DIY warm winter hats for all the family
At this time of year the weather is cold, wet and sometimes snowy, so you’ll want to have a nice cosy knitted hat to keep your head warm! You’d probably like to help keep the rest of your family warm too, so why not embellish some plain knitted hats to give to the little ones (and the grown-ups too!) to keep them warm this Winter? Adding a cute little knitted bow or a couple of contrasting pom-poms to your hats will help make them look more fashionable for a fraction of the cost of a store-bought hat and your children will be more likely to want to wear them and keep warm!
You will need: Wool, knitting needles, darning needle, hat, scissors
To make the bow: Cast on a row of 10 or 12 stitches and continue to knit a length (like a thin scarf) which is approximately the width of your hat. Cast off and fold the length in half. Use the darning needle to stitch the ends together and turn the loop inside out. With the stitched ends in the centre of the bow, wrap a length of wool around the centre to make the middle of the bow and tuck the end in. Use more wool and the darning needle to stitch the bow to the hat.
If you’d like to watch a step-by-step video on how to knit this bow, which includes instructions on casting on and off as well as stitching the bow together, please check out my friend and fellow blogger Laurie’s knitting tutorial video on YouTube. If you would like to make a smaller bow (which can be used a button or hair-clip too!) simply reduce the length of the knitting or choose a smaller size of knitting needle.
To make the pom-poms: Wrap the wool around your hand until it is thick and puffy. Slide the loop of wool off your hand and wrap a piece of wool around the centre, pulling it tight and knotting it in the middle, leaving the ends trailing. Use the scissors to cut through the looped ends of the pom-pom and fluff it out. Thread the trailing ends of the central piece of wool through the darning needle and stitch it to the hat, either on the top, or use a second pom-pom on the sides to create ‘ears’!
You can use matching wool or contrasting colors for your bows and pom-poms. I hope you have a go at making your own DIY woolly embellishments to make unique accessories for all your family – and why not give them as gifts to your friends? They will love to receive a personalized hat that no one else will have – plus the amount of time and love you have put into embellishing the hat will show them how much they mean to you!