Monica Knits

These sweetheart head and wristbands were inspired by the colors of the spring blooming, heart-shaped dicentra (bleeding heart); cream, with dark and light pinks.

This high relief, textured hair band, is 2-3/8" wide, knitted flat and joined to form a ring using a Kitchener (grafting) stitch. Optionally, the band can be seamed at the center back to form the ring. The design features garter stitch borders, a center cable of light pink Xs and dark pink Os and slip stitch accents. The band stretches in both directions so it is forgiving, size wise.
The pattern is provided in written and charted formats for medium headband (19"-21") and wristband (6"-7") circumferences. Instructions for custom sizing are also included. Read more for gauge, yarn and other pattern information:

The "How-to: J-hook Cable Needle" video featured in Sunday's article also introduced a tool that, strictly speaking, I haven't used before: the point protector. The tip for using point protectors in conjunction with cable knitting came from Shilda, who took up knitting a few months ago, and has already knitted more than 12 cabled wrist warmers in a rainblow of hues, and a headband and legwarmers in a matching hugs and kisses cable pattern. Read more ... for additional information and links ...

The J-hook or shepherd's crook cable needle offers a number of advantages for knitting cables. Because it has both a leading and trailing arm of different lengths, the chances of twisting the stitches are minimized, because you can more easily tell if the cable needle has been twisted, when compared to cable needles whose arms are equal in length and symmetrical. In addition, the deep U holds the stitches well so that they do not slip off easily. Read more .... for stepwise illustrated instructions and a video demonstrating J-hook use.

Small touches change the appearance of the hugs and kisses wristwarmers. In the first photo, the mother-of-pearl buttons are used so that they coordinate with the lacy blue leg warmers shown on the right. Read more for photos showing two additional variations: a) heart-shaped buttons, and without embellishment. Click on a thumbnail to view a larger image.