Flower Earwarmer

Recently I've been doing a bit of knitting for other people. The first item was following the kind of request that every knitter loves; my Grandmother phoned to say that she really loves the cowl I made her a couple of Christmases ago, wears it all the time, and would I possibly consider making her one in White for her birthday.

No problem Grandma! said I.

In hindsight my first mistake was leaving it until 4 days before the date it had to be posted to start looking at patterns.

if I'd chosen something sensible, like extra bulky weight yarn, that would have been fine, but my second mistake was to select fingering weight yarn.

The third mistake was to knit Pretty Thing (Ravelry Link). On looking at the finished item I concluded that it was indeed an incredibly pretty thing, but somehow I couldn't picture my dog-walking, country-loving, welly-wearing grandma wearing something quite so lacy and pretty.

So I started over, and sort of made up a pattern. Fourth mistake. It was more what I was after, but you could have fitted three grandmas in there.

By now, I was in a bit of a rush, so I got out the sewing machine, sort of sewed it in half and cut away the excess, blocked and dried it with the hair dryer and off it went to Grandma. With no time for photos. Not my finest piece of work, but I think it turned out ok.

The second request was via my mum. A family friend had admired the ear warmer I made my mum - mum was going to stay with said friend this weekend and would I make one for her to take as a gift?
This one was much easier. And I even finished it in time to take a photo.

I'm sure anyone could figure his out for themselves, but here's what I did:

Disclaimer: I'm not a knitwear designer

Yarn: Rowan Cocoon
Needles: 5mm
Gauge: 4 stitches per inch in stockingette

Cast on 60 stitches using a stretchy cast on method, join to work in round and place a stitch marker.

Rows 1 - 6: (K2, P2) repeat to end.
Row 7: (K1, m1r, K3) repeat to end
Row 8: Knit
Row 9: (K1, m1r, K1, m1L, K3) repeat to end
Row 10: Knit
Row 11: (K1, m1R, K3, m1L, K3) repeat to end
Row 12: Knit
Rows 13 - 18: (K2, P2) repeat to endBind off with a stretchy method - I used the sewn bind-off and weave in ends.

Flower

 

CO 105 stitches
Row 1: K1, *k2, sl1, k2tog, psso, k2, YO; rep from *, K1

Row 2: K1, *p6, YO, rep from *, k1.

Row 3: K1, *k2, sl1, k2tog, psso, k2, YO; rep from *, K1.

Row 4: K1, *p6, YO, rep from *, k1.

Row 5: BO knitwise.

Coil up the bound off edge and stitch in place so it looks like a rose.

Sew flower to headband. I sewed it to a broach pin so the recipient can decide whether to wear it with a flower or not.

Wear and enjoy warm ears!