Simple Knitted Beanie

I have always been interested in crafts and making stuff hands-on. I thought that with this project, I could share my passion with others, and also teach them a little about knitting. I chose to knit a hat as it's very simple to make, and extremely cozy too. It's an excellent gift idea, or just a simple weekend project if you want something handmade to wear during the winter.

This guide is easy to follow, with lots of pictures of all the steps including various explanations. I have included all the materials and tools I used to knit this hat, and I also have some alternatives so that even if you don't have certain tools, you can still make this project :)

The hat that I decided to make has a double-layered brim and a simple knitting style so that everyone can make it, regardless of their experience with knitting and crafts. I used a knitting loom, which is a tool that speeds up the process of knitting and makes it much easier to do.

It will take roughly 2-3 hours to finish the beanie, so that shows how simple it is to knit. Even if you don't have much time, you can still make a cozy beanie to keep you warm during the cold!

Supplies:

• Wool yarn
• Knitting loom
• Yarn needle
• Loom hook/Knitting hook
• Sharp scissors

I used 80 percent wool and 20 percent polyester yarn, but a 100 percent wool yarn would also work very nicely. If you have wool allergies, then cotton or acrylic yarn works equally as well.

I used a 42-peg knitting loom, but anything between 42 and 48 pegs works perfectly. You can find a loom in almost any knitting or hobby store, as well as online.

Refer to the images above in numerical order:

1. First, you create a pretzel shape with the end of the string. Follow the highlighted yellow line which shows which end is on top and which is on the bottom.
2. Then you pull the black part of the string (shown in diagram 2) through the pretzel.
3. The third diagram is what it should look like once you have pulled it through.
4. Then you simply tighten the knot, making the pretzel hole smaller until the knot is tied off.

Then wrap the slip knot you have just created, around the starting peg of the knitting loom. The one I am using has an indicator, but with certain looms, you may need to put a piece of tape around the starting peg or place some other marking so that you can remember where you started and not confuse yourself later on.

Lastly, pull both ends of the string, securing the slip knot onto the peg.

The E-Wrap is essential as it is how the beanie is going to be made. The E-Wrap is when you wrap the string around the pegs to form a loop. You simply loop the string around the peg, and make sure that the direction in which you are wrapping the yarn is correct. (check the pictures for a visual comparison).

You will have to do this on every peg of the loom until you return to the starting peg. Then, you need to push the loops from the top of the peg to the bottom. This will create space for you to do another round of E-Wraps around the loom.

This step will leave you with two layers of loops that go all around the loom. Remember to check your progress with the pictures and make sure everything looks correct :)

The next step is slipping the loop. When you slip the loop, you are pulling the bottom loop over the top one. This knits one peg at a time, and as you make your way around the entire loom, you form the first layer of the beanie. This leaves you with only one layer of loops that is at the top of the pegs, and again as we did in the previous step, you will push that layer of loops down to the bottom of the pegs in preparation for the next layer.

Now you will do another layer of E-wraps all around the loom and that will allow you to again slip the bottom loop over the top one. This will have just made the second layer of the beanie.

You will have to make a total of 20 layers for the brim of the hat, so that's 18 more to go!

Now this part is slightly more confusing. You want to find the starting point of the 20 layers that you have already knitted, and you want to bring the loop over to the first peg. Make sure that you are looping the correct row onto the pegs. If it's not correct, it will look odd when you finish the beanie.

To make sure that you have the correct row, try to trace the starting string that you have to the starting peg (as shown with the highlighted yellow part in the first picture) and after that, it's quite simple. Just take the loop next to it, and loop it onto the next peg. Continue like that until you have fully folded the knitted part into the pegs, forming the brim of your beanie.

To make sure that you have the correct rows on the correlating pegs, check that both the folded layers are parallel to each other. You can also check with the images I have provided and see if your progress looks the same.

Now you want to continue doing E-wraps for 20 more layers. This will form a slightly tight hat, so if you want a looser hat, I would recommend doing 25 layers.

The E-Wraps should be done the same way as before, where you take the bottom loop and you pull it over the top loop. This leaves you with only one layer of loops on the pegs. Then you will push that layer from the top of the pegs to the bottom, making space for the next layer of E-Wraps.

After you have another 20-25 layers, you can move on to the next step which is taking the beanie off of the loom.

Once you have completed the 20 layers of your hat (25 if you want a looser fit), you are almost done. Now you just have to get the hat off of the loom.

For this, we will be cutting off around one and a half times the circumference of the loom, off the yarn. So if the circumference of the loom is 20 cm, you will have 30 cm of string left over to finish the beanie. To measure the length, just wrap the yarn around the loom one and a half times, and cut it off there. This will leave you with more than enough yarn to finish the beanie off.

Now you want to thread the yarn that you just cut, through the yarn needle. This will allow you to pull the yarn through each of the loops on the pegs and slip the loops off the loom. Don't be worried if there aren't any loops left on the loom as that is exactly what we are trying to achieve. Also, the reason the loops do not just un-knit themselves, is that we are connecting them with the yarn.

Make sure that you pull the yarn through each of the loops before you take them off the loom, otherwise, there is a chance they will un-knit and it will cause a small problem.

If you are worried about accidentally forgetting to knit one of the loops, I recommend that you pull the yarn through each of the loops before you slip any of the loops off the pegs.

If done correctly, it should leave you with a piece of knitted cloth with a brim.

Now the final step is to finish the beanie!

Finally, since the beanie is off of the loom, you can finish it off by pulling the yarn and cinching up the top of the beanie. This will crease the beanie and give it its shape.

Now, you should turn the beanie inside out, and with the threaded needle, you want to sew the top of the beanie off. This ensures that it doesn't loosen when you wear it. You want to sew it where we cinched off the excess yarn and formed the top of the beanie.

There should be a small hole that will form at the top, and you should sow around that hole to close it off. Make sure that you have closed the hole fully and tightly tied off the yarn, as a loose knot could lead to the yarn unraveling and creating a huge mess.

Finish the beanie off by turning it inside out,

And you are done!!

Hope you had just as much fun making this beanie as I did.