Wednesday, January 8, 2014

DIY Easy Knit Turban Headband



I've been making a lot of headbands lately. I made a bunch as Christmas gifts but then never really stopped! They're just so fun! I had been seeing this style of headband around and thought, "I could make that!"

This is an insanely easy pattern. Spoiler alert! It's stockinette stitch with one cable. It follows a simple formula so whatever yarn or needles you want to use, you can easily amend the instructions.

Here's what I used for mine:

Yarn: Bernat Roving (surprised?) in Plum
Needles: US 13

CO 14

Row 1: P1, K12, P1
Row 2: K1, P12, K1

Repeat rows 1 and 2 until you are halfway done your headband.

Best practice is to measure your head first and divide the number by two. For example, I make my headbands 18 inches long so when I got to 9 inches I stopped. (Make sure to stop when you've finished a purling row so you're ready to cable.)

Cable Row 1: P1, cable 12 forward (slip 6 stitches onto your cable needle and hold in front, K6, K6 off your cable needle), P1
Cable Row 2: K1, P12, K1

Continue repeating the original rows 1 and 2 until the headband is long enough to fit comfortably around your head.

Bind off.

Use a yarn needle to seam the ends and weave in the tails.


HOW TO ADAPT IT:

This pattern is easily adaptable so you are free to make this whatever width with whatever yarn you want. It might take a few false starts to get the width right (this pattern took me 3!) but this is such a quick knit it's worth the extra time to make sure it's perfect!

Always cast on an even number of stitches. Subtract 2 for the knit edges and divide that number in 2 for your cable row. For example for thinner yarn:

CO 20

Row 1: P1, K18, P1
Row 2: K1, P18, K1

Cable Row 1: P1, cable 18 forward (slip 9 stitches onto your cable needle and hold in front, K9, K9 off your cable needle) P1
Cable Row 2: K1, P18, K1

Or if you have really thick yarn on really fat needles:

CO 8

Row 1: P1, K6, P1
Row 2: K1, P6, K1

Cable Row 1: P1, cable 6 forward (slip 3 stitches onto your cable needle and hold in front, K3, K3 off your cable needle) P1
Cable Row 2: K1, P6, K1

You get the idea! Any questions, leave a comment below.

Thanks for reading!

20 comments:

  1. This was very easy to make and went together quickly

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  2. Used your tutorial and linked back to it on my blog! Thanks for this! Hope you have a great day!

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  3. What a great headband! Really nice work. xoxo

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  4. Really awesome ty so much!

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  5. You look adorable! Almost convinced me to give it a try, but I always look like I'm in costume when I wear a headband.

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  6. I have cabled before but got alittle mixed up when you said Cable 12 (pull 6 stitches forward on cable needle) Do you place 6 on cable needle and pull forward and then knit 6 and then knit the ones on the cable needle??

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    1. That's correct! Sorry for the confusion. The total stitches involved in the cable is 12. So yes, you slip 6 stitches onto the cable needle, hold them there as you knit the following 6 and then knit the 6 you were holding off the needle. :)

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  7. That's so beautiful ! I just had one question, how large is your headband ? Because I don't have US13 needle and I don't want to buy them, so I'll do it with what I have but the proportions of your headband are great :)

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  8. what weight yarn? Many thanks!

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  9. I've never cabled before but thought this would be a good start. My headband is now folded over on itself and tight right after the cable. I've tried it a few times and can't figure out my misstep. What do I do?

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    1. Same here! I've done it over three times and keep getting a folded over mess! I have no idea what I am doing wrong. Any help would be much appreciated!

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    2. Just keep stitching! The row after a cable is always tight, as you really are folding one half of the entire headband over the other. Once you do a few more rows of the stockinette it will have more room to flatten itself out. Good luck!

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  10. I found this link on Pinterest and had to try it. Very nice and so easy! I'm a novice knitter and it is nice to find patterns which help me practice my skills. Thanks for sharing!

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  11. If I can't get the Bernat Roving yarn is there anything else you could recommend?

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  12. This is so cute! I will definitely have to attempt this at some point! Thank you for sharing.

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  13. I love this headband! I am almost through making it but I am having the same issue as earlier commented, the piece rolls up on itself completely. Did you block it? Do you have to just adjust it when you put ti on and it stretches out and you unroll the edges?

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