What do you knit at Christmas for a mom who is expecting? What do you knit for your own baby? As a mom of 4, I’ve shared a lot about knitting for babies. Today I’m going to give my best ideas of what to knit for a baby at Christmas.

I’ve shared a lot about knitting while pregnant and through those baby months. But I haven’t shared my ideas on what to knit for a baby at Christmas! I learned to knit and became a knitting entrepreneur well before I had my first baby, even back when I was a nanny. I’ve seen and knit a lot of little things over my 8 years of having babies!

This is my post on how to actually knit for baby, and this is the video I shared with over 18,000 views. I hope that these resources help you bond with and create for your new sweet baby!

Knitting for baby at Christmas

Those who are knitting for a baby are either knitting to announce a baby in the belly, or to gift a baby out of the belly.

For this post, I’m going to focus on babies that are born by the time Christmas comes this year. But there are so many adorable ideas of how to use knitting to announce your spring or summer baby! It’s so simple to knit a little all year long!

I wanted to get really specific to help out those who are knitting for a baby this Christmas. The cool thing is that baby items knit up so quickly!

Hats

I love knitting hats for babies. They’re so quick and fun! But I always give caution about those newborn heads: again, a baby’s head grows so fast, so consider knitting a 3 month size for a newborn. Moms also always appreciate looking ahead to next fall/winter, so the 12-24 month sizes are super helpful to knit and gift now. Most of the precious baby gifts stop coming once they reach their first birthday, but a toddler’s head still grows!

Knit Christmas baby hats up a size for newborns

A year and a half ago I tested the Four Corners Beanie pattern for my friend Allison. The pattern comes in 8 different sizes, including curly haired adult, so it’s a pattern you can reuse. I used Knit Picks Simply Wool Aran in “Wordsworth”. Originally, I knit two hats with one hank of this soft wool. I knit up the 3-6 month size in a day, then immediately cast on another for my toddler with a bit of yarn to spare.
This free baby hat knitting pattern is really cute, and almost won’t be too “Christmasy” to limit how long baby can wear it. Even knitting it in red, the hat is cute all winter long, especially into February. But, I will say that Lion Brand Wool Ease Thick and Quick in “Charcoal” is hands down the softest compared to the other colors. We joke that it has small bits of soft cotton spun in it, which makes it so soft for baby’s head! Also, it’s washable. It’s the yarn I’ve used most when knitting for my babies.
I designed the Ren Hat to be a really fun sibling hat at Christmas, and it has instructions written for 5 different baby-child sizes, and adult. All of my kids wear them when we pick out our Christmas tree. But this would also make for a really cute picture in front of Grandma and Grandpa’s house on Christmas morning with all the cousins!
A newborn photo shoot would be so cute in this floppy Santa hat! I don’t picture most babies tolerating it for something as long as an outing, but it’s worth knitting up some fun things like this that will only be used once in a photo or for a special memory. Those newborn months go so fast!

Sweaters

Knitting sweaters for babies is my favorite way to knit sweaters. They knit up quickly, and on a small scale you can practice new techniques, like sleeves, cables, and buttons. Knitting projects with bulky yarn for a quicker Christmas gift. Or, take your time to knit something for next Christmas when baby turns another year older and can use some sweaters in her wardrobe.

Christmas sweaters in woodsy colors last all winter

The Little Forest Jumper is one that I actually knit for my fourth baby. But, my little guy was born in October and I knit it bigger to fit him as a toddler. He’s two years old and now has been able to wear it for two winters! As a one year old, it was a sweater to wear on top of a shirt on a really chilly sledding day. This year, he’s wearing the 2T size on its own. I used We Are Knitters Petite Wool in Natural. While the yarn is really soft, it isn’t the easiest to wash so I do wish I knit it in something washable!
This little fawn romper is so precious, it even works as a winter through spring outfit! I would knit this up in Knit Picks City Tweed in the color “Tabby” like my favorite tank top I’ve knit myself. It’s a very cute woodland color to match the romper!
Petite Knit has really well thought out patterns. The Teddy Bear Sweater is one I would definitely knit for a new baby this Christmas. This would be really cute knit with a white mohair for a little polar bear in winter!
I had to include the Wee Hoodoo because I knit one for almost all of my babies. It’s a free pattern knit with bulky yarn, which means you can make it in time for Christmas. I most often used Lion Brand Hometown USA in tweedy colors that could match a lot of different pairs of baby pants.

Christmas Nostalgia

This falls under the category of Christmas-specific and not incredibly needed. But I think the memories surrounding them are worth a few extra hours knitting away on these projects for Christmas with a baby and as she grows.

Handmade family Christmas stockings are something that I started knitting this past year. While I’m only halfway through my family, slowly knitting on them has been a fun way to celebrate and live through the season. My kids are excited for their own stocking with names knit into them. I do kind of wish I had started them as babies since our family has grown so much, but my older girls love watching the progress. I substituted gray with a forest green (Aurora Heather).