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!

Doubles

A major stash-down is underway. That means getting reintroduced to lots of fun wonderful yarn that’s been lolling about in my stash. It also means deleting all those wonderful yarnie emails I get–without even opening them. Ok, that’s a bit militant. But I’m going to attend a few knitting events in the next several months and my plan is to be sure there are major holes in my stash by the time I get to the marketplaces. So, I’m not feeling one bit deprived. Well, maybe one bit. Still, stash-downing is turning out to be fun.

I’m tending to knit small projects and patterns that I’ve knit before.

These first two hats are Jo Klim’s Totalee Slouchee, knit in Merino Extrafine Color 120 by Schlachenmayr. That’s a DK-weight superwash merino. Here’s a closer look:

I know. Not everyone’s cup ‘o tea. But what one set of eyeballs sees as garish another sees as daring and colorful. These are my 4th and 5th knits of this pattern, in this yarn. And my friends and family chose all three original knits as holiday gifts. In fact, the one with the orange highlights already walked out my door as a birthday present for a friend’s head.

I enjoy that the crowns of these hats, in this yarn, create that flower or bulls-eye. I suppose that what you see might depend on whether your head prefers shooting or gardening. I don’t like either. But I do like this hat.

I had three skeins of each colorway and used up the remaining yarn with a simple freebie pattern that showcased this yarn to good effect. These next hats are Janet D. Russell’s Child’s Self-Striping Hat. The pattern name throws you a bit of a curve on the sizing. Russell’s pattern includes from an extra small to an extra large. I knit the large, figuring it would work well even for the young ones and used just under 180 yards, DK-weight.

Here’s glass head looking all cheerful, as if it hadn’t just recently reached twenty-five below at our water’s-edge weather station. And that’s real degrees, none of that wimpy wind-chill stuff.

 

Again, this yarn rewards knitters with an excellent crown. Children are the likely recipients of these hats. I decided to add a pompom to both. Yep, I know that even grown-ups can stick pompoms on the top of their heads if they want to. The pompoms ended up ringed by that nice splash of color.

Such fun.

This week, what with February 14th coming up, is a good time to show off a pair of Knitwise Design’s Young at Heart Hats.

Rather than work with traditional heart motif colors, and consistent with the stash-down underway, I knit these in pastels of Plymouth Yarn’s Worsted Merino Superwash. It works. Good yarn. Great pattern. Those slip stitch hearts are the best.

Well, maybe the little dangling heart toppers are the best.

How would we smile our way through the long cold winters without knitting?

Not quite Pantone 7406C and blue

When my grandson asked for a knitted hat in University of Michigan colors, maize and blue, I set out to find the exact right colors. Valley Yarns Valley Superwash looked perfect (to me). I didn’t have to research anything. I’ve lived in Michigan for 66 years. I know what’s what. Little did I know that somehow maize has brightened up a lot over the years.

You probably want to know about that hat you’re staring at. I will get to that. According to the official U of M site, these shades–based on none other than Pantone itself–are the school colors.

The official colors look like yellow and blue to me. Maybe we should just start calling the school colors 7406C and 282C. If questioned by Isaac I will explain that his hat colors are the vintage colors. When maize was still maize, as in CORN, the color of corn.

OK. Back to that cool hat that started me down the rant path. It’s Knitwise Design‘s Spiral Style Hat. The hat is a top down slipped stitch beanie, with a matching pair of mittens if you’re looking for a set. Top down hats can be a bit fiddly for the first few rounds. But here, depending on the size, you start with 9, 10 or 11 stitches. So, not bad at all. And the increases come quickly.

Here’s a look at the top.

The only modification I made was to use an Elizabeth Zimmerman sewn bind-off rather than to bind off with a needle-size larger than that stockinette roll on the bottom. That’s always a good choice when what’s needed is a well-behaved but very stretchy bind-off.

My grandson requested a hat with earflaps and dangling braids. His sister got one for her birthday, yes in the official Pantone colors, and he likes that hat a lot.

I am hoping that Cynthia Spencer’s Cabled Earflap Hat from the book 60 Quick Knits From America’s Yarnshops will fit the bill.

The Sixth & Spring Series of 60 thises and 60 thats have a proven track record of creating a boatload of errata. They didn’t do right by Spencer on this one.

From the Ravelry project page, heed this fairly important errata: “Note that the cable chart has been printed upside down.” Yup. Make a note of that. And then make a copy of the chart and turn it upside down to knit from it. Then you’ll work in the normal fashion, from right to left, beginning with what will be numbered round 23.

Other than the problem the publisher caused, this is an excellent pattern.

Oh. I caused that little trough of stockinette between the cable work and the garter stitch all on my own. So don’t hold it against Spencer. In my defense, it’s not as noticeable in person as it is in a photo. I wanted to create a 2-color hat out of what’s supposed to be a solid color. And I didn’t want any half ‘n half rows. My idea was a good one. It just went a bit awry.

The next entry in the Wolverine tournament is a classic Fiber Trends pattern first publlished in 2002 and still available for download on Ravelry: School Colors Hat AC-53.

The pattern includes three sizes, with instructions for sport, worsted and bulky yarn. Back near the turn of the century, I’m pretty sure that DK weight didn’t exist. At least not in the United States. And also back then designers gave their patterns sensible names like School Colors Hat AC-53 instead of names like Caffeine-Free Fizzledop or Sunshine in the Cow Shed.

Here’s glasshead modeling the side view.

The first time you knit this hat, you’ll be mystified about exactly what’s going to create that clever roll. Some knitters have emailed me to say that the pattern must be wrong. It isn’t wrong. Don’t “trust your feelings, Luke.” Trust this pattern. It will all work out. Here’s the deal: this hat is knit entirely in stockinette, from the bottom up. You cast on with Pantone 282C–the main color.

Oh. Just in case you think I’ve no feelings for that other university in Michigan with that other football team, the Sparty colors have been known to infest my needles.

Headbands

This is Knitwise Designs “Triple Crowner” headband. Linda Courtney, the designer behind Knitwise, explains that her models (and inspiration) for this design, are both “Triple Crowners.” That means they’ve thru-hiked all three of America’s long distance trails: The Appalachian Trail, The Pacific Crest Trail, and The Continental Divide Trail. In case you’re too tired to even think about how much hiking that is, it’s 7,900 miles!

Here’s Linda’s models, the Triple Crowners themselves, showing off how this design suits both men and women.

Even if you’re no hiker, but just a person with cold ears, this design works well. Glasshead looks good in it and she never even gets out of the house.

I knit mine in Stonehedge Fiber Shepherd’s Wool worsted. Here’s a closer look.

Those with a sharp cable eye will see that the design includes triple crossed cables. They are worked with two cable needles and are great fun to knit.

Keeping a headband in a coat pocket can be just the ticket to stay toasty when chilly winds catch you unawares.

These next headbands arose out of my interest in trying Plymouth Yarn’s Stained Glazz. It’s an Aran weight, put up in 99 yard skeins. That’s perfect for a headband. It’s 51% wool, 49% acrylic. Vanessa Ewing’s freebie pattern, delightfully named the “F621 Headband,” was designed for Stained Glazz.

The yarn worked up well.

I’m not sure why Glasshead insists on wearing her headbands so that her ear lobes hang out. Maybe she expects to sport a pair of earrings someday and doesn’t want them to catch?  Anyway, these wide headbands will keep heads cozy. And if the heads have ponytails, the ponytails can fly free.

Here’s another look.

F621 is an excellent easy lace, easy cable handband. The ribbons of color distract from the  patterning, but I still like the final products.

Knitting along

This is Linda of Knitwise Design’s “Tidal Cove” Scarf. I worked it up in String Theory Merino DK. That very interesting open work is a hoot to knit. And it’s very simply done. The pattern explains it perfectly. Just when a knitter is thinking the garter stitch might need some breaking up, it’s time to knit the “cove.” I even made one of my infrequent trips to a bead shop to find some appropriate dangles.

I’ve knit this once before. (That is going to be a theme in this post). Here it is in Super-Sheep by Holiday Yarns.

Tidal Cove is a quick knit. My first one sold at a charity auction. My new one will likely make it into my holiday gift basket.

Recently Linda ran a leisurely paced Knit-a-long on Ravelry. OK, she ran a KAL. She invited knitters to knit any of her patterns, participate in her group chat, and offered generous prizes of patterns and yarn. It was great fun to return to some of her patterns I’d knit before. Like Winding Trail Headband.

This magenta beauty is knit in one of my favorite long-ago discontinued yarns: Classic Elite’s Tapestry.

This next one, in Pussy Hat color, is knit in the New Zealand Aran-weight, Wool-Pak 10 ply by Merino Sheepskin Company.

I often stutter in my accessory knitting, working two hats or two cowls in the same pattern in two different yarns or two different colors. “Double your pleasure, Double your fun…” that has nothing to do with Doublemint Gum. And if you can picture these two twins while you read and hear that old stupid jingle, instead of the slicker version from the middle 1980’s, well you might be as vintage an age as I am.

Here’s two other Winding Roads I knit in my first round of enjoying this pattern. The yellow gold is Classic Elite Tapestry and the deep rose is Harrisville Design’s discontinued Orchid with Cashmere.

I urge you, urge is a fine old-fashioned word that mouths don’t say much anymore–urge you to try this pattern. You will enjoy it. It’s knit flat and joined with a three-needle bind-off. You could do a provisional cast on and graft the beginning to the end. But why make more work for yourself?

My next Knitwise Design KAL knit was Earbuds. Earbuds are, basically, another headband. Except this one fastens with a button. And it concentrates just on ear-warming.

I had a left-over ball of Valley Yarns Superwash Bulky. This WEBS house brand is good stuff though I’ll grant you this shade of dullish brown isn’t going to win any prizes. It was supposed to go well with a blanket I made and the rest of the blanket shades looked so pretty I couldn’t bear to dull it down with this brown. But ears? Ears just need to be warm and everyone knows that dull colors are much warmer than bright ones.

This knit was a total stutter. I had one 100 gram ball. I was able to knit two sets of earbuds and even have a bit left over.

These aren’t my first earbuds. Here’s a few more. The green multi-color one is handspun (not mine). The two-toned one is a bulky mohair of long-ago discontinued Abedare Yarn. And that lavendery pink is a super-bulky: Cascade Yarns Lana Grande.

And, yes, I know that the middle guy looks a bit puppy-like.Trust me. It works on a head better than on a striped felted ball.

I couldn’t leave the KAL knitting only stuff I’d knit before, so I knit a pair of worsted weight socks in Brown Sheep’s Superwash Lamb’s Pride Worsted. These are “Cam’s Camping Socks.”

They didn’t photograph well. But they are totally cozy and fit Steve well. I’d have gotten a better photograph if it weren’t for the fact that he got cold feet and wore them before I could get a well-lit shot. Linda has used this diamond pattern in her sock pattern, her “Hunting Season Cap,” and in her most recent sweater pattern “Camp Cardigan.” Just looking at the project photos I felt a bit intimidated by the pattern. But it’s a piece ‘o cake.

Thanks, Linda! Great patterns. Great KAL.