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. 

Owlings to the rescue

I am generally a very organised person, but for some reason I leave knitted presents to the last minute, which means that I:

1. Get a bit flustered when trying to decide what to make and
2. Have to knit like a maniac to get the project done.

I was very happy when my friend asked me to knit her something for her birthday rather than buy a gift. But, as per above schedule, I started thinking about it less than a week before the gift was due. Again, as per above schedule, I looked at loads and loads of patterns of fingerless gloves (at least I had half settled on a type of gift) and even started making one until I decided I didn't like it.

So, its Tuesday night and the gift is due to be given on Saturday. You continue being overwhelmed with patterns. What do you do? Go back to an old faithful! I have made Fetching twice already, and you can tell how popular it is from the fact it has been made over 20,000 times (and that's just on Ravelry). It's just an easy, quick and very satisfying pattern, and rightfully deserves to be so popular.

I have also made its other incarnation, Owlings, once before, and being an owlette I decided that it was fate.

The beauty with making patterns that you have knitted before is that you don't need to think about it too much. I should have checked my  gauge because I was using a different yarn (Manos wool classica) but I just assumed that decreasing the cast-on stitches from 45 to 35 would still be fine. I must have small hands or knit too loosely, but 45 was just huge on me the first time I made these, and I have stuck to 35 ever since.

I also modified the pattern to add a thumb gusset because I think they work better. I wanted to think about it myself but it was 10pm and my brain was fried - thankfully, another raveler had already posted some instructions, so I based mine on hers:

1. Knit two rounds following the rib pattern after the owling cable is complete
2. K2, place marker, m1, place marker, follow pattern to end of round
3. Knit 2 rounds in rib pattern
4. K2, slip marker, m1, knit to next marker, m1, slip marker, follow pattern to end of round
5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 until there are 11 stitches between the two markers
6. On next round, k2, slip the 11 stitches onto waste yarn, join and follow pattern to end of round.
7. Knit 4 rows in rib pattern
8. Follow owling cable pattern
9. Knit one row on rib pattern and bind off loosely

I tried doing 8 rows instead of 4 in step 7 but they just looked a bit odd to me, too long.

For the thumb, I picked up the stitches plus and extra three from in between to avoid holes, and knitted 4 rows. I was a little drunk at the time, so they were purls rather than knits (I must have been going the wrong way round), but I though they looked quite cute so left them like that.

Shocking pink pair of owls

Owl close-up 

And a happy customer!

Peanut butter chocolate squares (brownies-ish)

I have concluded that each year I find a 'weird' baking type to follow and stick to rather than regular cakes, possibly because it sounds more interesting and challenging, possibly because I associate some sort of health benefit to it. Last year it was the vegetable cakes, and now this year it seems I am becoming interested in raw and vegan baking.

I decided not to buy yet another cookbook, but I had a look at the Post-punk kitchen website, as their recipe books seem to feature very heavily on Amazon while I was researching vegan baking books. There, I came across a recipe for a peanut butter blondie, and just the mention of peanut butter for me means it is love at first sight!

As usual, I did not follow the recipe as written, because what could be better than a peanut butter square, but a peanut butter and chocolate square (mmm, peanut butter and chocolate...). There is something insanely delicious about this combination that works even with slightly disgusting ingredients in things like reeces peanut butter cups.

Anyway, here is my modified recipe:

230 gr crunchy peanut butter (I used Meridian, which is a natural one)
30 gr coconut oil (the original recipe called for rapeseed oil, so I am sure that would work fine too)
100 gr brown sugar (for my non-sweet tooth, add more to make them sweeter)
60 ml almond milk (apparently any non-dairy milk would do here)
150 gr flour
Half tsp baking powder
Half tsp salt
3-4 tsps cacao powder
chocolate chips

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C
2. Mix the peanut butter, sugar and coconut oil in a bowl. I didn't bother melting the coconut oil first but it may have made the mixing a little easier.
3. Add the almond milk and mix through
4. Add the dry ingredients and mix until it becomes like a dough. At this point it resembled more of a cookie dough than a brownie mix, and so I mixed it further by hand.
5. Line a small dish with baking paper and spread the mixture as evenly as possibly, using your hands and then a flat spatula to even it out at the top. Try to stop yourself from eating the raw dough.
6. Bake for around 20-25 minutes, until the ends look slightly crisp. The top will have coloured slightly but the inside will still be very soft.
7. Cool on a wire rack and then cut into squares.

Slightly crispy on the top, gooey and soft in the middle

Verdict: really yummy! As noted above, I had to stop myself from eating the raw dough (no eggs for those who are concerned about these things, so bonus).

Some crumbling issues, which I attributed to the lack of eggs, but after reading the comments at the bottom of the original recipe it sounds like the kind of peanut butter used might also have a role - they seem to suggest that a creamy peanut butter like the ones you buy in the supermarket is better at holding these together. If you do make them with a different kind of peanut butter and get no crumbliness, let me know!