Have you ever heard of the "Yarn Harlot?" She's a super popular knitter, one of what I think of as the neo-crafter movement.
She's got a free hat pattern on her blog which is very attractive. Since its knit in the round, I think it could be done on a knitting loom with no need to convert the pattern. I link it here in case you are interested. I am putting it on my --- "looks cool, maybe give it a try" list.
Yarn Harlot Unoriginal Hat
Knit in the Round - so no pattern conversion needed to convert to loom knitting. Its knit with a fairly chunky yarn and big needles so I think this could be done right on a knifty knitter if you could do the cables.