Questions about some of my knitting failures

[cari75]

I have a couple of questions since I'm wondering how to avoid these knitting failures. Thanks in advance if anyone can help.

I guess I can't post photos in this post, though I've done it before but anyway here is the link to my member gallery, photos of these knitting mistakes are posted there:
https://www.craftster.org/pictures/showgallery.php?ppuser=351216&cat=500

I got a set of round knitting looms. I made this gray hat which I was proud of when I finished, because it was the first thing I'd made. But upon further inspection and trying it on, I realized that my hand, or my forehead when I wear it, is totally visible.

I tried to find an answer online and some pages said to use 2 strands of yard instead of one. I made a beige hat like this. It was SO difficult to do on the loom, and I tried to leave it as loose as I could and it was still super tight and difficult to get off the pegs. Plus I think it's ugly. I didn't finish it.

Then I made a gray scarf. It just rolled on both sides and does not look like a scarf. One solution might be to wash it and then block it as it dries but I'm not sure how well that is going to work. I am open to suggestions as long as it's not super difficult. I don't even know what the name of this stitch I did is, I just found it on a YouTube video about how to make hats and used it for the hats and this scarf.

So those are a few of my knitting failures so far. My sister just had twins in Sept. and I want to knit them baby blankets. I've been researching how to do simple blocks and connect them and I think I might have understood that. I mean it will have some small holes in it like the hat but, it might turn out more like the scarf where the holes are not that obvious (I think using a smaller size loom on that one helped). But if you have any ideas on how to make the hat not have holes in it (without using 2 strands of yarn) or how to make the scarf not roll in on the edges, I would appreciate that. Is it just as simple as using thicker yarn on the hat? I think there should be a way to do it with regular sized yarn. The yarn I'm using isn't super skinny.

-Carla

[FauxChina]

You’ve made a great start with loom knitting, so don’t look at your first few projects as failures!  I heard this at a friend’s house and always repeat it to my little girl “Remember, sucking at something is the first step at being sort of good at something!”

For the holey issue, if those are Knifty Knitter type looms (or Boye or Loops & Threads brand) you’ll need something thicker than worsted weight yarn, if you don’t want to double strand your worsted weight, you’ll have to purchase yarn that is a number 5 or 6, something that is bulky weight.  Watch your tension, a neat trick I’ve picked up along the way is to take the guts out of an old pen that doesn’t work anymore, and feed the yarn through it, hold the pen to guide the yarn around the pegs when e-wrapping them.

Your scarf is curling because you’re only doing the knit stitch (e-wrap.)  To get it to lay flat, you would have to do purl stitches as well.  I would recommend alternating knit and purl rows, which is called a garter stitch.  Loomahat on YouTube is a great resource, as is GoodKnitKisses.
Tuteate is probably my favourite loom knitting YouTuber though!

You will be able to make so many wonderful items with your looms, just be patient and kind with yourself!  Take notes of patterns you try and take pictures so you can see how you progress!