I started jogging in the mornings before work. I am determined to get some muscles back after too many years of sitting at my desk for most of the day and realizing how out of shape I was during our last family vacation.
I love it! I love the crisp cold air on my face and how quiet it is around the neighborhood at 6 a.m. in the morning. Watching the colors of the sky slowly come alive through the clouds is a treat, and watching as the rest of the neighborhood gets ready for their day is energizing. I feel great knowing that by 7 a.m., even before most people are out of bed, I am already crossing off “exercise” from my daily to-do list.
Running when the temperature is 37 degrees outside is really not as bad as I expected. The only place that ever gets cold are my ears. Every day I am out, I keep thinking how nice it would be to have a headband to keep my ears warm – and help keep my earbuds in place.
I looked around the web for a quick headband pattern and I found one on YouTube, here. This was a new stitch for me. It’s a simple knit/slip combo over an even number of stitches. However, because all the stitches are worked through the back loop, if you are a tight knitter like me, you can end up with very tight stitches, and very slow progress. You may want to cast on more stitches for a wider band. Mine was about 3 inches wide. I really liked this stitch. I can see how it could be part of some future projects.
I used: 100% Highland Wool, Plymouth Galway yarn in sport weight in color Sunflower Heather, 756, 5333 (double-strand from two balls of yarn)
Needles: US #10, 6mm needles
Instructions
Cast on 16 stitches using a long-tail cast on. Then proceed as follows:
Row 1: slip 1, knit 1 repeat until two stitches remain on the left needle. Knit the last two stitches. (all through the back loop (tbl)!)
Row 2: Knit all stitches tbl
Row 3: Knit 2 stitches tbl, slip 1, knit 1 repeat to end
Row 4: Same as row 2
Repeat this 4-row pattern until you reach the desired length for your headband. Pick up 16 stitches from the cast-on edge and bind off using a 3-needle method. The video shows the continental way of knitting this stitch. I think it’s much easier using the English style, holding the yarn on your right hand.