Whimsical Loom Knits – Loom Knit Monkey Hat

Designed by Jenny Stark

Mix a little fun and function with this charming hat.  Worked in a soft, fluffy yarn, this hat will be comfy, warm, and oh so cute!  Loom knit an adorable monkey hat for your favorite little ‘monkey’!

Knitting Loom: KB Hat Loom Set

Yarn: 3 balls of Bernat Pipsqueak – 1 in Chocolate, 1 in Neapolitan, and 1 in Vanilla.

Scrap of worsted weight yarn for the nostrils and mouth.

Notions: knitting tool, yarn needle, scissors, buttons for eyes ( .5″ diameter), needle and thread (to attach eyes)

Gauge: Not essential for this project.

Size: Youth

Abbreviations:

K = knit stitch

K2tog = knit 2 together (decrease)

M1 = make 1 (increase)

P = purl stitch

Sl = slip

Techniques

Double E-wrap Cast-On:  Wrap the first peg twice.  With the knitting tool, pull the lower wrap past the upper wrap and over the top of the peg.  Repeat this process for each of the remaining pegs.  Cast on is now complete.  Continue on as directed in the pattern.

U-wrap Knit Stitch:  Bring the working yarn in front of the peg to be worked, above the existing stitch on the peg.  Bend the working yarn around the peg, creating a u shaped wrap. Knit the lower stitch over the u wrap.

Slip:  For the purposes of this project, slip simply means to skip the peg.

Make 1:  For the purposes of this project, simply cast on an additional stitch using the double e-wrap cast on method.

K2tog:  Decrease- worked over two pegs.  Move the stitch from the first peg over to the second peg.  Knit both stitches on the second peg together as one.

Gathered Bind Off:  Loosely wrap the working yarn in a circle around all of the pegs that have stitches – two times.  This will ensure that the yarn tail is long enough to complete the bind off.  Cut the working yarn, then unwrap the long yarn tail from around the pegs.  Lay the yarn tail below the stitch on peg 1.  Using the knitting tool, pull the yarn tail up through the stitch.  *Lay the yarn tail below the next stitch.  Using the knitting tool, pull the yarn tail up through the stitch.  Repeat from * for all stitches on the loom.  Once all stitches have been bound, remove the knitting from the loom.  Pull on the yarn tail to cinch the opening closed (unless otherwise directed by the pattern being worked).  Bind off is now complete.

Basic Bind Off:  Knit the first two pegs.  Move the stitch from the second peg over to the first peg.  Knit the lower stitch over the upper stitch.  One stitch has now been bound off. Move the stitch from peg 1 to the empty peg.  This is now peg 1.  Knit the next stitch.  Move the stitch that was just knit over to the first peg.  Knit the lower stitch over the upper stitch.  Continue working in this manner until there is one stitch left. Cut the working yarn, leaving a yarn tail that is at least 4” long.  Wrap the yarn tail around the last peg.  Knit the last stitch over the yarn tail and pull the yarn tail out through the stitch.  Bind off is now complete.

Instructions

Set up

Small loom, small gauge (68 pegs)

(2) 25 peg rounded loom pieces

(4) 3 peg connectors

(2) 3 peg rails

Connect the components listed above to create the small size/small gauge loom:

Hat

(Worked in the round)  With the Neapolitan yarn, cast on 68 stitches using the double e-wrap cast on method.

Rounds 1-12:  K2, P2 to the end of the round.

Switch to the Chocolate yarn.

Rounds 13-40:  E-wrap knit to the end of the round.

Rounds 41-42:  K3, P1 to the end of the round.

Remove the hat from the loom using the gathered bind off method.  Carefully gather the top of  the hat closed and weave in all yarn ends.

Ears  (make 2)

With the Chocolate yarn, cast on 5 stitches using the double e-wrap cast on method. (Leave a 6″ yarn end)

Row 1:  Sl 1, K4.

Row 2:  P4, K1.

Row 3:  Sl 1, K3.

Row 4:  P3, K1.

Row 5:  Sl 1, K2.

Row 6:  P2, K1.

Row 7:  Sl 1, K1.

Row 8:  P1, K1.

Repeat rows 1-8 eight times.  Repeat rows 1-2 once more.  Remove the ear from the loom using the basic bind off method.  Leave a 6″ yarn end.

Use the yarn ends to sew an ear to each side of the hat.  (Tip:  Try placing the hat on a Styrofoam head before choosing ear placement.)  Weave in all yarn ends.

Muzzle

With the Vanilla yarn, cast on 5 stitches using the double e-wrap cast on method. (Leave a 7″ yarn end)

Row 1:  Sl 1, K4.

Row 2:  M1, P4, K1.

Row 3:  M1, K6.

Row 4:  M1, P6, K1.

Row 5:  M1, K8.

Row 6:  M1, P8, K1.

Row 7:  Sl 1, K9.

Row 8:  Sl 1, P8, K1.

Row 9:  Repeat row 7.

Row 10:  Repeat row 8.

Row 11:  Repeat row 7.

Row 12:  Repeat row 8.

Row 13:  Sl 1, K7, K2tog.

Row 14:  Sl 1, P6, K2tog.

Row 15:  Sl 1, K5, K2tog.

Row 16:  Sl 1, P4, K2tog.

Row 17:  Sl 1, K3, K2tog.

Row 18:  Sl 1, P3, K1.

Remove the muzzle from the loom using the basic bind off method.  Leave a 10″ yarn end.

Use the yarn ends to sew the muzzle in place on the front of the hat, just above the brim.  Weave in all yarn ends.

Using the needle and thread, sew the button eyes in place, just above the muzzle.

Thread the worsted weight yarn into the tyarn needle and add nostrils and a mouth to the muzzle.

Pom pom

Using the Chocolate yarn, the Neapolitan yarn, and the Vanilla yarn, all held together as one, create a large pom pom.  (The pom pom in the sample was created by wrapping all 3 strands of yarn around my hand, approximately 30 times.)  Attach the pom pom to the top of the hat and weave in the yarn ends.

Happy Loom Knitting!