I saw the cutest thing online. And then I saw it more… it was haunting me. I needed to have it. But it was going for between 30 and 50 dollars… and I am cheap. So I thought to myself, like any craftoholic does, “I could make that!” So I did:
This was a pretty big deal for me because about once a year I vow to never attempt crocheting or knitting again… I actually usually suck badly at it- as proven in this photo of a baby hat I made:
So. Ugly. And if you’re thinking, “you’re probably not thaaat bad, you just need practice and blah blah blah.” You are wrong. This amaazzzing hat was my THIRD TRY. I watched every youtube video and read every tutorial, I even read a book- a real book about crocheting before I tried this! I think the thing that’s hardest for me (other than the fact that this kind of thing is painfully hard on the A.D.D.) is that I suck at controlling tension. And I can’t figure out what hole I’m supposed to stab or whatever. I just suck.
But I wanted this headband sooo so badly. My head is minuscule and hats just don’t usually work with me, but it’s cold up here on this mountain, and my ears need some lovin. And I don’t mean in the form of this.
So off to the craft store I went! I stared at the wall of needles, and since I was at Michaels, and they don’t have employees, I just stared some more. I settled on these:
Because they were shiny and pink.
They are size 7, apparently, and halfway through my project, I realized that if I had gotten fatter needles, It would have made the stitches bigger, and therefor I could have been done quicker. But noooo I had to make my decision based on color and shiny-factor. Oh well, I like how it turned out anyways.
As for yarn, I settled on this:
Because it is Vanna White, duh.
Later I would realize that settling isn’t always a good idea… but enough of this yammering, let’s get to the tutorial!
Okay I guess I’m not reallly doing a ‘tutorial’ on how to knit… but if you want a super easy guide to show you the basics, check out this link here. For my headband, I just casted on, used the most basic knitting stitch, then casted off. It’s all explained in detail on that link and it is totally worth a try!!! My mama taught me how to do this when I but a wee child, and It really was like riding a bicycle- It all came back to me. And I had a wayyyy easier time with it than I do with crocheting. Clearly.
So I’ll at least show you a series of photos showing how my project came along, and then I’ll go into detail about putting the headband together! Let’s go!
I casted on around 22 stitches. Nice face, kid!
This part was originally supposed to be the band but it turned out wayyyy wider than I thought it would (I guess this is why people use “patterns”), so after it grew to be around 3.5 inches, I casted off and decided to use it as the bow.
It was a lil wonky-shaped, but it was still workable! So I set that aside and started my band for the second time. I made sure to use around half as many stitches this time:
12 to be exact.
I was getting better at keeping the stitches consistent- pretty exciting, although this project definitely doesn’t need to be perfect… it definitley got less perfect…
I knitted and knitted… it felt like a long time, but it was around however long The Karate Kid was…
Everything was going smoothly, until…
Vanna!!!
Stinking yarn had some kind of a run in it! what?!?! It was all gross so I had to at least make it look nicer. I cut it and re-tied it, and just kept knitting with it.
I figured that when I was done, I could poke the knot into the inside of the band, so it would be fine. So on I went.
Until…
VANNA!!! 😡
Really?!?! Another one?!?! Is yarn supposed to be like this?!?!
After working through some resentment, I moved on.
BUT THEN:
VANNA MARIE WHITE!!!!! 😡 #@$%!
(Ya I Googled her middle name!)
Deep breaths. Oh golly. Think of the finished product, think of the finished product.
Once the band reached 16 inches long, I decided to cast off. You will probably have to go a bit longer than 16 inches.. but like I said, my head is so soooo small, like kid-sized, so I went with 16 inches. Keep in mind that it is stretchy too, so you don’t need to make it as long as the circumference of your head. You can just keep holding it up to where you want it to fit around your head to see how long it needs to be.
Once the band was done, I just needed to knit up a teensy little piece for the middle of the bow. I just used 8 stitches and made it around 3 inches long. (Oh my gosh real knitters are probably freaking out right now- pardon the lack of skill and terminology!)
Once I had all three pieces done, I tucked in and trimmed off the tails.
Nice tuck. Thanks. Now let’s put this together!
Grab your bow right in the middle and get yourself a needle and some matching thread. You won’t wind up seeing any of the thread, so it doesn’t have to be an exact match.
Slip your needle thru the bottom loop of the thread to make sure it stays put! Now stitch a few times around the bow to keep it all bow-shaped.
Now wrap the bow center around the middle of the bow and stitch it on like this.
I hope you’re getting the idea! Remember this side of the bow (the messy side) will be hidden away from sight!
That is one cute bow. I love bows. They make me so happy! One of my fave people (Annie from Dick and Jane Cloth Diapers) Gave me the cutest bow-ring ever last year for Christmas. And I just made a cute one the other week:
This makes ma heart so darn happy 🙂
I’ve been having fun making jewelry- I will have some super-cute bow earrings and necklaces up for sale at my Etsy Shop soon- just in time for Christmas shopping! 🙂 ANNNDD I just happened to have made a knitting-themed necklace:
Okay well, now that I’m done my bow and jewelry tangent, back to the tutorial:
Take your band and sew it up like this.
Perfect.
Next, scrunch the band right in the middle where your stitches are like this:
And put a few more stitches in to hold that scrunch into place.
Now just stitch the bow onto the band in such a way as to hide any stitches.
Fini! How easy was that?!?!
Now, let’s see this pretty headband on a pretty model. Just scroll back up to the top of this post… just kidding. Here is my sweet lil daughter modeling my headband:
MY headband. I know we have the same sized head, even though you are 8, but it’s mine. All mine. Well, I guess we can share.
Who wouldn’t want to share with her??
Okay I know I’ve mentioned a million times how small my head is, but I really think I need to hit it home.
I am short. 5’4″ to be exact. But I have long legs… longer than most people who are 5’8″. One day I was wondering to myself, “what am I lacking that would cause me to be short yet still have long legs?” I wondered if I had a particularly short torso- I totally don’t- most shirts are short on me! So that only left one option. My head. I am a tall person with a small head. Whatever, at least I have a gigantic bow to add some head size now 😉
Back to the beautiful model:
She is so purdy 🙂
Well I hope this was helpful! And I really hope this has inspired you to get knitting! This headband would be an amazing first project!!!
I must go stir pulled pork and change diapers, so…
Happy Headband-Knitting and Head-Size-Checking.
Busted Button 