A knitting owlette original - the maymay headband

Since I started knitting, like most people I have followed patterns, seeking inspiration through the many pages on ravelry. I have modified patterns to better suit my tastes or needs, but that's where it ended. But the other day I thought: why not try to design some of my own?

Given my headband obsession, it seemed fitting to start there, and so I present the maymay headband. This cute little accessory (which is a little weather-inappropriate in the UK at the moment) will keep your ears warm and not mess up your hair. It is based on the xoxo honeycomb pattern, surrounded by 3 rows of 2x2 rib to provide elasticity. 

If you are wondering about the name, it is named after the phrase for I love you in Furbish - yes, Furbish (remember Furbies from the late 90s?). Given that the pattern is xoxo (ie hugs and kisses) and that I made it for my friend Kathryn who I used to use the phrase with, it just seemed right! 

Materials

5mm circular needles, cable needle

Yarn: Manos de Uruguay wool classica (or other similar aran-weight yarn)

Gauge

I had some trouble calculating this (first time and all) but the gauge will not be massively important unless you are way off

13 stitches in xoxo honeycomb pattern= 2 inches

Abbreviations

k: knit

p: purl

c4b: place 2 stitches on cable needle and hold to the back, knit the next 2 stitches and then knit the stitches on the cable needle

c4f: place 2 stitches on cable needle and hold to the front, knit the next 2 stitches and then knit the stitches on the cable needle

Pattern

Cast on 90 stitches and join in the round, being careful not to twist

Row 1: *k2 p2*, repeat until last 2 stitches, k2

Rows 2,3: repeat row 1

Rows 4, 5: k across

Row 6: k *c4f c4b c4b c4f* repeat from * until last 5 stitches, c4f c4b k

Rows 7, 8, 9: k across

Row 10: k *c4b c4f c4f c4b* repeat from * until last 5 stitches, c4b c4f k

Row 11: k across

Repeat rows 4-11 once more

Next 3 rows: repeat rows 1-3 once more

Bind off loosely, hide the loose ends and block lightly

That's it! Pretty simple but gives a very interesting cable that looks like XO.

XO or hourglass I guess?

I tried to write everything out as detailed as possible, but I have missed anything please let me know so that I can bear in mind for next time or modify this pattern. I have also added it on ravelry.

A hood obsession

I have developed a slight hood obsession, quite possibly because we had quite the rainy winter here in the UK. Not only rain, but wind too, which usually means that there is no way you can hold an umbrella up.

Yes, hoods are clearly the answer, but not all my coats have hoods, so what is a girl to do? Well, knit one (or two) of course!

The first one is the Under the cover of midnight cowl from the vampire knits book - not really a hood per se, more like a giant cowl that you can pull over a head to cover your hair. I made this over Christmas but have just been too lazy to write about it for some reason.

The yarn is Colinette One Zero, a bulky loveliness that I picked up at the Alexandra Palace knitting show in October. At the time I was torn between this cowl and the Woodland hoodie from the Woodland Knits book (also picked at the Alexandra Palace knitting show), and so I bought 5 skeins, a compromise between the 4 skeins of the midnight cowl and the 6 skeins of the woodland hoodie.

As it turns out, only 3 were necessary, although I have a vague memory that I may have stopped a little short than what the pattern actually called for because I was on holiday away from home with 3 skeins and wanted to finish it before I got back.

Warding off vampires by covering the neck

As a hood

As a capelet

close-up of the cable

The second hood is actually a crochet hood plus scarf combo - is that called a scood? or a harf? No idea. Anyway, I saw this in Mollie Makes issue issue 37, and it is originally from Aran Nordic Fair Isle translated into English from the original Japanese.

For a change I actually bought the recommended yarn, Drops Karisma, which is insanely cheap for 100% wool and fairly decent, although not as soft as what I would normally go for (I bought it online so lacked the tactile element of the buying process, which normally involves me gently rubbing the skein against my face, weird!).

I thought I had checked my gauged properly, but as I was making it I realised that it was much bigger than what the pattern said,  thankfully early enough to not do two pattern repeats at the top/middle bit of the hood. Similarly, I made the scarf ends shorter (instead following the length directions, although one side is shorter because I ran out of yarn). I also added a slit at the start left scarf to pass the other end through, but it's not been incredibly helpful.

close-up

I can't decide if I like it or not, it doesn't quite look like a scarf when worn (I was jokingly called babushka because it looks more like a headscarf), and the scarf bit of it is not especially warm, so a little pointless.