Can I reinvent modern knitting on my own?

I don't actually need to do that, but I keep thinking of Richard Feynman reinventing "the calculus." My goal is to have a warm and fun hat finished before Sunday, for a donation event. But I bought the wrong length circular needles (so cheap that they weren't even marked on the outside of the packet), the yarn I got is difficult to work with, and circumstances have made it so that attending knitting group has not been an option for a couple of weeks. On Fridays I often walk with a friend who is a knitting teacher, but that would leave only a few hours, because I have a long to-do list for the intervening time between Friday afternoon and Sunday morning.
Can I figure it out on my own? Will staring at youtube be enough? Or should I add one more thing to the to-do list and buy a ready-made hat? There are some astoundingly nice locally grown and made ones available at the Boston Public Market, or were a couple of weeks ago. It's only money...and a feeling of failure.