A PROJECT WEEKEND LEARN -TO-KNIT PATTERN

Hey beginner knitters! This cold weather classic was designed just for you! Have fun knitting your very own pompom beanie featuring a versatile cuff that you can roll or fold. 

This pattern was designed with simplicity in mind. Simple projects with lots of repetition allow you to get into a nice rhythm so your brain, hands, needles, and yarn can learn how to work together.  At the heart of it, repetition builds stitch mastery and knitting confidence! 

 

NATURALLY SOFT, NOT CHEMICALLY SOFTENED

We created our LOLL  yarn with a special blend of premium Merino and Baby Alpaca fibers to create soft-as-a-kitten warmth and squishiness. Sustainably grown and 100% naturally soft, (not chemically softened), LOLL is grown in the beautiful highlands of Argentina and Peru and spun in a Fair Trade Certified facility.

PROJECT SKILL LEVEL : LEARN TO KNIT

This pattern is designed for anyone picking up knitting needles for the very first time. We guide you step-by-step on how to get yarn onto your needles, teach you the foundational knit stitch and how to finish your work in a way that looks ultra professional.

TECHNIQUES YOU WILL LEARN

• How To Hold Your Needles & Yarn

• Making a Gauge Swatch

• The Slip-Knot

• Casting-On Stitches (using the Longtail Cast-On Method)

• The Knit Stitch

• Binding Off 

• Seaming using the Horizontal Invisible Seaming Technique

• Weaving In Loose Ends

• Creating and attaching a Pom-Pom

TOOLS & MATERIALS REQUIRED:

• 1 Ball of Project Weekend's LOLL, Each ball weighs 125 GR. (4.4oz) and has 125m (137y). 

• 1 Pair of 6.5mm / US 10.5 Knitting Needles 

• 1 Card With Links To The Online Pattern & our Knitting Video Tutorials Library

• 1 Knitters Sewing Needle 

TIME TO MAKE 

4-5 Hours

PATTERN SIZE

One Size (Fits Most Adults & Youth, 20.5" - 23.5")

PROJECT MEASUREMENTS

Finished Length (uncuffed): 11” 
Finished Length (cuffed): 8.25”
Finished Width (flat measurement): 8"

GAUGE

Garter Stitch, 6.5mm (US 10.5) Knitting Needle:
14 stitches x 26 rows = 4" x 4" square

TECHNIQUE TUTORIAL VIDEOS & ILLUSTRATIONS

We've made learning easy! Easily reference our library of tutorial videos and step-by-step illustrations with just a click of your mouse. Look for tutorial links embedded throughout the pattern.  When in doubt, just click and learn!

LET'S BEGIN

Let's familiarize ourselves with how to hold our needles and yarn. 

 

GAUGE SWATCH
WHAT IS IT & WHY MAKE ONE

A gauge swatch is a little test square of fabric that you knit before each project using the exact stitches in your pattern. Once complete, it will tell you if your knitting tension is too tight or too loose for the pattern that you are creating.  This is a great tool because it helps make sure that what you are knitting will measure out perfectly to the pattern you are creating and ultimately fit right.

Gauge swatches only take a half hour of time to make... many times less.  Yet, a lot of people either rush through this process or skip it all together because they're so excited to get into knitting their project. 

Please learn from our experience.....there is nothing more frustrating than knitting something only to realize (after many invested hours) that if only we had made a gauge swatch, our beautiful piece wouldn't have ended up fitting two sizes too small. 

If you are new to knitting, think of the gauge swatch as a great opportunity to learn how to knit stitches before starting your main project.

GETTING GAUGE

Every knit project will have gauge swatch instructions. The pattern details and materials list will indicate what size needle you need for each project and it will call out how many stitches per row by how many rows you need to knit in order to create your swatch and achieve the correct gauge.

As you can see in the Project Details section above,  The Classic Pom Beanie requires a 6.5mm sized knitting needle and you will need to cast-on 14 knit stitches and knit 26 rows to achieve gauge. Once you complete this, your finished swatch should measure 4” x 4” (10cm x 10cm).

STEP-BY-STEP : MAKING A GAUGE SWATCH 

1. With a yarn tail approximately 20” long, create a SLIP-KNOT and place it onto one of your knitting needles. This slip-knot is considered your first stitch.   
  HOW TO MAKE A SLIP KNOT

 

2. Holding that needle in your right hand, CAST-ON another 13 more stitches using the LONG-TAIL CAST-ON METHOD. You should now have 14 stitches on your needle.
 

HOW TO CAST-ON USING THE LONG-TAIL CAST-ON METHOD

 

3. Hold the needle with the stitches in your left hand and the empty needle in your right hand. KNIT into each of the loops across the 14 stitches. This is row 1.   
 

HOW TO KNIT THE KNIT STITCH

4. Switching needles again, hold the needle with the stitches in your left hand and the empty needle in your right hand. This is called TURNING YOUR WORK and you will do this each time you knit to the end of a row.

5. Repeat Knitting each row until you have completed a total of 26 rows.

6. BIND-OFF your stitches

*Do not cut yarn after binding off, you'll be using this yarn for your main project.*
  

HOW TO BIND-OFF (CAST-OFF)

7. Lay your swatch flat and measure the length and the width.

SWATCH TOO SMALL
If your swatch comes out smaller than 4”x4”, it means you are knitting too tightly, so unravel your swatch and start again, this time loosen up your stitch tension a bit.

SWATCH TOO BIG
If your swatch comes out larger than 4”x 4”, you are knitting too loosely, so tighten up your stitch a little bit when knitting.

SWATCH IS JUST RIGHT
Once you create a swatch that measures 4”x 4”, Congratulations! you have found your gauge tension for this project. So go ahead, unravel that swatch (you're going to need that yarn for your beanie!) and begin your knit project. 

MEASUREMENTS ARE OFF BY A TINY BIT?
No stress! When you’re working on beginner projects like this, it’s normal to be a bit off on your stitch gauge measurements. If you find yourself within +/- 0.25", feel free to proceed with your project. However, make an effort to align your gauge as closely as possible to the specified measurements, as deviations beyond 0.25" will impact the size and fit of the hat.

8. Once you have achieved gauge, unravel the yarn from your gauge swatch.  You will use this yarn to knit your Classic Pom Beanie!   

 

THE CLASSIC POM BEANIE PATTERN

LET'S BEGIN.

1. With a yarn tail approximately 38-40” long, create a SLIP-KNOT and place it onto your knitting needle. This slip-knot is considered your first stitch.

Image shows a slipknot on the needle with a long yarn tail.

2. Holding that needle in your right hand, CAST-ON  another 37 more stitches using the LONG-TAIL CAST-ON METHOD. You will now have 38 stitches on your needle.

 Image shows 38 stitches casted onto the needle.

3. ROW #1: Hold the needle with the stitches in your left hand and the empty needle in your right hand. KNIT across all 38 stitches.
 

Get ready to knit the second row by switching the needles over and holding the needle with the stitches in your left hand and the empty needle in your right hand. This is called TURNING YOUR WORK and you will do this after each row you knit.

4. ROW 2: Knit all 38 stitches. 

TIP: HOW TO KEEP THOSE EDGE STITCHES TIDY: One of the side edges of your work will eventually become the top edge of your beanie cuff, so here’s a little trick to make sure your edge stitches stay nice and tidy. When you begin knitting the first two stitches of each row, hold the yarn tail a little bit tighter than your regular tension. This will help keep the edge stitches looking tight and uniform. Once those two first stitches are knit, you can return to your regular knitting tension for the remainder of the row.

5. Repeat knitting ROWS 1 & 2 another 51 more times and your work measures 16"  from the Cast-On edge. 

AN EASY WAY TO COUNT YOUR ROWS:  As you knit, you can keep track of your knit rows by counting the stitch "mountains".  Each stitch mountain is equal to 2 rows (Row 1 & Row 2)  of knitting.  Once you have reached a total of 52 "mountains", you're all done!
 
Image shows the full knitted work before binding-off the stitches. 
 
6. BIND-OFF your stitches and cut a yarn tail approximately 3.5-4x’s the length of your Bind-Off edge. (approx. 40” in length)

TIP: When binding off, loosen up your stitch tension a bit. If the tension along this edge is too tight, it will shorten the edge and it won't be the same length as your cast-on edge. 

 

ASSEMBLING YOUR HAT

7. Fold your knit fabric so that the Cast-on and Bind-off edges butt up against each other horizontally, matching stitch for stitch.   

Weave your long Bind-Off yarn-tail through a sewing needle and using the HORIZONTAL SEAMING METHOD FOR GARTER STITCH, sew the cast-on and bind-off edges together by weaving the yarn tail through the stitches with just enough tension for the edges to gently meet up without any spaces or puckering.  
 

CLOSING UP THE CROWN OF THE HAT

8. Next, you will choose which side  of your fabric will be the outside and which will be the inside of your hat.  (To help make this decision, look at your both sides of your fabric, if you find the stitches on one side look cleaner and more uniform than the other, then make the nicer side the "outside" of your hat.) 

9. Arrange the hat so that the "inside" of the hat is on the outside and facing you.

10. Weave your Cast-On yarn tail through your sewing needle. Using your needle, pass your needle through every single edge loop along the top of the hat.
 

 

Image shows all of the stitches pulled tightly to create as small of a hole as possible.

12. Next, sew from one side of the “hole” to the other in a few directions to pull the hole completely closed, then loop a tight knot to secure the hole closure. 
 

Image shows the closing of the hole by sewing side to side. 

13. Weave in all of the yarn tail ends (on the inside of your hat!) and trim off any excess ends.

To learn how to weave in ends for Ribbing Stitches: click HOW TO WEAVE IN ENDS FOR RIBBING AND STOCKINETTE STITCH.

The finished knit beanie.  All that is left to do is add a Pom Pom!

HOW TO MAKE A POMPOM

If you have a POMPOM MAKING TOOL at home, then now is the time to make a Pom! Go ahead and skip down to STEP 12 for instructions on how to attach your  pom to your hat. 

If you don't already have a PomPom Making tool, a quick hack is to make a tool from a kitchen utensil  (ie: garlic press, can opener, a very wide serving fork),  The only requirements are that whatever you use needs to have at least two long prongs (at least 2.5" long) and measures approximately 2.5" wide from prong to prong.

FOR THIS DEMO, WE USED A GARLIC PRESS WHICH MEASURES 2.5" HANDLE TO HANDLE.