New Little Hat for a New Little Person!

My sister's friend just had a new baby, and what could be a better gift for a new little lady than a sassy pink and ivory hat?! That's what I was thinking last night, so I set to work with my Knifty Knitter loom kit and made a precious miniature hat for the newbie. I love making hats on these looms - it is incredibly fast, and the end product looks f'ing awesome!

To make this hat you will need:

• Caron Simply Soft in Plum Wine (less than 1/4 of a skein)
  
• Red Heart Soft Yarn in Off-White (less than 1/4 of a skein)
• Infant-sized Knifty Knitter Loom - Blue loom
• Yarn needle
• Loom hook tool
• Scissors
  

Make a Lil Hat:

1. Starting at the peg perpendicular to the others on the side of the loom, loop both color yarns around the peg to the right of the perpendicular peg and the rest of the pegs by creating a cursive e.
   
2. Repeat so that you have two set of loops on each peg (four pieces of yarn will be on each peg because of the double running color)
   
3. Using the hook tool, pull the bottom of the two rows up and off the peg, so that there is only one set of loops on the pegs.
4. Continue to loop yarn with cursive e pattern and pull over the bottom of the two rows.
   
5. Create brim by folding the first row you created up back onto the pegs - Use the hook tool to pull the bottom of the two rows up and off the peg - Since this hat is for an infant, it has a short rim of only 2 centimeters.
   
6. Continue making the hat as before until it is tall enough to fit the future owner.
7. Once a good height is reached, cut yarn off.
8. From one skein, loop a color (I used the pink) through the eye of the needle and pull off the final e loops from the loom with the needle.
9. Once all loops are off, remove needle from yarn and pull the loops closed. This creates the closed top of the hat.
   

Pom-Pom For Infant Hat:

1. Cut a 3 inch piece of yarn.
   
2. Wrap both yarn colors from skein 35 times around the three fingers (NOT the thumb). Four fingers is the usual for a hat, but for a child/infant, the four-finger system creates waaaay to big of a pom-pom.
   
3. Cut away from skein.
4. Carefully pull yarn off the fingers .
   
5. Tie the yarn together in the center with the 3 inch piece of yarn - if it needs to be tighter, you can add a second piece.
6. Use scissors to cuts the loops on either side of the 3 inch piece of yarn.
7. Even out the pom-pom using scissors
8. Use a yarn needle to attach to your desired surface area at top of hat.

Horizontal "Ribbed" Scarf

This is a lovely little green scarf that I knit up for my friend for Christmas. The nature of the design shrinks in slightly on itself, but since it is a very simple pattern, it still knit up incredibly quickly and turned out looking really beautiful! I particularly like this pattern because unlike a normal ribbed scarf, which shows off the knit stitch, this scarf's ribs are the purl stitch.

To make this scarf you will need:

• Approximately 300 yards of medium weight yarn - I used a Red Heart yarn in green
• US Size 8 knitting needles

Skill Level: Beginner

• Cast on 25 stitches

• Row 1: K
• Row 2: P
  
• Row 3: K
  

• Repeat these three rows until the scarf is at desired length - mine was approximately 6 ft long. I also chose to add a feminine touch for the future owner by adding some tassels.
  

Beautiful Basketweave Scarf

The Basketweave Stitch is simple and turns out incredibly beautiful. If you're a beginner knitter, this is a perfect project to practice your counting! I made this scarf for my mom and she love love looooved it!

To make this scarf you will need:

• Two skeins of Impeccable Yarn in Burgundy
• US size 8 knitting needles

Skill Level: Beginner

1. Cast on 31 stitches. I like to give a pattern a border, so I left 3 stitches on both sides to do just in the knit stitch, hence the odd number of stitches.
2. First fives rows - K
3. Begin 8-row pattern:

• row 6 - K8, P5, K5, P5, K8
• row 7 - K3, P5, K5, P5, K5, P5, K3
• row 8 - K8, P5, K5, P5, K8
• row 9 - K3, P5, K5, P5, K5, P5, K3

4. Repeat rows 6 - 9 - now the pattern will be 8 rows high.

• row 13 - K8, P5, K5, P5, K8
• row 14 - K3, P5, K5, P5, K5, P5 K3

5. Rows 12 and 13 are the same, which means the pattern is flipping so that blocks can be created. I did 8 rows of the stitch because I found that that was the closest to creating a square - Feel free to add more or less rows as you choose!

A Tail of Two Hats

I am currently a nanny for three amazing and beautiful children - two girls and one boy. The older of the two girls was watching me knit the other day and decided that she wanted to learn how to do it. So, I pulled out my Knifty Knitter hat loom and together, we made a really beautiful green hat.

Obviously, her younger sister wanted a hat after she saw the green hat, so that night, I went home and bought some yarn, picking a light pink and a color changer in shades of cotton candy, ideal for a barbie-lovin'-my-little-pony-lovin' 4-year-old.

On the Knifty Knitter hat loom, you can make a beautiful hat in about an hour. You can pick up a set of these at your local craft store for around $15.00. There are directions included and the hook and needle that you will need for projects.


Hat:

1. Starting at the peg perpendicular to the others on the side of the loom, loop yarn around the peg to the right of the perpendicular peg and the rest of the pegs by creating a cursive e.
   
2. Repeat so that you have two set of loops on each peg
3. Using the hook tool, pull the bottom of the two rows up and off the peg, so that there is only one set of loops on the pegs.
4. Continue to loop yarn with cursive e pattern and pull over the bottom of the two rows.
   
5. Create brim by folding the first row you created up back onto the pegs - Use the hook tool to pull the bottom of the two rows up and off the peg. A strong rim should be 1 - 1 1/2 inches.
   
6. Continue making the hat as before until it is tall enough to fit the future owner.

Pom-Pom:

• Pom-poms are realllly easy to make! And fun!

1. Cut a 3 inch piece of yarn.
   
2. Wrap yarn from skein 70 times around the four fingers (NOT the thumb).
   
3. Cut away from skein.
4. Carefully pull yarn off the fingers .
   
5. Tie the yarn together in the center with the 3 inch piece of yarn - if it needs to be tighter, you can add a second piece.
6. Use scissors to cuts the loops on either side of the 3 inch piece of yarn.
7. Even out the pom-pom using scissors
8. Use a yarn needle to attach to your desired surface.
   

Farrow Ribbed Scarf

I loooove the way this scarf came out! The Farrow Ribbed pattern has a great, lilting flow to it, which made making this scarf very enjoyable. My scarf knit up pretty quickly and is about 6ft long.

To make this scarf, you will need:

• 2 skeins of Red Heart Sh. Dusk
• US 8 knitting needles

Skill Level: Beginner

1. Cast on 37 Stitches. (You can cast on more stitches for a wider scarf, but you must cast on in multiples of 3+1).

• Row 1: K2, P1, K2, P1....K1
• Row 2: P1, K2, P1, K2, P1...
• Row 3: K2, P1, K2, P1....K1
• Row 4: P1, K2, P1, K2, P1...

By having the last stitch of the first row be K and the first stitch of the second row be P, it allows the pattern to look the same on both sides, which is great! If your a beginner looking for a simple but beautiful and rewarding pattern, try the Farrow Rib!

Chunky Ribbed Scarf

This was my first ribbed scarf! Nothing beats a beautiful ribbed scarf, and this pattern creates a handsome, chunky ribbing that looks very warm and masculine. I made this particular scarf for Christmas as a gift for a friend. It is a relatively narrow scarf, but it is verrrry long and cozy at about 7 1/2 ft.

To make this scarf you will need:

• 3 Skeins of Lion Brand Jiffy yarn in Dark Grey Heather
  
• Size US 10 knitting needles

Skill Level: Beginner

Kasey Taylor, 2009

1. Cast on 33 stitches. (You can make the scarf wider in multiples of 3 stitches, but will lose length)

• Row 1: K3, P3, K3, P3...to end of row
  

• Row 2: P3, K3, P3, K3...to end of row

2. Continue the scarf by switching back and forth between these two rows. At first, it was a little difficult and annoying to count 3 and 3 and 3 and 3...But once you have 5-10 rows of the pattern, the stitches become very clear and the scarf begins to knit up pretty quickly.

A Knit and Purl "Striped" Scarf

I made this scarf for a family friend. It knit up very quickly and was actually really fun and easy to make. I like the design because it creates a "striped" look without having to switch yarns.

To make this scarf you will need:

* 1 1/2 skeins of off-white Red Heart Soft Yarn.
* US 8 Needles
Level: Beginner

1. Cast on 20 stitches.

2. Because this scarf employs the Stockinette Stitch, you MUST start with a few rows of the garter stitch - The Stockinette Stitch, although beautiful, curls really badly - By putting in several rows of the garter stitch, it creates an anchor that will not curl up. For this scarf, I put in 5 rows of the garter stitch.

3. The Stockinette Stitch not only curls upward, but also inward... So, to prevent this from happening, I made sure that the first three stitches of every row and the last three stitches of every row were all knit, thus creating a lovely little garter stitch border to contain the pattern.
Kasey Taylor, 2009
4.
* First Row: K entire
* Second Row: K3, P until last three stitches, K3

Continue this pattern for 14 rows

5.
* Row 15: K3, P until last three, K3
(Following the original pattern, row 15 should be K all the way across, but by changing it to P, you can create the "stripe.")

6. Continue on to desired length. My scarf was approx. 6ft long.

A Simple Garter Stitch Scarf

Holy Holiday season, Batman! I am working overtime trying to create intriguing knit fashions for friends and family! The theme is scarves...lots and lots of scarves...I had a brief knitting stint last year, but have really just begun to learn how to work the needles. As a newbie knitter, I'm really trying to do more than just the garter stitch...Nonetheless...

Kasey Taylor, 2009.

This is a scarf that I just knit for my husband in the garter stitch. Although simple, it does create a kind of beautiful undulating pattern.

To make this scarf:

*You will need two skeins of Lion Brand Wool-Ease Chunky in Spice.

* Skill level: Beginner

1. Cast on 20 stitches

2. Choose your axe:
You can either make this scarf by using the knit stitch or the purl stitch - just decide which is easier for you (most likely the knit) and heave-ho until you've reached your desired length!

3. Give to someone you love!

Kasey Taylor, 2009.