Lickety Split Loom-Knit Newborn Hats

I've been doing some charity crafting again lately, and I thought I'd share my patterns for what I've been making. This almost doesn't qualify as a pattern it's so simple, but I do have a very specific way I like to make these little rolled-brim hats, so perhaps someone else would like to make them this way too. Enjoy!



Materials:
Small amount of worsted weight yarn
Small amount of sport weight or fingering weight yarn
24 peg Knifty Knitter round loom, or similar large gauge loom

This hat is worked using one strand of worsted weight and one strand of sport or fingering weight yarn held together.

Cast on using the crochet cast-on method (this creates a firm but stretchy edge that isn’t too loopy). I also really like the double e-wrap cast on for these hats.

E-wrap and knit off 19 rows.

To decrease for the top, move the loop on every other peg to the peg to the left. You should now have 12 pegs containing 2 loops alternating with 12 empty pegs.

E-wrap only the 12 pegs containing loops. Knit off (knit 2 over 1 so you end up with 1 loop on each of the 12 pegs).

Gather off and weave in loose ends.

© 2008. Please don't sell these instructions or post them on the Internet. You may link to this blog post.

Up next: crocheted newborn hats!

How-To: Nicely Rounded Loomed Baby Hats

Several people have expressed interest--via comments, emails, and posts on my looming groups (here and here)--in how I made these little loomed baby hats with the rounded tops. It's no big secret. I got the tip about how to decrease for the top from a few different people on my looming groups. I didn't use a pattern, but (with a nod to those helpful loomers for sharing their shaping advice) I'll tell you what I did:

Knifty Knitter round blue loom (24 pegs)
One strand worsted weight yarn (white) and one strand sport weight yarn (baby colors)
One strand of worsted and one strand of sport are held together throughout

Do the crochet cast on.

E-wrap and knit 1 over 1 for about 6 inches, changing colors as you feel like it or as you run out of yarn.

On the row right before you're done, move the loop on every other peg to the peg adjacent to it, thus creating an empty peg. Wrap the loom as usual, knit over, making sure to knit over 2 over 1 on the pegs that have 3 loops on them. Remove the hat from the loom as usual using the gather method. Weave in ends.

This makes a pretty tiny hat. I think I need to pull out T's newborn hats again just to make sure these loomed ones aren't too little. I'm not sure if I've just forgotten how tiny newborns are or if these hats are truly tiny.

No More Puckers

Thanks to some suggestions from the kind members of the loom knitting groups I've joined ('cause what fun is a new hobby without online buddies to chat about it with), I can now make loom-knit hats that are nicely shaped on top. Kinda cute, eh? These are going to the hospital along with the girly baby blanket. Okay, now it's really time for something other than hats--or at least a hat in a new stitch.

I've been knitting steadily along on my trusty needles too. I started T's birthday sweater, a seamless EZ pullover, and have about an inch of the body done. Nothing picture worthy yet--but soon!

Do I Really Need Another Hobby?

A while back, some members of a sock-knitting group I belong to were talking about knitting socks on looms. I peeked at some of their blogs and was pleasantly surprised at how nice some of the loom-knit socks looked. They were beautiful socks, and some of them were barely distinguishable from socks knit on needles. They were knit on very fine-gauge looms with sock yarn. Interesting! I thought loom knitting might be a fun diversion when I don't feel like "real" knitting. (It happens sometimes!) One of the women on the sock-knitting group suggested that anyone who's interested in trying looming get a Knifty Knitter set to try it out, because they're really cheap. So that's what I did (well, mine is Hobby Lobby's knockoff, but it's essentially the same thing). These looms "knit" at an insanely large gauge, which I'm not a fan of. If I decide to take up looming seriously, I'll probably spring for some nice fine-gauge looms. This definitely isn't a substitute for knitting, but it's fun nonetheless. I've always loved all things crafty.

Here's a little hat I made (both photos are the same hat--it's reversible). I don't like how the top of the hat puckers, but I've since learned about some techniques that should help minimize that.




I know only one basic stitch so far (sort of a twisted knit stitch), but I'm ready to try some new stitches. That should broaden my project possibilities. I'm eager to move on to something besides hats! So . . . what to loom next? Look at all the beautiful things Isela made with looms. Maybe someday . . .

Oh, and check out the looming article in the new Knitty! What great timing!