Make an Easy Loom Knit Hat

If you don’t already know how to knit hats using knitting needles, you might be a bit intimidated by them. Of course if you don’t want to mess with circular knitting needles you can always knit flat hats and sew up the side, but if you want a seamless hat with a knit look, a great way to go is to use a knitting loom.

Knitting looms come in various sizes to make different kinds of projects. They are usually made of plastic or wood and consist of a base with notched pegs sticking up from the top. You wrap your yarn around the one peg on the side to anchor it, then wrap the yarn twice around each peg, pull one stitch over the other and continue until your project is the size you want.

That’s the super abbreviated version, but if you need more details check out the pattern for loom knit hats from AB Crafty.

This project uses an adjustable loom, which is a fun thing to have because you can lock different pieces together to make different sizes and shapes for different kinds of projects. But you can do this with a standard sized round knitting loom as well (they come in different sizes for different sizes of heads).

This loom knit hat pattern calls for worsted weight yarn, and it shows making a stripe at the bottom, which you can do, or make it a solid color if you would rather. Once you have the basics of this easy knitting method down, you can add as many stripes as you want to make a full on stash busting project, or do a contrasting top or bottom section to make it a little more fun.

You can grab the free pattern from AB Crafty, and they have a loom knit hat sizing chart you can get when you enter your email address, which would be super handy to have if you plan on making a lot of loom knit hats.

[Photo: AB Crafty]

As we get into the part of the year with a lot of food-forward holidays, it might be time to start thinking about knitting some new things for your table. While a few of these are more fall/Thanksgiving focused, just changing up the colors would make others work for Christmas, or keep it neutral and use them all year long.

What got me started thinking about this was the lovely and simple Fresh Bread Dishtowel, a free pattern from Purl Soho. Worked in a lovely cotton and linen blend, the towel is mostly stockinette stitch with a bit of texture on the borders.

You could use this same kind of pattern to make anything from placemats to a table runner, but let’s look at some specific patterns for those kinds of projects as well.

The easy moss stitch table runner from Glass Bird Knits is beginner friendly can can easily be modified to fit your table (or, again, to make placemats instead of or in addition to a runner). This version is worked in macrame cord, but you could also use bulky yarn.

Emielle Design has a garter stitch runner pattern that’s made with braided cotton cord for a lot of texture without a lot of work. But be sure to take a lot of breaks when knitting with cord because it can be rough on your hands!

I also love the diamond pattern on the Hamilton Table Runner from Wyndlestraw Designs. It calls for a DK weight cotton and linen blend yarn and comes in three sizes with different widths and lengths. The pattern has both written and charted instructions.

Amy Marie’s Table Pumpkins (on Ravelry) is a fun mosaic knitting pattern that would be great to use as a table runner through the fall and for Thanksgiving. It uses a worsted weight cotton yarn in two colors, and you can make it as long as you like for your table.

The no cable knit placemats from Yarn Culture Studio have a fun faux cable look that would be great for the table through the fall and winter.

Or here’s another pattern from Wyndlestraw Designs, this time for an easy knit and purl stitch placemat pattern that looks different but still good on both sides. It calls for worsted weight cotton and comes in two sizes for placemats, but also has instructions for coasters, a hot pad and a table pad all using the same stitch.

Have you read?