When I’m not being an obsessive TV-watching, tea-drinking knitter I like to let out my aggression by playing roller derby. It’s super fun. I play with a local banked track league (Tilted Thunder), and it’s probably one of the most satisfying things that I’ve ever done. (And definitely the most fun I’ve ever had playing a sport, although that’s not saying much.)
Actually, since I’m usually pretty polite and quiet soft-spoken in real life, and I don’t have any tattoos, sometimes people don’t believe me when I tell them I play derby. So, here’s proof:
I’m the one in green with the black helmet. I love this picture because I look kind of terrifying. Usually in derby photos I just look scared and awkward.
In this picture, I’m giving my jammer (the girl in front of me who wears stars on her helmet) a push to make her go faster. The jammer is the one that scores points by lapping skaters on the other team. (I’m a blocker, whose job it is to help our jammer go faster, and stop the other jammer.) If you are interested in the rules, this is a good overview.
Anyway, a friend of mine, who also plays derby, asked me to make her a jammer hat for her birthday, and who am I to say no? I looked through some of the available patterns, and I didn’t care for them, so I made my own pattern.
Now you, too can channel your inner badass with this roller derby-inspired hat. It’s knit in the round with a simple ribbed cuff and decreases on the crown. The stars are added using the duplicate stitch after the hat is knit up. Knit this super simple hat in the colors of your favorite roller derby team to show your spirit. And don’t forget: skate fast, turn left, and hit hard!
Get the pattern here:
On the Needles 
I love this pattern–and the fact that you do Derby! Very cool! I will use this pattern for a friend whose personal symbol is the star.She has them tattooed on the insides of her wrists. She is amazing: went blind in one eye as a teenager from kidney failure, was on dialysis for years, and recently celebrated the one-year anniversary of her successful kidney transplant (her mom was the donor)! She will LOVE this hat! Thank you!
Your friend definitely sounds like a badass. I hope she likes her new hat 😀
Cool pattern! One of my roommates plays derby. I knit her a pair of rainbow fishnets for bouts, but I never thought of knitting a jammer hat. Thank you!
Knit fish nets never occurred to me! Did you use a pattern? If so which one? I’m intrigued.
My daughter does derby in Anchorage, AK and is a jammer !! She is going to LOVE this hat! I can’t thank you enough!!!
Also…they are the Rage City Roller Girls….colors are orange and black. She is “Purrenrage”, which is a play on her last name Purrenhage. The girls call her “Purr”!