Bow Headband

A while ago I bought a few felt-covered headbands from a craft supply store. They had funny little felt flowers on them that were a bit squashed. So I yanked them off with some scissors and crocheted a few bows to take their place:

It was super quick and easy. Here's blurry bathroom pic 1:

And another:

They'll go in the inventory pile for the Magee Market Fair, 2014 edition!

Loom Knit Headband - free pattern

I received so many repins on this pin:

that I decided to write up a quick pattern. Forgive me if I'm a bit lazy in explaining the terminology here, but it is SO darned easy you will barely need to read through this post to figure out how to get this finished product. It takes me about half an hour to make one - how's that for instant gratification?!

Start with a double rake loom and bulky yarn. The yarn I used was Lionbrand Wool-Ease Thick & Quick, which is super bulky "6." I also used my blue flat loom, which has 18 pegs on each side. Cast on 10 pegs, 5 on each side, using the figure 8 cast on. I don't know what this stitch is called, but it's the one that they "teach" you on the pamphlet that comes inside the loom package. It's not the double knit stitch, where you skip every other peg. You want to criss-cross cast on each peg, for a total of 10 pegs (5 on each side).

Start knitting! Just wrap each peg in criss cross fashion. When you get to the bottom two pegs, wrap straight across to the opposite end peg and "re-trace" your bottom row of yarn until you get to the top again. Then flip the bottom loop over each top loop, and repeat.

Keep going.

And going.

And going.

Until you reach about 9 inches when folded in half, or 18 inches total. If it's shorter, that's ok, this thing has some stretch to it.

I went a bit too long for this one so it was about 19.5-20 inches in total, but it still turned out fine.

I used a crochet hook to cast off. Place two live stitches on the crochet hook, yarn over and pull through both loops to make one loop. Then place the next live stitch onto the hook, and pull through both to make one loop. Repeat till you cast off all loops.

Leave a really long tail, then cut the working yarn and draw through last loop. Mine was maybe 5 feet long - you want lots of yarn here. So leave a long tail, and when you think it's enough, go ahead and add another foot.

Using the short end of the cast on yarn...

sew the two ends of the headband together.

My cast off edge is always tighter than the cast on edge, so make it match the shorter edge. You want it to dip together in the middle and be more narrow than the rest of the headband. It doesn't even need to look nice, because we'll be covering it up in the next step. Weave in that yarn end and cut.

Now take the long 5-foot cast off yarn tail, and wrap it around and around the narrow part. This effectively covers up the two edges that we just sewed together.

Decide what side looks better. Then weave your yarn around a few strands of the "wrong" side, to tack in place. Weave through a few more times, then cut yarn.

BOOM - DONE!

Make an army of them! Seriously, it knits up so quick in that bulky yarn, so go ahead, make more!

Here is the short version of the pattern: 

Loom Knit Headband - free pattern

Materials: 

Double rake loom with at least 10 pegs 

Bulky yarn (I used was Lionbrand Wool-Ease Thick & Quick, which is super bulky "6")

Loom pick

Crochet hook

Yarn needle

- Criss-cross cast on 10 pegs, 5 on each side, using the figure 8 stitch. 

- Wrap each peg in criss cross fashion. When you get to the bottom two pegs, wrap straight across to the opposite end peg and "re-trace" your bottom row of yarn until you get to the top again. 

- Using the loom pick, flip the bottom loop over each top loop, and repeat. 

- Keep going until you reach about 9 inches when folded in half, or 18 inches total. If it's shorter, that's ok, this thing has some stretch to it. 

- Cast off using a crochet hook. Place two live stitches on the crochet hook, yarn over and pull through both loops to make one loop. Then place the next live stitch onto the hook, and pull through both to make one loop. Repeat till you cast off all loops. 

- Leave a 5-foot long tail, then cut the working yarn and draw through last loop.

- Use the short end of the cast on yarn to sew the two ends of the headband together. Sew tightly, to make sure this portion is more narrow than the rest of the headband.

- Now take the long 5-foot cast off yarn tail, and wrap it around and around the narrow part, covering up the two edges that you just sewed together. Weave your yarn around a few strands of the "wrong" side, to tack in place. Weave through a few more times, then cut yarn. 

Loom Knit Headband

I've had so much response on Pinterest over this pin (well, "so much response" for me, anyway!), that I wanted to share what I did to make it. I even hesitate on calling it a pattern because it's so darned easy!

This was the headband I made for the prototype:

And a few snapshots of the process:

I'm just writing up some quick directions and will post the pattern hopefully by the end of the week. 

Chunky Headband

I have been working a lot lately with Lion Brand wool ease thick and quick, which is lovely to work with and knits up very quick. I made a headband in cream with a nice big flower. I also crocheted this hat in purple, for a friend.)

I made another chunky headband for a friend of mine, in cranberry. Perfect for Christmas-time!

Here's a very quick pattern for it: 

Lion Brand Wool Ease Thick and Quick

Size 9mm or 13 US

Cast on 60 stitches

Row 1: Knit 2, Purl 1 across

Repeat Row 1 for 10 more rows, or however wide you want the headband to be

Cost off in pattern

Sew ends together. I made a two-layer crocheted flowed and sewed it in place to cover this seam. 

That's it! The ribs pattern is stretchy so it fits most adult head sizes. Super warm and cozy :)

Crocheted headbands

I've been making a lot of crocheted headbands for the Magee Market Fair this Friday. I have seen a number of different patterns, but just made this one up as I went along. I kept increasing until I got the width that I wanted. I added a crocheted flower because I just love crocheted flowers.

PLEASE excuse how crazy I look in these pics!