Tag Archives: Ashley Moore

More headbands

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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.

Finishing your yarnie porridge

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With a few modifications, this is the Ravelry freebie Braided Headband by Ashley Moore. I’d tried to knit something else to begin using up my 3 skeins of King Cole Timeless Chunky. It didn’t work out. Gauge would not happen.

Timeless Chunky is put up in 100 grams balls, 164 yards each. I purchased it on-line  at a hefty discount mostly because I liked the denim colorway and I was curious what 10% alpaca would do to acrylic. My curiosity is satisfied. Apparently it doesn’t do anything good. The yarn is very soft. That’s nice. But it’s splitty. It sheds like crazy. It made me sneeze. And it’s hard to work with every way you can imagine. Life is short and knitting with yarn I don’t love doesn’t seem what I owe myself.

But I decided not to waste this yarn. It’s quite nice once the yarn turns into an accessory.

And so it began. Moore’s headband calls for worsted and the recommended cast-on is 20 stitches. I cast on 26 and worked a 3-stitch I-cord at each each. I like the way the I-cord finishes off the edge. Here’s another look at the headband off-head.

Fifty-two grams (85 yards) of Timeless Chunky used up.

And so it continued. I’m a grown-up knitter. I can finish my yarnie equivalent of a detestable porridge. Maybe I could get some slippers out of this yarn. Mine is Faye Kennington’s very popular slipper pattern. The pattern calls for super bulky and a gauge of 12 stitches and 20 rows to 4 inches. I figured that if I doubled my Timeless Chunky I might be able to turn it into a Timeless Super Bulky. I tested the gauge and, to my surprise, it worked out on US size 10 needles.

Mine is a surprisingly fun and quick pattern. I chuckle some, though, at the fact that the cables reverse direction from foot to foot so supposedly they are left and right specific. I can’t tell which is which. But I dutifully knit a right and a left slipper. Then I quickly forgot which is which.

Here’s a look at them off-feet.

If knitting with Timeless Chunky was difficult, knitting with Timeless Chunky doubled was about thrice difficult. The double strands decided they needed to socially distance. It took extra care to be sure I was knitting the strands together. And just as often, they decided they wanted to infiltrate their neighbor’s bubble. It eventually worked out though. Cute slippers.

Knitting with this yarn doubled was very hard on my hands. Mine used up 126 grams, 207 yards.

Maybe the eating-your-porridge idea is getting old? How about eating liver and onions when you were a kid? You must sit at the table until you finish at least 2 bites more. I decided to Knit Pippi by Kelly Gubbles, another freebie offered on Ravelry.

This is such a nice hat. It would look even better knit in a different yarn. Check out the great crown decreases.

Pippi gobbled up 80 grams, 131 yards.  Lordy. Still 42 grams left. I turned extra stubborn at that point. What should I knit with my remaining 42 grams?

This is not a bikini. It’s Knitwise Design’s Earbuds. You put it over your ears.

Cute, right? Pop a pair in your coat pocket for times when a chill strikes unexpectedly. Earbuds used up 30 grams. That’s about 49 yards.

With only 12 grams of King Cole Timeless Chunky left I could rest comfortable in the knowledge that the debris littering my black fleece sweatshirt and all my sneezing and my sore hands had been worth it. I had four new accessories for my gift stash. And I tossed that last 12 grams.