Playing

 I've been wanting to fiddle around with headbands for a while now.  I have a couple ideas sketched, but I have never knit a headband before, so I figured I'd better do that before I go attempting any of my ideas.

I started out with a simple idea - mostly stockinette stitch with a little seed stitch to keep the edges flat. I sewed on two buttons underneath and made 3 button holes in case it eventually stretches out and I have to button it tighter.   The flower was a bit less of a production than I intended, but that's only because by the time I got around to making it, I had already made 3 headbands and used up most of my yarn.  Future flowers will be a little fancier. :)

I started working on these around 10:30 in the morning and had completed 3 of them by 4 in the afternoon.  Also during that time, I ate lunch and spent an hour volunteering at my son's school (althought, admittedly, I spent most of that time knitting since all I had to do was sit at a table and sell raffle tickets - and no one was buying them!)  Anyway, what I'm trying to say is that these whip up fast.  I was using worsted/Aran weight - or I think I was.  The yarn label is MIA, but it was Lion Brand "Jiffy", and I was getting 4 stitches per inch on US 8 needles.  Each headband took about an hour to complete and the flower was maybe 30 minutes.  And those time estimates include the time it took me to measure gauge, figure out how the short row pattern would work, and write it out.  So chances are, you might be able to knit yours faster than I did.

Let me just say how exciting it was to use my new knowledge of Japanese short rows, recently gained from the Craftsy Short Row class from Carol Fuller.  This was the perfect application for them.  They worked beautifully and you really can not see where the short rows turned.  There's not even the slightest difference in the stitches that are next to the gap.  Very exciting for a short-row lover like me!

This won't be the last you hear about head bands from me.  I'll need a bit of time to work out exactly what I want to do next with them, but now that I have the basics down, I'm looking forward to coming up with something original to add to the category!