Thursday, March 24, 2011

Knifty Knitter Hat Tutorial

I received a lot of e-mails from non-knitters yesterday, asking how difficult it would be to make a hat using the Knifty Knitter looms.
What better way to answer that question than to just show you with a tutorial.
There are 4 different sized round looms in the package, which also includes the pick and a needle. You can find various sized sets on Amazon.com or in most craft stores.
I'm using the red round loom for this tutorial, which will make a medium/child sized hat.

Using two stands of 4-ply worsted weight yarn, wrap the yarn on the edge of the ring. Pull the yarn to the inside of the ring and wrap around the first post. Repeat around the second peg, continuing until all the pegs are wrapped.
Keep the yarn loose as you wrap.

Slide the yarn to the bottom of the pegs, and continue to wrap a second row.

I like to anchor the yarn at this point by wrapping it around the peg on the edge.
Using the pick, lift the bottom row of yarn over the top row of yarn,

and over the top of the peg. Continue with each peg until you have finished one row of knitting.

Make sure you slide the yarn to the bottom of the pegs, and continue wrapping another row.

The inside of the loom will look like this.

As you continue to knit the hat will grow longer.
To make the brim on the medium, you knit 4" and stop.

Reach inside the loom and place each loop from the bottom row over the corresponding peg. (*The loop is the long one, not exactly centered).
This will fold what you have knitted in half to form the ribbing on the bottom of the hat.
With the pick pull the yarn loops on the bottom of the pegs over the top ribbing row and over the top of the pegs. This leaves one row that you again, push to the bottom of the pegs.

Continue wrapping and knitting until the medium hat has reached 7-8 inches.

To finish the hat, thread the needle with around 18" of yarn.

Starting with the first peg run the needle and yarn through the loops on each peg, then lift the loops over and off the pegs.

You will see the top start to gather as you go.

This is what the top looks like once you've taken the hat off the loom.

Pull the thread tightly to gather the top

Take a few stitches in each direction to close the gap and secure the yarn.

Poke the needle to the inside of the hat.

And take a few more stitches with a square knot, and clip your threads.

You will see the beginning threads on the inside of the brim. These can be woven in and then clipped off.

Ta Dum! The hat is now complete! See how easy? If you have more questions, there are a lot of good video tutorials on YouTube, or feel free to e-mail me at nedras@mstar.net

These go rather fast. I've now made 3 just since yesterday.
My hats are to be given to Humanitarian Aid, but these would also make nice baby gifts. Pom Poms could be added to the top, or cute crocheted/knitted flowers sewn to the brim.
I had one comment yesterday that these looms are easier than traditional knitting for people with arthritis.
I also think these would be a fun project for children.

8 comments:

Carol said...

Wonderful Nedra...thank you so much! I think I'm going to try it out.

Helen said...

I have this, and have used it for making baby hats that I donated to the NICU at our Akron Children's Hospital along with a coordinating fleece blanket.

I feel like I'm "cheating" a bit, it's so much easier for me than handling the knitting needles!

Thanks for your tutorial! Very nicely done.

Needled Mom said...

Those are fabulous!!!!!

Lois Evensen said...

Great tutorial! It's so much easier when such detailed instructions are available. I remember doing this years ago and you are so right that it goes very fast.

Sherri said...

I have one of these but have never used it...thanks for the tutorial. After market I'm going to come back to this and try to make some little hats!

Material Mary said...

Great tutorial Nedra. These little looms make quick projects. They are really cute as well!!
Mary

Martha said...

I have had these looms for several years. Your tutorial is very good. I think I will give it a try.

Abby and Stephanie said...

Clever. It's always heartwarming to see how other quilters/bloggers donate.