Loom Knitting Hat
This loom knitting hat is SO EASY to make, perfect for beginners. No knitting skills? No problem! This pretty winter craft requires zero knitting experience.
Use a round loom to create this cozy accessory to keep you warm this winter. This unisex hat takes a bit of time, but it’s a lot of fun to make, and the finished hat looks so good!
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How to Make a Loom Knit Hat
Materials:
- Bulky/chunky yarn(size 5)
Equipment:
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Round knitting loom(9 inch size)
Check Out The Video Tutorial:
Instructions:
Step 1: Find what you need
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Gather your supplies and materials.
Step 2: Cast on your yarn to the loom
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Make a slip knot with the end of your yarn.
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Attach the slip knot to the anchor peg on the side of the loom. Tighten it to keep the yarn in place.Your working yarn will remain attached to the skein as you knit.
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Begin by wrapping the working yarn around the peg above the knot. Wrap the yarn around each peg in a counterclockwise direction.
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Work clockwise around the loom, wrapping the yarn around each peg.
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Continue until you’ve wrapped the yarn around every peg of the loom.This whole step is called an “e-wrap cast on”.
Step 3: Make a knit stitch
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Push down the previous loops, and repeat, going clockwise around the loom, looping the yarn around every peg.There should now be 2 loops on each peg.
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Starting at your first peg (the one above the anchor peg), use the loom hook to grab the bottom loop.
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Lift the bottom loop up and over the top loop, bringing it to the back of the peg (inside of the loom).Once the loop is on the inside of the loom, drop the loop off your hook.
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Work clockwise, and repeat on the next peg.
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Continue, working all the way around the loom until you get back to the anchor peg.
Step 4: How to make a loom knit purl stitch
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To prevent the hat cuff from rolling up, we’re going to use a purl stitch for the next row.To begin, hold your working yarn across the outside of the loom, below the existing loop on the peg.
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Insert your hook into the existing loop from above.
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Grab the working yarn with the hook.
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Pull this yarn, creating a large loop.
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Hold the large loop with your fingers while you grab the loop on the peg with your hook.
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Use the hook to push the existing loop off the peg, towards the inside of the loom.
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Push the large loop back onto the peg. Pull the working yarn to tighten up the loop a bit.
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Repeat the purl stitch all the way around the loom, always working clockwise.
Step 5: Create another knit stitch
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Wrap your yarn counter clockwise around each peg, just like you did for the first row of knit stitches.
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Use the hook to pull the bottom loop over the top loop. Repeat, working clockwise all the way around the loom.
Step 6: Complete the cuff
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At this point you can remove your slip knot from the anchor peg, pushing the yarn tail towards the center of the loom.Now repeat Steps 4 & 5 (1 purl row, 1 knit row) five more times, or until the hat’s cuff is about 1-1/2 inches long.
Step 7: Knit the rest of the hat
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Once the cuff is done, repeat step 5 to make a knit stitch row.
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The rest of the hat will be made repeating this same step (rows of knit stitch).
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Continue adding rows until the hat is your desired length.(Not including the cuff, our hat was about 8 inches long.)
Step 7: Remove the hat from the loom
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Once you’re happy with the size of the hat, cut off your working yarn, leaving about a 12 inch tail.Thread the tail onto a yarn needle.
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Use the hook to remove the first loop from the peg, keeping it on your hook.
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Bring your yarn needle (already threaded with the yarn tail) through the loop you’re holding on the hook.
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Once the needle is through the loop you can remove the hook and pull the tail through, to tighten.
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Repeat all the way around until the hat is removed from the pegs, with all the loops secured on the tail.
Step 8: Close off the hat
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Pull the tail tight to gather the loops together, closing off the top of the hat.
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Tie off the tail thread, but do not cut it yet.
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Tie off your starting yarn into the cuff.
Step 9: Make and attach a pom pom
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Make a pom pom for the hat, using your preferred method.To make a pom pom like ours: cut a 12 inch piece of yarn and slip it between your middle and index fingers. Wrap the yarn (still attached to the ball) around your hand about 140 times.
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Cut off the yarn from the ball and tie the 12 inch piece around the wrapped yarn.Carefully remove the bundle from your hand and pull the yarn tight, tying it in a double knot around the center of the bundle.
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Using sharp scissors (or fabric scissors), cut through the loops of yarn to create a rough pom pom shape.Then give the pom pom a “haircut”, trimming and shaping it until it’s a nice, even ball shape.
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Thread your yarn needle onto the tail at the top of the hat, and sew the pom pom on.
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Once the pom pom is secure, tie off the yarn tail inside the hat and cut off the excess yarn.
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Your loom knit hat is complete!
Helpful Tips:
- Don’t wrap the yarn around the pegs too tightly — it will make it difficult to work with later on.
- We worked around the loom clockwise and wrapped the yarn counterclockwise, but you can also work counterclockwise around the loom and wrap the yarn clockwise. It just depends what feels best for you!
- You can also create a different look for the brim by alternating knit and purl stitches on each peg (1 knit, 1 purl, 1 knit, etc) until you’re happy with the length of the brim.
Download our free loom knitting hat pattern:
Click on the link or photo below to download our free, printable loom knit hat pattern! The PDF file will open in a new window. Then simply follow along with the pattern on your device’s screen, or print it on 8.5 x 11 (letter size) printer paper.
>>> FREE Loom Knitting Hat Pattern <<<
What type of loom is used to make this loom knitting hat?
You need to use a round/circular loom to make a hat. The green loom we used is just over 9 inches (23 cm) in diameter and has 72 pegs that are spaced a bit less than 5mm apart.
Most large looms have 36 pegs around them. The loom that we used has double the amount of pegs, which allows you to use smaller yarn and make a tighter weave. It also has removable pegs, so you can still take some out and use extra bulky yarn if you’d like.
A lot of round knitting looms come in a pack of four. Here’s a recommendation on what size loom to use:
- Small loom (5 inches in diameter; 24 or 44 pegs): hats for newborns or premature babies, adult socks
- Medium loom (7 inches in diameter; 31 or 62 pegs): hats for babies and small toddlers
- Large loom (9 inches in diameter; 36 or 72 pegs): hats for kids, teens, and average adults
- Extra large loom (11 inches in diameter; 41 or 82 pegs): hats for adults with larger heads, slouchy hats, bucket hats, shawls
How long does it take to make a loom knit hat?
It took us about 6 hours to make each of the hats you see in the photos. It could take more or less time, depending on how fast you work. Using chunkier yarn and a loom with fewer pegs definitely would make the process go a lot faster.
What size of yarn do you use to make a hat on a loom?
Our 72 peg loom allows you to use thinner yarn, because there are more pegs placed close together. We used size 5 bulky yarn, but you could also use size 4 medium (worsted weight) on this loom.
On a typical large sized loom (9 inches, 36 pegs) we recommend using size 6 extra bulky yarn in order to create a hat with a traditional look, with the stitches close together. If you use a thinner yarn on this loom it’ll create an open and airy look, with space between stitches.
What colours did you use for your loom knit hats?
We made both of our hats with variegated Loops & Threads Impressions acrylic yarn. The blue and purple hat is made with the “Amethyst” colour, while the pink, grey, and lavender hat is made with “Rose”.
What type of pom pom to add to a loom knitting hat?
We made a pom pom using the same yarn as the hat, and think it looks super cute. But you can also use a complementary colour of yarn to make your pom pom.
Or, add a faux fur pom pom to the hat, like we did with our crochet hat.
Loom knitting is so much fun, and this loom knit hat makes such a great homemade gift for friends and family. Follow our helpful tips and use these simple techniques to create a DIY winter hat of your own!
Here’s even more yarn craft ideas:
Our book Low-Mess Crafts for Kids is loaded with 72 fun and simple craft ideas for kids! The projects are fun, easy and most importantly low-mess, so the clean up is simple!
Where to buy:
You can purchase Low-Mess Crafts for Kids from Amazon, or wherever books are sold:
Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Books-A-Million | Indiebound | Amazon Canada
