tangled...: June 2011

28 June 2011

mary neill's website america's knitting is a celebration of this country's brick-and-mortar yarn shops...do check it out!

the dahlia is in bloom...

summer is here...

to the men who nurture, protect and inspire our children...

little miss nova's headband was originally intended to be a hat...

it was the night before the recent photo shoot,

and i needed something to coordinate with the green and violet sweater that nova would be wearing...

i cast on a bunch of stitches

and began to make a little rolled-brim hat...

but it was late, and i was exhausted...

i looked at the work in front of me

and thought,

"headband"

a few rows and three flowers later,

the flora band was born...

as you see, it is simple, simple, simple...

a quick and easy project

a useful way to use up leftovers,

you can make it with almost

any yarn

(though, obviously, more elastic fibers like wool are preferable)

don't want to make flowers?

buttons will do!

the how-to...

measure the recipient's head
choose some yarn in two colors--A and B
determine the gauge-per-inch of your chosen yarn
multiply the head size, minus 2-3", by the gauge-per-inch to determine the number of stitches to you will need to cast on
grab the appropriately-sized circular needle (or double-pointed needles) and cast on with color A; join work, being careful not to twist!
knit for 6-or-so rounds with A
purl one round
change to color B and knit until the work measures about 2.25" (or more...or less...that's your call!)
change to color A and knit one round
purl one round
knit six-or-so rounds
bind off very loosely (check out Jeny's stretchy bind off here)
steam to block
add flowers (here) or buttons...or flower-and-buttons...or nothing...or whatever you wish...