More doubles

My knitting’s been on a bit of a stutter. Building on my last post, today’s features a few more doubles. This no-nonsense accessory is Elizabeth Smith’s Low-Key Cowl. It’s just a simple combination of knits and purls, worked in the round. But what a nice “just” that turns out to be. Totally wearable. I knit mine in the Sunset colorway of worsted weight Malabrigo Rios.

The twist that make Low-Key so wearable? That two-sided split garter stitch edging. Instead of bunching up and crowding the chin like so many other one-skein cowls, this one sits neatly on the broader parts of you.

And, of course, you can situate that split wherever you decide it does the most good. Smith’s directions on the simple maneuver that creates the split are spot on. This cowl is totally doable even for a beginning knitter.

My apologies for the photo that looks like I slept in my shirt. Steve took a series of photos. This was the only one where I wore a sort-of-smile that didn’t look: (1) like a smirk, (2) like I was crooked, or (3) funereal. It’s true, though, that I’d just gotten up from a nice long nap exactly as the shirt suggests.

I’d no sooner finished my first Low-Key that I wanted to knit another.

I knit this second one in Cascade Wave, another worsted-weight superwash. I’ve enjoyed knitting with Wave before, just not in this kind of drab colorway, inaptly name “Camo.” Camo, to me, implies there would be some green in it. But this is all shades of brown.

In this view you can see the construction of the two overlapping side slits. A most serviceable unisex cowl.

If my requests are any indication, this might be dubbed the year of the headband. People are asking for headbands. I prefer to think good thoughts about headband popularity rather than that people aren’t liking my hat offerings. This next set of doubles is Lisa McFetridge’s Grindelwald Earband. You’ve seen it here before.

Felt Head is showing this one off, knit in Berroco Ultra Wool. And the second one is knit in Cascade 220 Elysian. Both are worsted weights.

If you have a spare 90 yards or so and are looking for a project, I definitely recommend this one. The cable is very fun to knit. The modifications I made were set up to make the ending graft easier to work.  I used a crochet provisional cast-on instead of the “open” one recommended in the pattern. Then I knit the first row (to avoid the mess that a mix of purls and knits makes when you try to unravel it). Instead of working a kitchener graft with a mix of knits and purls, I worked a 3-needle bind-off. Easy peasy. It’s slightly visible, but so would my kitchener effort have been. And teaching an old dog a new cast-on trick just wasn’t working for me.

Next up is one of my major stutters: Calorimetry.  This is my Number 26 Calorimetry, worked in Lamb’s Pride Worsted.

Such an excellent headband, earband, headwarmer, whatever’s your word for it. It’s totally ponytail friendly, though Glass Head has nothing but disdain for such a notion.

If you’re still keeping track, here’s Number 25 knit in a riotous colorway of Noro Kureyon.

Speaking of keeping track of stuff. The current count of the number of Calorimetry Ravelry project pages is 19,484. It’s the 15th of the Top 15 Ravelry project pages. What’s Number 1? It’s another freebie, Erica Lueder’s Hermione’s Everyday Socks. That one is 35,526 project pages. No. 35,527. I guess I better close this post quickly.

More headbands

This is Ashley Moore’s Braided Headband. Well, you know what I mean. It’s actually totally my Braided Headband. As in, I like this one so much I wore it straight away and put it in my jacket pocket so I couldn’t change my mind and give it to someone who wanted it. You’ve seen this pattern knit here once before. This time I used a total splurge yarn: Lana Grossa’s Fusione. I used a bit of the skein in my Grogu puppet (where it made a great collar) and had about 100 yards left. The yarn is 30% cotton, 26% alpaca, 25% wool, and 19% nylon. It’s an incredibly soft Aran weight.

I modified the pattern only minimally. Moore suggests a US size 10 needle and worsted weight. I thought the cables looked less beefy at that gauge and bumped it up to an Aran weight and down to a US size 9 needle. I also added the 3-stitch applied I-cord edges by increasing the cast on by 6 stitches, to 26. Instead of kitchenering the provisional cast-on stitches to the final row of stitches, I used a 3-needle bind-off. To be more transparent about that, I first tried to work a proper graft from the mix of knit and purl stitches. When that looked horrible I knit one row of stockinette to try a regular stockinette-to-stockinette graft. That created an odd furrow of smooth across the headband. A 3-needle bind-off left a nice straight seam and I’m totally OK with that.

This is another Ravelry freebie, Kelly Klem’s Simply Soft Ear Warmers. I knit mine in a really nice gold brown shade of Berroco’s Ultra Wool, a worsted weight. I know. You’re looking at this dead shade in my photos and thinking I’m out-to-lunch. The yarn refuses to show its true colors in my photos.

The modification I made on this one was to add a 4th cable. I thought the width of the 3 cables wouldn’t give quite the amount of head and ear warming I was after. I cast on 27 stitches and, using a US size 8 needle, my headband is about 4 inches wide.

I’ll be. It must be the headband (or Glasshead) who’s shy and doesn’t want to show off its color. Here’s a photo of the skein that gives a better sense of how lively this shade really is.

Next is my zillionth Calorimetry. I’ve posted them all at some point in the 11-year history of this blog, so I’ll not link to the others. Kathryn Schoendorf’s free pattern is one of the most-knit patterns on Ravelry: 19,353 project pages with nearly 8000 Ravelers having the pattern waiting in their queues. If you haven’t knit it yet, think of the highest star rating you give a pattern and add one. This is the 24th time I’ve knit this.

I know that it looks like a pair of lips knit in this Noro Silk Garden. I like it like that! You’re sort of planting a kiss on someone’s head and they don’t even notice it.

I decided to close with a recent headband-knit of mine, featured in my Valentine’s Day post, in case you missed it. This next one is the Grindelwald Earband designed by Lisa McFetridge. The pattern deserves more love! There are currently only 10 Ravelry project pages. It’s an excellent pattern and a real buy at just $2.50. I knit mine in Malabrigo Rios.

Sometimes a headband is just what’s needed on a chilly or even downright cold day, especially if you have lots of hair that you don’t want to have beanie-blasted. It takes up almost no space in a pocket. When you take it off, your hair won’t look like you combed it with an eggbeater. And your ears will not be cold.

Headband Doubles

I’ve been in a bit of a knitting stutter lately. I knit one and then I knit another. And sometimes I knit even more anothers.

This is Knitwise Design’s Triple Crowner Headband. Mine are knit in one skein of Berroco Artisan, an 80% merino wool, 20% silk worsted weight. At 123 yards per skein, my two orphan skeins hung out in my stash for quite awhile before I came up with the perfect project. Ninety yards is all it took to work up one of these beauties.

Here’s a closer look at this excellent unisex pattern:

There are two rows of the cabling that require using two cable hooks. But the pattern explains exactly how to manage it and it’s great fun!

The Heads were in a keen competition for who got to wear which headband. They were under the impression that the reference to “crown” in the pattern name suggested something about royalty and both wanted to wear the gold one. I explained that “Triple Crowners” are hikers who have thru-hiked all three of America’s long distance trails: the Appalachian, the Pacific Crest, and the Continental Divide. The heads were humbled at the thought of walking nearly 8000 miles and piped down.

My stashdown continued, this time with another fun Knitwise Design pattern: Earbuds. I knit these in Valley Yarns Berkshire Bulky and am very pleased with the results:

You might say I got a bit carried away with these. But considering that I now have only one pair left, I guess it wasn’t too many pairs to knit.

Earbuds fit easily in a coat pocket and really come in handy on a chilly day. Just be prepared when the thin ones among us look at them in a puzzled way because only the thin would see them as bikini tops.

So, what more can I say about the great freebie pattern, Calorimetry, that I haven’t said before? More than 19,000 of these headbands have been knit and posted as projects on Ravelry. That puts it among the most-knit patterns on Rav.

This is the first time I’ve knit this headband in Noro Kureyon. I like the way the short rows make the color pool in such an interesting way.

Recently, a friend pointed out that in a pinch Calorimetry serves quite nicely as a cowl.  I’d not thought of that. This pair is my 22nd and 23rd Calorimetry, but I’ve not had time to experiment with one. My tradition is to let family and friends choose holiday gifts from my stash of accessories and Calorimetries always get picked. I believe I will keep one of these for me.

The stashdown continues!

Calorimetry time, again

A chill hits the air and I often start thinking of knitting headbands. And Kathryn Schoendorf’s Calorimetry, a free pattern available on Knitty, including via Ravelry, is definitely my favorite knit of this sort. These two are knit in Plymouth Yarn Boku. I know, off the head they look a little lip-like. Just ignore that because when worn they’re just cute. One 99-yard skein of Boku, a few hours of knitting, a foray into your old-button stash and you’ve got a great gift–for you or for others.

Here’s how Calorimetry looks buttoned up minus glasshead.

 I had some Queensland Collection Brisbane left after knitting up a Colonel Talbot scarf. Brisbane is a definite Aran weight, so this Calorimetry is almost a beanie. It would be great for the messy-bun or pony-tail crowd.

I think it’s nifty the way the colors worked out. It reminds me of photos of far away galaxies.

Sometimes I do think that I knit mostly to keep my eyeballs entertained. Very lively colorways often capture my attention. So I decided to try a Calorimetry in a very tame color. Here it is knit in the WEBS housebrand Valley Yarn Amherst. The yarn was on sale. 100% merino. I bought one 99 yard skein to take it for a test drive. Very nice yarn. Great little pattern!

Repeat performances

Calorimetry times three, in my favorite yarn for this project, Plymouth Yarns Boku. One 99 yard skein, about 3 hours of time (maybe), one button, and you have an excellent gift for any size female head.

Oh, it’s not the first time I’ve knit it. Here’s two more, another, another, another, three in this post, three more here, another, another, and my first, back in 2011. Can it really be that I’ve knit 17 of these?  And that I still don’t have one of my own because they are selected as gifts from my gift stash almost as soon as they’re knit?

If you haven’t yet given Kathryn Schoendorf’s free Knitty pattern a try, it’s available through Ravelry. I recommend that you knit one. Tonight. 18,526 Ravelers have knit it and posted it on their project pages. Calorimetry is currently the 7th most-knit pattern on Ravelry. And it’s the only one that’s a head thing.

Here’s a closer look at these three.

Speaking of knitting multiples, Windschief, by Steven West is another frequent knit for me. Here’s my latest batch of three. This trio of Windschiefs is knit in Berroco Comfort. It’s a tad splitty. But for the wool adverse, and for some reason more of the men in my life are of the “it’s itchy” type, Comfort is an excellent choice. Here, in gray.

In cranberry.

And in a very, very, dull brown.

They-who-must-not-be-named tussled a bit over the dull brown. Who’d of thunk it? Actually, it’s a warm brown. Just a nice warm, dull brown.

My six dollar investment in this pattern has given back excellent value. These three, plus these five more (with a Windschief hat), and one more. The pattern includes a hat pattern that starts from the same cowl base and just works upward through crown decreases. Steven West when he was still designing dull. His designs aren’t dull anymore. But I think this one is still one of his best.