A Super Warm Headband to Knit in a Flash

I love knit headbands and earwarmers because they are almost as warm as wearing a hat without having to actually wear a hat. Since I’m always cold, even inside the house, I really should experiment with wearing a thick earwarmer like this one inside in the cold weather (I already wear fingerless gloves, often thick socks, usually under a blanket).

The Heartbreaker Earwarmer from Mandi Coffeen is worked in two colors of super bulky yarn. Use a bit that’s left over from another project to make the slip stitch pattern that looks like hearts in the middle of the design. Each round of hearts takes about 3 yards, so you could even use a bunch of different colors to make an ombre or rainbow color scheme.

In fact, since it only uses 40 or 50 yards of yarn (37 to 46 meters), you can use leftovers for both colors of yarn. Make a bunch and use all your super bulky stash.

The pattern is written in two sizes, and is easy to adjust if you’d like to make it bigger or smaller. The designer rates it as intermediate but it shouldn’t be too difficult if you’re comfortable working slip stitches and knitting in the round. The pattern includes photos to help you through the technique.

Even better, the pattern also includes a bonus pattern for a coffee cup cozy that uses the same fun slip stitch pattern. you can bet your drink will stay warm and your hand protected with such a thick cozy.

Either or both of these designs would make great gifts to knit up for anyone in your life, and once you get the pattern down you can stitch them up in a flash for bulk knitting (for teacher gifts, coworkers, family, etc.).

You can find the pattern on Ravelry.

[Photo: Mandi Coffeen]

A Super Warm Headband to Knit in a Flash

Knitting Pattern -The Ice Diamond Headband

Looking for more Knitted Headband Patterns? Check these patterns out on Etsy. Headbands are a great gift idea as they knit up fast and are well received by friends and family. Everyone loves wearing Knit headbands right? Check out this free knitted Autumn Ear Warmer headband on our sister site.

Getting ready for back to school makes me think about pencil crafts, so let’s take a look at some pencil themed knitting patterns!

I recently made a pencil on a circular knitting machine, and it was a fun, quick, easy project that uses little bits of leftover yarn (and if you don’t have yellow you can make it a colored pencil using whatever color’s your favorite). And if you want to make a bigger version check out this pattern from Orange Olive Road on Etsy.

If you want to knit a pencil pillow by hand, check out Sketchy, available on Ravelry from Shana S. Cohen. This one uses worsted weight yarn and has two size options and the choice to make a pencil with an eraser or a colored pencil.

Pencil scarves seem to be the most popular kind of pencil knitting pattern, and there are lot of cute ones. This one from Cosy Craft UK mostly uses garter stitch, with some welts to add texture and what looks like an I-cord edging. It calls for DK weight yarn.

If you want to go all garter stitch try this version from Emsley Co Creations, which uses five colors of DK weight yarn and just a little shaping to make the point of the pencil.

There’s also this fun, mostly stockinette so it looks like it curls a bit, pencil pattern that looks like it’s worked in chunky yarn from Little Knits Studio. This one uses just a little garter stitch and easy shaping for the point.

If you don’t want a pencil scarf, how about some pencil socks? The No. 2 Pencil Socks from The Yarn Enabler are available from Ravelry and use five colors of sock yarn. They feature wide ribs to mimic the texture of a pencil and have options to be worked from the top down or the toe up.

Needs Sharpening by Alexander Walker is a free pattern on Ravelry that uses five colors of sock yarn to make a sort of shortie sock. The little bit of black at the tips of the toes inspired the name. These, too, can be worked in either direction and are available in three sizes.

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