So Here's My Life

The things we make,
the food we eat and
the shenanigans in between.

A blog about making things by
MICHELLE SEXTON

Sunday, November 27, 2011

Mohawk Knit Hat DIY (without actually knitting)

I've spent the last couple of weeks crafting to my hearts delight. Actually, I'm stuck on the couch most of the time to let my ankle heal, so I've been working on knitting and crocheting projects. This has kept me from losing my mind while confined to couch.

Here's one of my favorite projects that I've done lately.

boy wearing a knit mohawk hat

I've seen tons of photos on Pinterest for knit and crocheted mohawk hats for kids. I've been wanting to make one for my son, but I'm not that good at crocheting, and I have no idea how to knit. But one night while laying in bed and thinking about those hats, I figured out how to make one - with a knitting loom! (I've come up with some of my best ideas while laying in bed. Seriously!)

knitting loom and yarn
A knitting loom is a round circular frame, that allows you to "knit" by weaving the yarn around the pegs. I love this thing! I have a package with 4 different size looms and also includes a hook and large plastic needle. I've made so many fun things with these looms. Last year I made a couple of infinity neck scarves with them.

Anyway I started this project using the green loom, which has a 7.5 inch diameter. I used the red yarn for the brim, and the "Mohawk" and the blue yarn for the hat. The actual instructions for using the loom and weaving the yarn around it are included with the loom. I got my loom at Hobby Lobby.

broken kniiting
The brim was the trickiest part of the hat. It took me three times to get it right. The first two times I wove the yarn too tight and actually broke the yarn and then ended up cutting the broken brim off the loom. Oops.

Making the Mohawk hair was easy, but a little time consuming. I made several small long and loose pom poms and hand stitched them down the center of the hat.

Here's how to make a pom pom:
making a pom pom using cardboard
 Using a 2.5 inch piece of cardboard, wrap the yarn around the cardboard approximately 20 times.

cut yarn on cardboard for pom pom
After wrapping yarn, cut yarn leaving about inches to spare.

threading yarn through the loop
With a large needle, thread the long end of the yarn underneath the wrapped yarn, and tie a tight double knot at the bottom. (Note: if your knot is not tight enough, the yarn will fall out once it is made into a pom pom.

cut yarn for pom pom
Next cut the wrapped yarn on the opposite end of the knot.

almost complete pom pom
And there you go - a pom pom. Now make a bunch more. Use the long end to hand stitch the pom poms down the center of the hat to create the Mohawk.

DIY Mohawk hat
Here was the final result. It was cute, but I wasn't satisfied. I wanted the brim to be longer (up and down). And when I put it on The Toddler's head, it was a bit tight. So keeping this in mind, I made him another hat using the 9.5 inch knitting loom with yellow and green yarn. The yellow brim was approximately 20 rows of stitches, and the green part was 22 rows of stitches.

boy wearing a knit mohawk hat

boy playing with a knit mohawk hat

boy with hands up on face wearing a knit mohawk hat

I'm much more satisfied with the second hat I made, and The Toddler loves it! He wears it all the time. It's such a great feeling when I make something for him that he actually loves. :)

Total time for making a hat : about 8 hours.
Total cost for me: free - I had both the yarn and the looms.

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1 comment:

Therese said...

OMG, I am so going to have to make one of these Mohawk hats for my little guy. I too have recently found these knitting hoops to be so much fun and easy to use. They also make a long skinny one that I have used to make scarfs. Great job!