Faux Cabled Headband. ...craftable... by Stephanie White of You Can Knit!

Transcription

1 ...craftable... Faux Cabled Headband by Stephanie White of You Can Knit! INSTRUCTIONS Stephanie White, 2015 PHOTOGRAPHY F+W, a Content + ecommerce Company, Inc All rights reserved.

2 materials 1 skein of bulky yarn in Color A (project shown uses Lion Brand Lion s Pride Woolspun [(92 yd./84m]) 1 skein of bulky yarn in Color B Size US (6.5mm) needles Measuring tape Scissors Yarn needle gauge Gauge is not crucial for this project finished size 18" 3" (45.7cm 7.6cm) The headband will stretch to fit a head up to 22" (55.9cm).

3 Cast On The very first step of knitting is casting on. This project uses the long-tail cast-on method. If you ve learned a different method, feel free to use it. It won t make a noticeable difference to the finished project. It s important to cast on loosely. If you re having trouble doing this, cast on with a larger size knitting needle or hold two needles together. 1. Pull out about 24" (61cm) of color A. You want to leave a long tail. 2. Drape the loose end of the yarn over your left hand, pinch it in place with your thumb and wrap the yarn around your fingers. Bring the yarn back up to your thumb and pinch it, making a loop. 3. Still pinching the ends together with your thumb and forefinger, slip the loop off your fingers. 4. With your right hand, grab the end that s hanging down behind the loop (the loose end) and pull it through the loop, creating a second loop. 5. Let go with your left hand and pull the end attached to the ball until the second knot is tight.

4 6. Slide the loop onto a knitting needle. The loose end should be in front, closest to you. The end connected to the ball should be in back. Pull the loose end to tighten the loop around the knitting needle. Don t pull too tight you need to be able to slide a knitting needle in through the loop later when you knit the stitch. The slipknot, your first stitch, is now complete. 7. Hold the needle with the slipknot in your right hand, with the pointed end facing your left hand. Slide the thumb and forefinger of your left hand between the two ends hanging off the needle. Wrap your other fingers around the yarn hanging below and spread your thumb and forefinger, creating a diamond shape with the yarn. 8. Move the knitting needle in your right hand toward your body. This will create a loop of yarn around your thumb. Slide the knitting needle through the loop, keeping the yarn wrapped around your thumb. 9. Move the knitting needle over to your forefinger and pull the yarn that s wrapped over your forefinger onto the knitting needle and through the loop.

5 10. Drop the loop from your thumb. Gently pull on both ends to tighten the stitch. Again, don t pull too tightly you need to be able to knit into these stitches. 11. Repeat steps 7 through 10 until there are 11 stitches on your needle. Remember, the slipknot you created counts as a stitch. Knit Now that you ve cast on, it s time to actually start knitting! The first row is always the hardest, so hang in there. If you re having trouble getting your needle into the stitches, you may have cast on too tightly. Not to worry. Simply pull the cast-on stitches off your needle and pull a loose end to unravel the stitches. Cast on again, but looser this time (practice makes perfect!). Try using a bigger needle to cast on, or try holding two needles together. This will make the cast-on stitches looser. A few things to keep in mind while knitting: The stitches you re going to knit are always on the left-hand needle while the stitches you ve just knit will be on the right-hand needle. Try to be conscious of how tightly you re pulling the yarn. Don t knit like you re angry at the yarn, but also avoid being so laid back that your stitches just fall right off the needle. Relax and have fun. The more you do it, the easier it will get. 12. Hold the needle with your stitches in your left hand and the empty needle in your right hand. Slip your right needle through the loop of the first stitch. Move from the left side on the front of the stitch through to the right side on the back of the stitch. The two knitting needles will form an X.

6 13. Use your left hand to hold the two kntiting needles in place, pinching them where they cross. With your right hand, grab the yarn end that s still attached to the ball. Double-check that you ve grabbed the correct end. You won t get very far if you start knitting with the short end! Wrap the yarn around the back of the right needle and pull it down between the two needles. 14. Continue to hold the yarn in your right hand, pinching it between your thumb and forefinger. At the same time, use your remaining fingers to grab hold of the right knitting needle. Slide the right needle down, around the left needle and through to the front, creating a new loop on your right needle. 15. Use the right needle to slide the stitch off the left needle. You now have 1 knit stitch on your right needle. The loose tail end may slip up a bit between your stitches at this point. Just hold it down in place for the time being. Once you start your next stitch, it will stay put.

7 16. Slide your right needle into the next stitch on the left needle and repeat the process: in, around, to the front and off. 17. Continue knitting until you ve knit all the stitches on the left needle. 18. Flip your work around, moving the needle with stitches to your left hand again and the empty needle to your right. Continue knitting in each stitch and switching your needles at the end of each row until your band measures 16" (40.6cm) from the cast-on edge.

8 Bind Off Binding off is fairly straightforward, but once again, you ll want to pay attention to how tightly or loosely you re knitting. If you knit too tightly, this edge will pull in. Knit too loosely, and the edge may ruffle a bit. If you had trouble casting on loosely, you may want to swap your right needle for a larger one as you bind off. 19. Begin the next row as usual, but only knit 2 stitches. 20. Slip your left needle through the first stitch on your right needle, from left to right. 21. Pull the first stitch on the right needle over the second stitch and slip it off the left needle. 22. You now have 1 stitch on the right needle. Knit a second stitch so there are, once again, 2 stitches on the right needle. 23. Again, use your left needle to slip the first stitch over the second stitch on the right needle and then slip it off the left needle. 24. Continue in this fashion, knitting 1 stitch so there are 2 stitches on the right needle, then slipping the first stitch over the second, until you have no stitches left on the left needle and only 1 stitch on the right.

9 25. Cut the yarn, leaving a short tail of about 6" (15.2cm). 26. Pull your needle straight up, pulling the yarn through the stitch. Knit the Second Band This headband is made up of two bands in different colors, each knit exactly the same way. 27. Knit a second band in color B just as you knit the first band. Cast on 11 stitches, knit every row until the band measures 16" (40.6cm), then bind off. You can follow the steps for the band in color A if you need help.

10 Sewing Up the Headband Once you have the two pieces, it s time to finish the headband. You re done knitting, and now you need to do a little sewing. 28. Fold band A in half, matching the cast-on edge to the bind-off edge. Thread your needle with one of the loose ends on your project. (I used a contrasting color so you can see the stitches, but you should use one of the tails already on your project.) 29. Pull your needle through each edge, joining the two sides together. You ll see what looks like a series of Vs along each edge. You want to pull your needle through a complete V on one edge, then through the V on the opposite edge. 30. Keep stitching up the edge, going through each set of Vs, until you reach the end. 31. Weave the thread you just used to sew the seam back through the headband, slipping it through the ridges. Once you ve woven it through a few times, trim the yarn close to the headband.

11 32. Weave in any other loose ends using the method described in step Place band B over band A and hold the end in place by sliding a knitting needle through both bands. 34. Carefully wrap band B around band A as if braiding them; imagine they re making interlocking S shapes. Take care not to twist the individual bands. Make 4 complete wraps, bringing the end of band B back to the beginning of band B.

12 35. Slip out the knitting needle, holding the beginning of band B in place, and seam the two ends of band B together, the same as you did in steps 2 and Weave in and trim any ends on band B, then carefully turn your headband so the seams are on the inside. Once your headband is on your head, adjust the crosses so they re evenly spaced and lay flat.

13 The Pattern With color A, CO 8 sts. Work in garter stitch until the piece measures 16" (40.6cm). BO. Repeat with color B. Sew the CO and BO edges of band A together. Wrap band B around band A for a total of 4 complete wraps. Sew the CO and BO edges of band B together. Weave in the ends.

14 General Knitting Information In the instructions for the projects, I have favored US knitting terms. Refer to this box for the UK equivalents. US Term UK Term bind off...cast off gauge....tension stockinette stitch...stocking stitch reverse stockinette stitch....reverse stocking stitch seed stitch...moss stitch moss stitch...double moss stitch Knitting Needle Sizes US METRIC US METRIC 0...2mm mm 1½...2.5mm mm 2½...3mm mm mm mm 6...4mm mm 8...5mm mm mm 10½...6.5mm mm mm mm mm mm mm mm mm mm

15 Start knitting today! Want to learn how to knit but don t know where to start? You Can Knit! will show you how with twelve fun and easy projects designed for the absolute beginner knitter. Author Stephanie White walks you through each project, stepby-step, while explaining knitting terms and techniques. Learn the core knitting stitches knit, purl, stockinette, ribbing and seed with the aid of detailed instructions and images. You ll only need the basic tools and materials to get started. Every chapter provides a list of exactly what you need, so there s no guesswork. Plus, with a photo reference guide designed to help you troubleshoot common mistakes, you ll stay on the right track or row! So stop envying friends homemade knits and spending too much money on impersonal gifts for your family. Get your needles ready you can knit! you can KNIT! Knit and purl your way through 16 fun and easy projects Stephanie White Stephanie White is a craft editor for F+W, a content + ecommerce Company. Her favorite activities are knitting and horse riding, and she sells handcrafted jewelry in her Etsy store Steohane. She currently resides in Cincinnati, Ohio.