Crochet Minion Headband Pattern

We have a baseball team here in my town for college kids to play in during the summer, and every 4th of July they do a nice fireworks show after the game.  The fireworks are beautiful, and there's nothing more American than baseball so of course the place gets packed. To get a seat you have to get there really early.  To pass the time I brought my hook and yarn, and set to work on a friend's request to make something inspired by the Minions.  (Yes, we are grown women, but we are regular movie goers and the new Minions movie is on our schedule. You're never too old to have some fun!)  Not wanting to do anything too complicated, I decided on a headband.  She loved it!

And so did everyone seated around us.  It was so popular, I thought I would come home and write out the pattern so others could make one too.  The second go around I made it with two eyes, and added options. Here's the pattern--I hope you or your kids will have fun wearing them, especially if you're going to the theatre!

Supplies
Yarn:
Medium 4 worsted weight.
I used Crafter's Secret from Hobby Lobby, but Red Heart Super Saver or whatever you have would work great, too!

Black
Brown
White
Grey
Blue
Yellow

Hook Size I (5.5 mm)
Darning needle

Notes:
US Terms
SC = Single Crochet
I think the blue keeps the minion theme, but if you don't have blue yarn, you could just do the whole headband in yellow.

Make the goggle eyes, choose if you want to do a one-eyed minion or two:
When making the eyes, crochet over your ends when you can, but do not worry too much about your ends because you won't be able to see them when you sew the eyes to the headband.

Make a slip knot in black, chain 4, join with first chain to make a loop, fasten off.

Join with brown in back loop only, chain one, put 2 SC in same loop, 2 SC in each back loop around for 8 total, fasten off.

Join with white, chain one, put 2 SC in same loop, 2 SC in each loop around for 16 total, join with slip stitch.

Chain one, 2 SC in same loop, 2 SC in each loop around for 32 total, LEAVE YOURSELF A LONG TAIL and fasten off.  You will use the white tail later to sew the eyes to the headband.

Using a safety pin as a stitch marker to help me know where to join--in the first SC, not the chain 1.

Accidentally cut the tail too short, don't be like me!!

Join with grey, in order to get the grey part to 'stand up' to simulate the look of goggles this will NOT be an increase round, so you will chain one, put 1 SC in same loop, and 1 SC in each loop around, fasten off.  (Use optional invisible join for a cleaner look.)

Skip ahead if you don't need these
Invisible join instructions:
After you're done with the last SC in the grey round, cut the yarn giving yourself plenty to work with and pull it through.  Thread it on your darning needle.

From the front, thread the needle underneath the loops of the first SC of the round (the one you are joining to, in the same spot you would have put your crochet hook.) Pull it snug, but not too tight.

Now thread your needle down the back loop only of the last SC of the round, the last one you just made.  You should have made a stitch that looks like all the others, which is why it is called the invisible join!

If you do not choose to do the optional notches, you can skip to the headband part here.

If you look at a picture of a minion's goggles, you will see 'notches' on the sides, so I decided to crochet some on mine for a more authentic look, but you don't need to if you don't want to bother.  I only did this when making the two-eyed minion because it was easy to use the tail end of the yarn. If you wanted to do this on the one-eyed minion, you would have to tie a scrap piece of yarn on the opposite side of the goggle, then continue with instructions.

After the invisible join, weave your needle through a stitch, and then remove the darning needle.Using your crochet hook, chain 4, then pull yarn through.  

Thread darning needle, secure the end of the notch to the side of your goggle, and weave end.

Goggle eye is done! Repeat if you need two.

Headband:
Make a slipknot in blue, then chain enough to fit around the head of whoever will be wearing the headband.  As a guideline, for both my friend and me, adult females, it was chain 70.  Chain more for a larger head, less for smaller heads.  Smooth out your chain on your table to make sure it is straight, then carefully pull the end around and slip stitch to the first chain to make a loop. It is easy at this point to get your headband twisted, so make sure it is right before you slip stitch.

After the slip stitch, chain 1.  SC in next stitch, SC in each stitch around.  Slip stitch to join, fasten off. (Sometimes it is hard to know where to put your hook when working the first row of SC, the needle in the first picture shows where you should be putting your hook. )

Join with yellow, *chain 1, SC in next stitch, SC in each stitch around.  Slip stitch to join round.  Repeat once from * then fasten off. You will have two rounds of yellow.

Safety pin showing where you should join the round, in the first SC, not the chain one.

Join with black,  *chain 1, SC in next stitch, SC in each stitch around.  Slip stitch to join round.  Repeat once from * then fasten off. You will have two rounds of black to simulate the goggle strap.

Join with yellow, *chain 1, SC in next stitch, SC in each stitch around.  Slip stitch to join round.  Repeat twice from * then fasten off for three rounds of yellow.

Weave in your ends, and the headband is done!

Using the long tail of the white, sew your goggle eyes on to the headband.  If you made notches, make sure you line them up on either end with the black strap.  If you have any imperfections where you started your rounds in the headband, sew the goggle eyes over that spot to hide the problem.  You might want to position and pin the eyes down before you sew because it can be tricky trying to hold them in place.

Optional Minion hair
I didn't add any minion hair to mine because you can't see it amongst my own black hair, but if you want, save the ends you cut off from the black rounds in the headband…

…tie them around a couple of the stitches next to your goggles, and you've got minion hair!

Here's another pic of the first one-eyed minion headband I made while at the ball field.  It doesn't have the options like the blue, or the notches, but it is still plenty cute!  

I made this pattern FREE because I'd love for others to make it, but please do not use my pictures, and if you refer to it in any way, please link back to my blog.  Also, I do not suggest you sell any finished products, but that's between you and the Minions!!