Monica Knits

The photo shows the cabled headband in process, after blocking, before joining in the round, since it is easier to photograph this way. This is the fifth cabled headband I've knitted, but the first in acrylic yarn. My girlfriend brought a skein of frosty green yarn over and asked if I could knit her a headband like mine, so that's what I did yesterday evening. The pattern is easy to memorize. Read more ....

Design Features. This high relief, textured hairband, 4-1/4" wide x 18-3/4" long, is joined to form a ring using a grafting stitch. It features garter stitch borders, a 5-strand plaited center cable and vertical bands with slip stitch accents. The garter stitch side bands do double duty: providing a nice edge finish and hugging the head, ensuring a good fit. The design stretches in both directions so it is very forgiving and is a women's size medium. It is easy to lengthen or shorten the band by increasing or decreasing the number of pattern repeats.

Construction of the Headband
For this variation of Jennifer Hagan's cabled headband, I used worsted weight acrylic yarn and 3.5 mm circular needles. As before it began with a provisional cast on. Please refer to the links below for tips and additional techniques for knitting single and two color versions of this braided headband. The headband was blocked with steam as were the others, but with acrylic it is important, to both set the shape and prevent melting it with an iron.

Yarn: Red Heart, 8 oz (225 g) skein, 100% acrylic, worsted weight (medium 4), E300, color 0661 Frost Green, USA (Coats & Clark, Greenville, SC). The yarn recommended 5 mm needles, but I used 3.5 mm to achieve the desired dimensions. You need about 1 oz of yarn to complete the headband.

Pattern Source
Jennifer Hagan design in, "The Knitter's Book of Yarn - The Ultimate Guide to Choosing, Using, and Enjoying Yarn," by Clara Parkes, Potter Craft, pp. 186-187, 2007. Potter Craft is an imprint of Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc. N.Y.

Related Posts:
Grafting "In Pattern"
Cabled Headband - 2 (two color - gold and red Patons merino wools)
Braided Headband - 2 (single color - gold Patons merino wool)
Cherry Licorice Headband (single color - red Patons merino wool)