How to Make a Fleece Lined Hat with PomPoms

I love to knit.  I am still learning a lot…and still wouldn’t call myself a “knitter”…but oh do I love it!!! 

I wanted to knit a hat for the soon-to come cold days for my daughter and came up with this.  (Truth be told…I started it last winter in hopes of it being a Christmas present…ahem…but tore the whole 4” of it apart a few weeks ago and started again with a few adjustments…so worth it!!!)

So….there is not a pattern for this hat…wait don’t be scared…having no pattern makes this one easier because you can adjust it for your skill level.

Step 1.  Measure your child’s head.  If you’re not sure where you need to measure just imagine where the brim of the hat would sit and measure! Then cut that number in half.

Step 2.  Choose your yarn…anything will do because you’re going to set  your own “gauge”.  Once you’ve chosen your yarn look on the package and find it’s gauge setting…experiment with the size needle that it suggests, or choose another, till you feel comfortable with the stitch size and tightness. 

(Gauge is very  important in knitting…don’t ignore it.  Gauge is the number of stitches and rows per inch in a piece of knitting) 

Step 3. Make a gauge swatch.  A gauge swatch is usually a 4”x 4” piece of knitting that you use to determine how many stitches you’re making per inch. 

This image is from www.lionbrand.com which has some great tutorials on learning to knit. 

In this image the gauge is set at 2 stitches per inch.  Yours might (probably will) be different. 

Once you know how many stitches you’re making per inch you can determine how many stitches you need to cast on to make the width you need. 

Step 4.  Cast on and knit.  I chose to make ribbing on the bottom 1 1/2” and then made thick columns of knitting, moss stitch, and 4 sets of cables.  (I wanted to get a good handle on cables so chose to practice them on this…I definitely have a handle on them now!!!)

You can choose absolutely any stitch…or combination of stitches that you want. 

Step 5.  Knit.  And keep knitting until your rectangle measures from the center of the forehead to the bottom of the hairline. 

Step 6.  Bind off. 

Step 7. Sew the side seams up. 

PomPoms.

I have done some experimenting and have found (for me) the best pompom making method…and this is it! 

-Cut two donut shapes out of cardboard with a little slice out of each. 

-Place a length of yarn between the two “donuts”.  Now wind yarn tightly around the two layers of cardboard “donut”…the more you wind the fuller your pompom will be. 

-Once you have the amount of yarn wound that you’d like pull the yarn that is between the two layers of cardboard and twist it…now slide your scissors between the two pieces of cardboard and snip the yarn.  Hold onto the twisted yarn that was between your two pieces of cardboard so you don’t lose all your yarn!

-Now you have this!!  Tie the yarn around your snipped bits as tightly as you can.  I usually add another piece of yarn at this point by simply sliding one between the cardboard and tying it tight. 

-Slide the cardboard out and trim your pompom if there are any “straggly” strands. 

Congratulations…you have a pompom!!!  You’ll need two for this project so get going on another!!!

Step 8.  Attach the pompoms to each corner of the hat.

Step 9. Cut a piece of fleece to the same measurements as what you knit for the hat + 1” for seam allowance.  (i.e.  if you cast on 9” worth of stitches and your hat is 6” from bottom to top then cut a piece of fleece 10”x 13”).

Step 10.  You’re almost done!  Sew your fleece up at the side seam and hem the bottom. 

Step 11.  Seriously you’re almost there!!!  Place the fleece lining inside the hat wrong sides together and stitch the two together at the bottom. 

You did it!!!  You now have a fleece lined hat with pompoms that you made all by yourself!!  Don’t you feel good.  This hat was made to keep a little noggin warm in windy windy cold western NY… so it’s one serious winter hat!!!