Minion Beanie 2.0

After making my first minion beanie, I wasn't 100% happy with the result....it was a little long for a 2 year ols and i knew I could do better! I also wanted to add some blue to mimic their overalls. I had seen pictures of other minion beanies with ear flaps and braided/knit cords hanging down so that is what I decided to make.

I started with the I-Cord on either side of the loom. I counted over eight pegs from the anchor peg on each side to begin the cord.

I-Cord:
Use link to tutorial (Easy I-Cord tutorial) to get started. I did 32 rows which came out to about an 8" cord. Then e-wrap the three pegs (don't remove the i-cord) and knit across the 3 pegs.

**I cut the end of the yarn and started on the other i-cord because I wasn't sure what I was doing....if I did it again, I would start the flap, knit over to the other side and start the next i-cord and flap then knit around the loom back to my start point.**

Ear Flap:
Since I cut the yarn, I had to make a slip knot and place it over the first peg where the i-cord started. Then I e-wrapped the next two pegs and knit over. To increase the size I knit across the three pegs and e-wrapped a 4th peg. Then I purled across (alternating knit and purl stitches is called a garter stitch) the 4 pegs and e-wrapped a 5th peg. Repeat (1 knit row and 1 purl row, adding one more peg on each side so a total of 7 pegs are used). I continued the garter stitch until the flap was about 4" long (sorry i didn't keep track of rows)

Pom-poms:
For the pom-poms I used another video tutorial Mini Yarn Pom Poms
For these mini pom poms you will need a fork.
1. First cut a 6in piece of yarn and set it aside. You will be wrapping the yarn around the fork tines.

2. Start with the front of the fork facing you. Place the end of the yarn near the bottom tine of the fork.

Wrap 35x

3.Make a loop going around the middle 2 tines and then you will be wrapping the yarn around the fork about 35x. As you are wrapping, try to keep wrapping over the same place. Don't spread it out too much.

Step 2

Make a loop

4. Cut the end and hold it to keep it from unraveling.
5. Take the 6in piece you cut before and tie it around the yarn in the opposite direction. Cinch it tight but don;t make a knot yet.

Step 5

6. Slide the yarn off the fork and now cinch it as tight as you can then make a knot.
7. Cut all the loops apart to make the pom pom. Keep the 2 long strands so you can attach it to the end of the i-cord.

Finished Pompom

Step 6

Beanie:
For the beanie I used the garter stitch and just changed colors. (knit = k and purl = p)

Blue - k1; p1 - 4x
Yellow - k1; p1 - 12x
Black - k1;p1 - 4x
Yellow - k1;p1 - 7x

To close the beanie, cut the yarn, thread it on to a plastic yarn needle, and starting with the last loop you knit, thread the loops onto the needle from the bottom of the peg up all the way around the loom. Pull the yarn tight and knot the end. Thread the left over yarn through the beanie using a crochet hook.

Eye:
I found a different method for making the eye. I used the orange 12 peg loom. I used white yarn to make the main part of the eye. I used a tutorial for making the eye as well. Simply Intertwined Loom Knitted "Eyes"

Once the white part of the eye is completed (follow the tutorial link above) I threaded gray yarn onto my yarn needle and wrapped it around the perimeter of the eye to make the goggle part. If I did this again I would probably change colors on the loom so I wouldn't have to do this extra time consuming step!
For the pupil I just threaded black yarn onto the yarn needle and make a star pattern goiing back and forth from the front to the back of the eye until it looked mostly circular. I used the yarn end of the white and the black to tie the eye onto the beanie. Then I thread the needle with gray again and sewed the eye on running the yarn between the gray part and the white part from the front to the inside of the beanie until the eye is firmly attached.

Mouth:
For the mouth I just threaded black yarn onto the yarn needle and sewed the yarn on by weaving back and forth from the outside to the inside, making loops so that no yellow was showing and breaking up the line of the mouth. make sure to tie a knot at the beginning and end of the mouth (on the back side) so it doesn't come undone.

**I wrote these instructions very quickly so I know they need some clarifying I will try to edit them in the near future...** Leave a message if I can clear anything up.