I’m relatively new to knitting and have been looking for something to make for my son – something that he might actually appreciate. He’s a big fan of the game Minecraft, and he doesn’t like the toque he’s been wearing to school on cold days, so I made him this Minecraft creeper toque. I got him to try the toque on when it was just a green hat, and of course he wasn’t interested in it at all…..he didn’t know what I was up to. I started and finished the creeper while he was sleeping, put the toque on his head the next day, and told him to go look in the mirror. His expression as he realized what he had on his head was absolutely priceless! I got hugs and kisses and he’s been wearing the toque both indoors and out. Even if he never wears it again, I’m already glad I made it, and it was super easy to knit!
Here’s what I did:
Yarn: Cascade 220 100% Peruvian Highland Wool – colours 7814 chartreuse, and 8555 black. I got the yarn from Three Bags Full here in Vancouver.
Needles: 16″ 4.5mm (US 7) circular needles, 4.5mm (US 7) double pointed needles (dpns)
Using circular needles, cast on 80 stitches. Join in the round, placing marker for start of round.
Knit 2×2 ribbing (K2, P2) until toque is ~1.5″ tall
Knit stockinette (K all) until toque measures ~ 7″ tall. Note: I originally knit until the toque (including ribbing) was 5″ but it ended up making my son look like an elf (too short!), so I had to rip it out and make it bigger.
At the beginning of the next round, start decreasing:
Round 1: K6, K2tog until end of round (70 stitches left on needles)
Round 2: K all
Round 3: K5, K2tog until end of round (60 stitches left on needles)
Round 4: K all
Round 5: K4, K2tog until end of round (50 stitches left on needles)
Round 6: K all
Round 7: K3, K2tog until end of round (40 stitches left on needles)
Round 8: K all
Round 9: K2, K2tog until end of round (30 stitches left on needles). Switch to dpns
Round 10: K1, K2tog until end of round (20 stitches left)
Round 11: K2tog until end of round (10 stitches left)
Round 12: K2tog (5 stitches). Run needle/ yarn through remaining stitches and pull together to secure, breaking yarn on inside of toque. Weave in the ends.
To make the creeper image, I duplicated the stitches on the toque using black yarn. I found a tutorial for this method because I have never done it before. The graphic I used is here:
Here’s the finished toque on my son’s 8 year old head:
