Cabled Headband

It is often acknowledged that constraints are what make creation fun. Being able to do absolutely anything can, in fact, be daunting to the point of creative paralysis — fortunately, this is rarely a problem. Life often presents us with constraints such as time, money, and accessibility.

Why not meet them halfway?

I work with a lot of scraps. I can’t always afford to buy more materials, and I dislike being wasteful. Every time I work with scraps, I have an automatic set of constraints in the amount and type of material, the color, and whether I have other materials that will work well with it.

After I finished knitting my sweater last month, I had leftover Cascade Yarns Sierra in the colorway 48 Apple Green. It’s an 80/20 wool/cotton blend, which isn’t a type of yarn that I use often. Rather than put it away and possibly never touch it again, I wanted to knit it into something right away.

I decided on the Cabled Headband by Jennifer Hagan. The pattern is published in “The Knitter’s Book of Yarn” by Clara Parkes.

The pattern is easy to follow, and works up as quickly as one would expect for a headband. For myself, I found the recommended 17 repeats to be a little large, although 16 repeats were a little small. I went with 17 repeats then ran the headband through the washer and dryer, which shrunk the cotton and wool to just the right size.

To be honest, I haven’t worn headbands in years. My hair is thick and fights against that sort of constraint — there’s that word again! This headband, however, is wide enough that it seems to be able to hold its own against my hair. I like that I can pull it over my ears for extra warmth, or pull it lower over my forehead to catch perspiration when I’m being active, or simply use it as a decorative way to keep my hair out of my face.

I have a bit more of the yarn remaining in an assortment of shorter lengths. I’m trying to think of a way to work it into one more project. I may need to revisit my supply of 100% cotton worsted weight yarn to see if I have any coordinating colors that spark ideas.

What constraints do you find yourself working within most often?