From about age eight. Here you measure before you knit — and then it fits your head and nobody else's.
You need
- Chunky yarn
- 6 mm needles
- Tape measure
- Darning needle
This is what you learn
- Measuring before you start
- Knitting to a set measurement
- Sewing into a ring
Measure first
Put the tape measure round your head, just above your ears, where the headband is going to sit.
Write down the number. Take off 2 cm — knitting stretches a little when you wear it, and you want the headband to stay put instead of sliding down.
That number is the length you are going to knit.
Cast on
Cast on 14 stitches. That gives a band that covers your ears.
If you want a narrower band, cast on 10.
Knit
Knit all the stitches, back and forth.
Hold the work up against the tape measure now and then. When the strip is as long as the number you wrote down, you are done.
Cast off
Cast off all the stitches. Leave a long tail of yarn — you use that to sew with.
Sew up
Put the two short ends against each other, so the strip becomes a ring. Make sure the band is not twisted.
Sew the ends together with the darning needle and the yarn tail. Fasten the thread well.
Try it on
If it is too loose, you can sew in another centimetre. If it is too tight, you have to undo the seam and knit a bit longer — and then you have learnt why we measure first.
Well done
Now you have knitted something made to measure. That is how grown-up patterns work too.
Badge: Headband Pro