Jayne Hat on a Round Knitting Loom

I was chatting with my friend while knitting something or other on one of my round looms. We were talking about what the looms could be used for, and of course we came to hats. My friend said that she wanted a Jayne hat. One google search later, and I was looking at Adam Baldwin wearing one of the goofiest looking hats I had ever seen. "I could make that."

For all the Firefly fans out there, this is my copy of the hat that Jayne Cobb's mom made for him. Wear it in good health and tell the world, "I am afraid of nothing. Also, I like Firefly."

As an added bonus, there is a mini copycat instructable within this one. I modified stoneleafmoon's pom pom technique slightly to make it a bit quicker to make.

To make this hat, you will need:
red, orange, and yellow yarn (I used acrylic worsted)
a 36-peg round knitting loom (the green Knifty Knitter loom is perfect)
a yarn needle

Optionally, you may want:
a loom hook (there are tools made for knitting, but I use a Kobalt pick from Lowes)
row counters (I use a tiny abacus that I made using this instructable)

Use red yarn for the ear flaps.

Unless you are using a really heavy yarn, use two strands as if they are one. This will give a nicer looking end product.

Anchor the end of the yarn near the first peg either by wrapping it around an anchor peg like I did in the first two pictures, or just hold it under the rim or the loom with your thumb.

Wrap the yarn around twelve consecutive pegs, moving it clockwise. The yarn will cross over itself on the inside of the loom.

Push the loops down to the lower half of the pegs.

Pull the yarn straight across the outside of the twelve pegs toward where you anchored the yarn in the beginning. Do not wrap the yarn around the pegs.

Starting at the right side (the end opposite the anchor), pull the loop on the lower part of the peg up over the straight yarn and then over the peg. On the first peg you do this on, you will need to pull the straight yarn a little to snug it up.

Repeat pulling the loops over the pegs until you have done all twelve.

You now have two rows of knitting.

Push the loops on the pegs down again, then repeat this step in the opposite direction.

Keep adding rows in this fashion until you have eleven rows of knitting.

You can now undo the anchor. Leave the long bits of yarn hanging from the corner of your knitting.

Pull the loops of of each of the end pegs and put the loops onto the top half of the pegs next to the end pegs.

Pull the lower loops up over the upper loops and the pegs on what are now the end pegs. This will make your working pegs number ten instead of twelve.

Add five rows with ten pegs, then narrow the work by one peg at each end using the method from the previous step.

Add four rows with eight pegs, then narrow by one peg at each end.

Add four rows with six pegs, then narrow by one peg at each end.

Add four rows with four pegs, then narrow by one peg at each end.

Cut the yarn from the ball (or skein, or knotted lump, whatever you work with), leaving seven or eight inches to work with.

Thread the yarn into a fat needle, then pass the needle through each loop on the pegs.

Pull the loops off of the pegs and lay the piece on flat on a table.

Pass the needle through the loops again so that the yarn goes through the four loops twice.

Pull the yarn tight and tie a knot to secure it.

Taking another piece of yarn, thread the needle, and pass it through the loops next to the knot and tie it in place so that there are four strands hanging from the pointed end of piece.

Trim the four strands so that they are four inches long.

Using the needle, tie the loose yarn bit on the other end of the piece (the anchor bit) in a knot and secure it. Trim it short.

Now that you have an ear flap, make one more!

Using two strands of orange yarn, wrap around every peg on the loom just like you did the twelve pegs for the ear flaps.

Push the loops down the pegs, then wrap the pegs again.

Pull the lower loops over the upper loops and the peg, then go  again until you have a total of six rows.

Use a needle to secure the anchor strands with a knot. Leave the strands long.

Pull the strands upward until you can see the loop right below them (see the picture), and pull the loop down onto the first peg that you wrapped.

Pull all of the  loops from the starting row up onto the pegs and then pull the loops that were already on the pegs over.

Create twelve more rows of orange.

Cut the orange yarn, leaving a few inches.

Tie your yellow yarn to the orange yarn where you cut it, getting your knot as close to the back of the peg it is attached to as possible.

Knit fifteen rows with the yellow yarn.

Cut the yarn from the ball, leaving yourself enough yarn to wrap around the loom.

Using a needle, pass the yarn through every loop like you did on the ear flaps.

Pull the loops off of the loom and pull the thread tight, closing the top of the hat like a drawstring bag.

Secure the strings with a knot, and trim, leaving them about six inches long.

Cut a single strand of yarn about ten inches long and place it between the index and middle fingers of your non-dominant hand.

Place two strands of each red, orange, and yellow yarn across the fingers of the same hand.

Wrap the yarn around the index, middle, and ring fingers twenty times, then cut the yarn from the balls.

Pull the first strand of yarn around from the back of your hand, and tie it tightly to itself around the wad of yarn.

Slide the yarn off of your hand and center the tied part, tightening it as much as possible. Tie a knot.

Cut all of the loops (not the tied one).

Give your pom pom a haircut to make it spherical.

Thread a needle with a length of orange yarn roughly fifteen inches long.

Roll the cuff of the hat up a little so that you are looking at the inside of it.

Position the first ear flap against the cuff of the hat so that the flap is to the inside of the hat with the point coming down from the cuff.

Using the orange thread, whip stitch the ear flap in place.

Do the same thing on the other side. Your spacing should be adjusted for your ears.

Put one strand of the yellow yarn on the top of the hat through the needle.

Trim the strings to match the length of the ones that make up the pom pom.

Stick the needle through the pom pom at the center and push the pom pom to the top of the hat.

Tie the yellow strings together.