Newborn Baby Cable Knit Hat

Newborn Baby Cable Hat pattern is FREE from Crazy Hands. It is such a cute hat and easy to knit too! I used a skein of Bernat Cashmere Natural Blends yarn that I already had, which is a #4 worsted weight yarn. The yarn is 65% acrylic, 30% nylon and 5% cashmere, which makes it feel soft! Perfect yarn for a newborn babe.

I knit this as a gift for a friend of mine who will be a first time grandmother in September. Her daughter is pregnant and having a baby boy. The yarn color I used is good for a boy or girl, so just in case her daughter has another baby later, she could save the hat for a second baby. My friend is a quilter, so I know there will be lots of quilts made for this baby. My friend is not a knitter, so knitting something useful came to my mind to make for baby. No reason to knit a blanket if baby will be cuddled in quilts! Hats are quick and easy to make and will be used in September when baby is born and weather is cooler in the Pacific Northwest.

Cable knit hat with garter stitches.

My garden lady is modeling the hat as I had nothing small enough to model it, lol!

Front view of garden lady modeling hat.

I also had enough yarn leftover to knit a pair of booties too.

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Hand Knit Santa Hat

I decided to knit myself a Santa Hat over a month ago. I have never knit one before, but after seeing so many cute Santa hats around the internet, I decided to knit one. There are lots of  patterns out there too, but I decided on this FREE Santa Hat pattern from Fox and Pine Stitches. The pattern is great because it comes in so many sizes from babies to adults. I knit the Woman version. So great for knitting for all the people in your life. What fun gifts to make and give!

I did have a skein of red yarn and white yarn too. At my stitch group we brought in yarn and other things that we didn't want anymore and people could take what they wanted. There were all kinds of stuff, not just yarn. I saw a very thin yarn in a small ball that was red sparkly tinsel-like yarn and I thought at first it would be great to use to couch on the purses I make to donate to Sew Powerful, which is fun a easy way to add a bit of bling. But then I decided to knit that sparkly red along with the regular red yarn and it really came out great! I was worried I might run out of the sparkly red yarn but I actually had some leftover yarn! I also used regular white yarn and a furry eyelash type yarn that I also knit together for the cuff and pompom. I couldn't get the pompom to come out very full though. So I bought a pompom maker and will make a new pompom for this hat (stay tuned for that updated pompom).

My model, Zoe is wearing it here.

Another model here.

This hat is so cute and would look great in any color, like a gnome hat, a pixie hat, etc. Might try one in a self striping yarn or just using scraps of various yarn colors. 

UPDATE: I made a new pompom for the hat with my pompom maker I bought. Wow what a difference a full pompom makes!

This pompom has both a white regular yarn and the furry eyelash yarn and that eyelash yarn was shedding all over the place when I cut the pompom off the pompom maker!

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season and Happy New Year to you all!

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Cable Knit Hat

This is a hat I knit a few years ago with knitting needles, but it was a bit too snug and so I recently blocked it and then added the furry pompom. Now it fits me better and I like the pompom, which snaps off for washing.

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Hand Knit Hat with Cables

I had a cake yarn that consisted of white, gray and lavender colors in the yarn. I decided to knit a cable hat with the yarn. The cake yarns have long runs of colors, so this is how it turned out. I started at the ribbing on the bottom and knit to the top. I added a pompom, but I think I didn't remember how to use my pompom maker because the pompom didn't come out as nice and full as in the past. I looked up the instructions later and yes I wrapped it around the pompom maker incorrectly, ugh. Okay, I won't make that mistake again. I may redo the pompom, but for now I will leave it alone.

It's 19 degrees this morning, so brrr it's cold outside. Glad I have lots of hand knit hats, scarves and mittens to wear.

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Scrappy Sock Yarn Knit Hat

I knit this hat using up my leftover sock weight yarn. It's a fun scrappy looking hat. The hat came out a bit too large, so I donated this one to the library's Giving Tree too.  

I kind of like the scrappy look of this hat, so I might make another one, but knit in  a smaller size. The hat would have a different look each time it was made, depending on the yarn colors that were used.

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Loom Knit Hats & Hats Knit with Knitting Needles

I wanted to make some hats quickly to donate, so I thought I would buy a set of round looms for knitting that come in 4 size looms. The round looms will knit size newborn to adult, depending on the size loom chosen. I made one newborn size (the smallest loom), a couple of adult sizes (the largest loom) and a couple in the second largest size, which can fit a teen or smaller adult head (like mine).

Well maybe it's me, but these hats didn't knit up as quickly as I thought or as others online said they would. Most people say it takes about an hour to make a hat. Well the newborn hat was quick to make, but the 2 largest size loom hats took me hours to make! 

Loom knitting uses bulky weight yarn (or 2 strands held together of a worsted weight yarn to = a bulky weight yarn). The knitting on the loom is easy to do, but I found hurts my hands after a while, especially holding the largest loom. It also uses more shoulder power as I was using my entire hand and arm to lift the yarn over the pegs. I came to the conclusion that my regular knitting on knitting needles is much more satisfying and easier on my body. Plus, if I knit normally in a bulky weight yarn, it knits about as quickly as loom knitting.

There are certainly pros and cons for loom knitting versus knitting needle knitting. I will list these below. This is only my personal opinion after having tried loom knitting and you may be a die hard loom knitter, so please continue loom knitting if that is your thing.

Loom Knitting versus Knitting Needle Knitting 

 Pros of Loom Knitting:                                     

1. Easy to do for the basic knitting
2. Quick to learn the basics
3. Loom set of 4 is inexpensive
4. No need to knit a gauge first, just choose the size round loom that will knit the size hat you desire

Cons of Round Loom Knitting:

1. Hard to hold and use for long periods of time
2. Harder on your body to knit, especially for long periods of time
3. Knitting other stitches is awkward and more tedious to do
4. Takes up more room to store than knitting needles
5. Awkward to take with you to knit when traveling or in a group
6. Only uses bulky weight yarn
7. Hats are less fitted on the top as there are no decreases (yarn is drawn together like a drawstring bag, leaving the top looking bunched)
8. Will only knit in the round (I am sure you can probably knit back and forth instead of round and round, but could be harder to do?)
9. The hook tool can sometimes be hard to lift the yarn over the peg

Pros of Knitting with Needles:

1. Knitting needles come in a ton of various sizes, lengths, materials (wood, nylon, bamboo, metal, aluminum and plastic) and types (straight, circular, double pointed)
2. Easy on your body to use as you mainly use your hands and you can bring your hands close to your body so as not to stress your arms and shoulders
3. Can use any size/weight of yarn (just need to choose correct needle size to yarn weight
4. Portable to take with you when traveling on a plane, car, etc. and to a knitting group
5. Can knit dozens of different patterns for texture
6. Can knit in the round or knit flat, depending on what you are making
7. Needles don't take up as much space unless you own hundreds of needles, but even then you could place them all in a small box or bag

Cons for Knitting with Needles:

1. Must knit a gauge for anything that needs to fit, such as a hat, sweater, mittens, etc.
2. More expensive if you will knit using various yarn weights, since you will need to have the correct size needles 
3. Needs more tools such as a yarn gauge, stitch makers, stitch holders, cable needle, etc.
4. Knitting in the round requires either double-pointed needles in various lengths, or 2 circular needles in the same size, or one long circular needle (doing the Magic Loop method), which means buying or having a lot more knitting needles on hand
5. Costs more money due to the variety of needles you need to have and the tools you need to have on hand

Again, those are only my opinion and I have been a knitter using knitting needles for a much longer time, so perhaps I see the advantages of knitting needles more than as a beginner Loom knitter?

I knit this hat using knitting needles. It was a cable knit hat, but because this is a bulky weight yarn that was very soft and fuzzy, the cable stitches really didn't show up. I knew better, but I guess I wanted to knit this hat anyway.

Another fuzzy yarn that I knit with knitting needles, but no cable stitches.

These are my first two loom knit hats. I started with the smallest round loom and knit the baby hat on the left. Then I knit the largest round loom in red yarn (I doubled a worsted weight yarn) and folded up the cuff and knit it in. I think I should have knit more rounds before making the cuff.

This yarn is bulky with a sparkle to it, but not bulky enough, so I added a fuzzy yarn and knit both together. I loom knit this hat. The double weight was harder on my hand s to loom knit.

You can see the sparkle and fuzzy yarns together here, even though the sparkle doesn't quite show as well on camera.

I used a double yarn of worsted weight to create a bulky weight and loom knit this hat. I let the bottom curl on this one, rather that make a brim.

I only had a bit of the purple yarn (leftover from the first hat above), so I knit the brim in purple and then added the black yarn to finish the hat. This is loom knit.

My last 2 loom knit hats together. 

I will go back to knitting needle hats for now, but it's nice to know I can easily knit a loom hat when I want to. Do you have a favorite method of knitting or do you have a favorite look?

I donated these hats, along with other scarves and hats I had knit to the Giving Tree at the local library to give to the local food banks. 

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