white round is complete, tie off and weave in the loose ends with a yarn needle.
Keeping these five rounds at the same 42-stitch count gives the brim a consistent width rather than continuing the crown’s increasing shape.
Shape the Santa-Style Tip
The final details turn the completed hat from a straight tapered cap into the drooping Santa-hat or nightcap shape.
Pom-Pom: Make a small pom-pom using your pom-pom maker and attach it securely to the very tip of the hat.
Fold the Tip: Bend the top portion of the hat over so the pointed section creates the characteristic droop.
Secure the Fold: Using a strand of red yarn, tack the folded tip down to the side of the hat so the drooped shape stays in place.
The final fold is what gives the pointed crown its relaxed Santa-hat/nightcap silhouette. The pom-pom belongs at the tip first, while the red yarn is then used to hold the folded section in position.
