Headbands

 I seem to really like to do small projects in between my large blankets (one in progress, one planned). I have been inspired to make headbands as I get painfully cold ears in the winter and it's a change from a hat (I have made a lot of hats over the years). I made a cabled headband a few weeks back when I learned to cable, then made another. I wore the first headband but found that the wool is a bit scratchy on my forehead. I was on a trip to my hometown at the time so popped into the covered market and bought some fleece. I lined the headband but it's not really been cold enough to do a proper test drive. Last weekend I treated myself to some suri lace (a blend of baby Alpaca & silk, it's very fine & fluffy). I never really knew what to do with this kind of yarn but I thought it would look good with the blue aran that I made my first two headbands out of. So I used a 5mm hook with the aran and lace to make a very simple single crochet headband. I didn't do a pattern as the yarns are on the luxurious end of the spectrum and the colours speak for themselves. I decreased and increased at the back to give it a definite orientation, and also, to fit in front of a ponytail. The colours are more muted with the lace, but it gives a very cosy look which is perfect as the process of wintering is starting in the northern hemisphere. I lined it with fleece but left a gap at the back to allow the headband to stretch when putting it on. It feels so soft, hard to convery in a photo!

The comparison of the two.

Making mistakes

I knit my socks on two sets of needles and only have one set out at a time (I have cats, I can't have wool/needles lying around!) and it wasn't until I got both sets of knitting out that I could see that one was slightly bigger than the other. I was using a 3.0mm set of needles in bamboo compared to a 2.5mm set in steel! I have since bought a 3.0mm set of steel and will be taking the knitting back to the cuff to start again from there. Frustrating but worth getting right as these socks will be an Xmas present.

Re-purposing

After having a very Marie Condo clearing out weekend, I found myself with quite a large number of different shaped and sized pom-poms. The day before I had spent time at a social enterprise shop where they sell clothes, recycle and upcycle and encourage everyone to do their bit for the environment. It was mentioned in passing that they would make pom pom garlands as part of a Christmas making afternoon (using donated yarn of course). This idea obviously inspired me to make a garland out of the spare, unwanted pom-poms. I used parcel twine to connect them via a crochet chain stitch, and I think it looks quite good.

Patterns and early mornings

 There is something really lovely about the start of a day, when the sun is coming up but has not yet appeared over the horizon. It's even lovelier when it's cloudless and the sky could be anywhere, even Greece maybe. I wore a scarf that was woven at a "weaving weekend" with a friend before lockdown, in Yorkshire. It was too warm to wear it so I sat and looked at the pattern a bit as the sun came up.