30 December 2019

Warm head, warm heart

Frost-Fighter Headband by Anna Ravenscroft, Anna Alway Designs
The last blogpost of the year, and the last in my Autumn Accessories series! Thank you for all the lovely messages you have sent me about the series – I am so glad that you enjoyed this round-up of accessories to start work on now ready for the chilly weather ahead.

So in my last blogpost I was looking at some lovely hats to knit for the Winter season. However, things get tricky when you have a pony tail, don’t they… You want to keep warm but your favourite hat won't fit. You can lift your parka hood up but that still doesn't bring the circulation back into your ears and you start to believe the old wives' tail about losing half of your body heat through your head in winter!

So here's the solution: a cozy headband or ear-warmer. Quick to knit, easy to make and super-stylish, these small accessories are a must for the deep winter. Here are two of my favourites that you can knit now ready for the New Year snows.
Frost-Fighter Headband and Mitts by Anna Ravenscroft, Anna Alway Designs
The two photos above show Anna's Frost-Fighter Headband and Mitts – a super combination to keep both your ears and hands warm. You’ll recognise the fingerless mitts from an earlier blogpost, I’m sure. The headband is worked in the same pattern for a co-ordinated set.

Anna tells me that she especially likes using the headband when she is out on her morning run as it not only keeps her warm but also keeps her hair out of her eyes. The set is worked in one of my favourite yarns, Willow and Lark 'Nest' and the pattern includes two different sizes.
Ribbed Cable from Reversible Knitting Stitches by Moira Ravenscroft & Anna Ravenscroft, Wyndlestraw Designs
Both the headband and mitts feature a lovely stitch from our Reversible Knitting Stitches book. ​This is Ribbed Cable, which is a wonderfully graphic stitch with quite a different look on the front and the back. The pattern has a wonderfully deep texture which really keeps the heat in. The ribs have a wonderfully soft, slightly padded feel so the headband is soft and squishy against chilly ears.
Teversham Headwarmer and Cowl by Moira Ravenscroft, Wyndlestraw Designs
Then next is the Teversham Headwarmershown here with the matching cowl which I featured in an earlier blogpost in this series. This is a lovely deep headwarmer and is shaped to the head like an open-topped hat to give a cozy fit for a "messy bun hat" look. The pattern includes three sizes of headwarmer together with the separate cowl which would make a good men's accessory for that all-important couples' look on the ski-slopes.

Both of these are worked using two ends of a DK yarn held together which gives a really toasty result. Holding two ends of yarn together at the same time traps air into every stitch, giving a warmer result than when using a single end of a thicker yarn. The combination of the soft merino mix yarns and the deep, textural pattern gives a winning head-warming combination.
Teversham Headwarmer and Cowl by Moira Ravenscroft, Wyndlestraw Designs
Both the headwarmer and the cowl are worked in a textured double rib pattern which is a variation of the Hatfield Check pattern from our Reversible Knitting Stitches book The stitch is easy to work and gives a wonderfully graphic spin on a double rib design. ​
Teversham Headwarmer and Cowl by Moira Ravenscroft, Wyndlestraw Designs
Both the headwarmer and the cowl have colour bands which are worked with either two ends of the same colour or a tweedy combo of the dark and light yarns for a snow-speckled effect.

I hope that has given you some ideas for some cozy headwarmers to keep your ears warm in these ultra-chilly days. If you would like to see more ideas for keeping warm this winter, then please click here to go to the start of the Autumn Accessories series.

It's almost New Year so if you have snow where you are, I hope you will enjoy wearing your new cozy accessories while you have fun snow-tubing, ski-ing or having a fun snowball fight!

Until next time – Happy New Year Knitting!

Moira
Reversible Knitting Stitches by Moira Ravenscroft & Anna Ravenscroft, Wyndlestraw Designs

Last Blogpost: Hats for the Winter season
Autumn Accessories Series #1: Autumn Accessories
Next Up:
 
20 for 2020

Our book: Reversible Knitting Stitches
My Website: www.wyndlestrawdesigns.com
Keywords: Patterns/Accessories, Autumn Accessories Series,
autumn, #autumnaccessories, winter, headband, headwarmer, textured stitches, Anna Ravenscroft, Anna Alway,

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