One of the many things that I love about knitting is fair-isle or stranded colorwork. Honestly, you couldn't pay me to do intarsia (all those ends and bobbins!), though I know a lot of people love it. Look at this gorgeous insanity ("Foolish Virgins" cardigan by Kaffe Fassett):
The woman who knit this said she had FORTY bobbins of different colors going on each row. Excuse me while I curl up weeping in the fetal position. But hey more power to her!
But give me a good two-color knitting pattern and off I go! I love this:
(Bird in Hand mittens)
And this!
(We Call Them Pirates hat - lost at school for 6 terrible months and then found in the Lost & Found on the last day of school! Didn't have to sell boy to the gypsies after all.)
In the spirit of all that colorwork, I came up with an easy and fun introduction to two-color knitting, Easy Fair Isle Headbands!
Look!
They're good for ladies and men! They're warm (double layer of fabric)! They're easy (no increasing or decreasing and only 16 rows of colorwork!) and don't use a huge amount of yarn. They look great on the ski slopes, on the sidelines of your kid's soccer game, or gadding about town. They keep your hair tidy and fabulous and your ears nice and toasty-warm. They'd make a quick thoughtful gift for a teacher (those cold afternoons on the playground!) or friend.
I love the classic look of the color combinations above, but thought I'd take one of my million balls of Noro Kureyon (a self-striping yarn famous for its insane combination of colors) and use that as one of the colors. Here's the result:
Waah! Super-love!
I'm giving away two copies of the pattern with the following yarn (delicious Mission Falls Wool).
Leave a comment below* or on Facebook with your yarn choice AND your favorite part of the Thanksgiving meal. Mine is my mother's old favorite, mashed rutabagas. Also I love that jellied cranberry sauce - from a can!!
*don't forget to include your email address
15 comments:
I love this! I want to make some for my daughter, a mail carrier. She loves to wear these! I'd like the pattern, even if I don't win the yarn! My favorite part of the T-giving meal is the dressing, however it's NOT Thanksgiving without Jellied Cranberry Sauce (from a can). My daughter would disown me if I didn't server that! lol
I love the colors of yarn. I think that my favorite would be the golden one. I am a new knitter and would love any free patterns. The thing that I like most at Thanksgiving is the dressing that my grandmother made. I can't seem to duplicate it.
Wow! Beautiful - perfect for an early morning weekend walk at Valley Green so your ears don't turn into popsicles! Love the navy yarn, and would pair it with some stash Kureyon...so I could buy some more! Best part of the Thanksgiving feast - STUFFING - never met a carbohydrate I didn't fall in love with. Hope you have a great Thanksgiving - Cindy
Hi... That gold mission falls color would look lovely with the other, wouldn't it?? Dee-vine. And my favorite part of the Thanksgiving meal?? It would have to be the pat of the tummy and nap that ensues after a delicious meal with ALLLLL the trimmings!
You are scary, my plan is to learn to do fair isle after the holidays and poof you do this!
My favorite part of the thanksgiving meal is the homemade stuffing my hubby makes for me every year because I don't like sage so he does it all by hand with lots of celery etc.
It's also the day I gave birth to my first born many moons ago, so every so often we have birthday cake on thanksgiving! :)
Happy Thanksgiving!
I want to make about a dozen of these!! Everyone will love them. I like to see lots of contrast - like white with ink, denim or charco. My "new" favorite Thanksgiving tradition is that my son cooks dinner. For the last three years, and again this year, we travel to their home and have a wonderful time. The dressing is always special.
Oh, D, these are wonderful!! And I thought there were only 2 or 3 of us in the world who like rutabagas. My favorite part is the thing I always bring (my brother does the heavy work) -- equal parts sweet potato, butternut squash, and carrots, cooked as you wish and mashed together. Then equal parts butter, honey, and lemon juice melted together with a bunch [please note specific nature of this recipe] of grated ginger root, and that then stirred in to the mashed orange stuff. SOOO good!
Yarn: I like blue and white.
Hi Diana! I love the darker color yarns, can't wuite tell the difference between them. My favorite Thanksgiving tradition is my Mom's baked apples filled with whipped cream. Yum!!
Oh, what a cool giveaway! Just the incentive to finally try Fair Isle, which I have been avoiding the same way I have been avoiding socks! LOL I would love to do blue and white for my attempt. My favorite part of the Thanksgiving meal is dessert! I have finally successfully recreated my mother's sweet potato pie, so I am somewhat of a holiday hero now! Go me!
i love these! i would love to make one. if i win,i would like the navy blue yarn. i love mashed potatoes at my thanksgiving meal. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
Wow, I would be very thankful for any color - just beautiful! My favorite part of the Thanksgiving meal has to be the dressing and gravy! When else do you get to eat this? My mom also makes Julia Child's chocolate mousse, which is a family tradition for the last 20 years. Happy Thanksgiving to all!
I like the navy and white together.
My favorite part of Thanksgiving dinner is the pumpkin pie.
Theresa N
weceno(at)yahoo(dot)com
The deep gold shade with the navy would be a striking combination.
My favorite part of Thanksgiving dinner is the prayer (!) and when I save room for pumpkin pie and pile up an absolute mountain of fresh whipped cream on top. I always have hot tea to go with it. Yum.....can't wait.
That darker blue is pretty as well as these patterns :) Love the headband! I would be heartbroken if there wasn't dressing at Thanksgiving. It wouldn't feel right without it.
kimberly.mace (at) gmail (dot) com
Apple pie, everything from scratch, all organic & locally grown ingredients. Thanksgiving gives me an excuse to make this fattening and time-consuming favorite. I love the pumpkin-colored yarn, which reminds me that I also love good old Southern sweet potato pie about as much as apple!
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