Podge wants to be a pretty princess this year for Halloween. Seeing as her favorite color is pink and she’s a total princess the other 364 days of the year, this comes as little surprise. Podge just loves dressing up!

Podge loves trick or treating too. Every year it’s the same story. At the end of the night she dumps her candy out on the floor and picks out all the pink ones to stash away for herself. She gives the rest to Hodge and I. Her favorite pink candies are Hubba Bubba Bubble Tape, cotton candy Jelly Belly Beans, Bubble Yum, Good n Plenty, strawberry Nerds, watermelon Jolly Ranchers, and strawberry Laffy Taffy to name a few. Did you know you can shop for candy by color? I’ll have to remember that for her next birthday party.

Is your squirrel going trick or treating this year? Now you can dress them up like a princess too with this free pattern!

I hope you enjoy making this costume and I hope your squirrel friend enjoys it too.

Podge’s Pretty Princess Hat

Materials

Crochet hook in size suitable for your yarn (See note below)
Yarn in light pink
Very small amount of yarn in purple and dark pink
Yarn or tapestry needle

Note

To give you an idea of gauge and size, I used Caron Simply Soft in Soft Pink, which is light worsted-weight yarn that is labeled as 4 or medium. Using a G-6 (4.00 mm) crochet hook produced a hat that is 2.5” tall and about 5.5” in diameter at the bottom. This hat size works best for my Podge. But if your squirrel’s head is larger, you might try using a larger crochet hook.

Instructions

With light pink, ch 2 or begin with a magic loop.

Rnd 1: 6 sc into 2nd ch from hook or into the magic loop and pull magic loop tight to close. (6)

Rnd 2: Sc in ea sc around.

Rnd 3: * Sc, 2 sc in next sc, rep from * 2 more times. (9)

Rnd 4: Sc in ea sc around.

Rnd 5: * 2 sc, 2 sc in next sc, rep from * 2 more times. (12)

Rnd 6: Sc in ea sc around.

Rnd 7: * 3 sc, 2 sc in next sc, rep from * 2 more times. (15)

Rnd 8: Sc in ea sc around.

Rnd 9: * 4 sc, 2 sc in next sc, rep from * 2 more times. (18)

Rnd 10: Sc in ea sc around.

Rnd 11: * 5 sc, 2 sc in next sc, rep from * 2 more times. (21)

Rnd 12: Sc in ea sc around.

Rnd 13: * 6 sc, 2 sc in next sc, rep from * 2 more times. (24)

Rnds 14: Sc in ea sc around. FO and weave in ends.

For ribbon, cut a strand each of hot pink and purple yarn about 10″ long. Thread both strands onto a yarn or tapestry needle. Turn the hat inside out. Thread both strands through a stitch near the top of the hat, pulling until both strands are about halfway through the stitch. Take your needle off and tie the strands together in a knot. Turn the hat right-side out again. Using your crochet hook, pull the strands to the outside and trim them to desired length.

To put it on your squirrel’s head, you’ll need to tuck your squirrel’s ears inside the hat. This will help to keep the hat standing straight as well. If you find that your hat isn’t stiff enough to stand up on its own, feel free to add a little stuffing to the inside before putting it on your squirrel’s head.

See a mistake or something I overlooked, please let me know in the comments or at squirrelpicnic{at}gmail{dot}com. Thanks!