NOTE: This pattern has been reworked from the original that was published in 2012. See notes below. (01/26/2024)

2012 is the year of the Black Dragon according to Chinese horoscope… a very lucky year to be born. I was inspired by Alice Yu’s gorgeous Shur’tugal socks to make a hat for all the dragon babies born that year. I have since lost the blog where the design was published, so I figured that it was a good time to rework it now that my dragon baby has lived through his first 12-year cycle of the zodiac.

I had to start from scratch, having no notes from the original design. I changed the yarn weight from DK to Sport, but it can easily accommodate both weights if you keep gauge in mind and adjust as needed. There are also more sizes offered this time and I changed the crown decrease after seeing it done like this on project pages (credit to HappyDebs and WineLegs!).

I have kept the original photos (DK weight yarn) just to have more samples to show the stitch pattern. The baby, toddler, and preteen boy are all the same kid!

I am not a designer, just a knitter who likes to make things, so please forgive any errors (and feel free to point them out to me!).