Okay, I confess to a love affair with the designs of Joan Rowe as published in Joan's Gardens. In recent weeks I put together kits for her Stranded Yin-Yang Cats Beanies and for her Cats On A Roof Beanie.
Today it is the turn of her Chameleon Headband.
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Please be sure to get the pattern directly from the designer on her Ravelry page here. What we offer is simply a set of yarns that will help you make a most beautiful creation.
Please note that buttons are not included in the kit.
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The Design
Here is what Joan writes:
The headband is adjustable and consists of 2 sides – one for the chameleon to be attached and the other to hide all those ends.
The 2 sides are then joined with a modified 3 needle bind off. This also prevents the headband from stretching out of shape.
Lastly buttons are added to allow the size to be adjusted by about 1” (2.7 cm).
The headband itself is also easily shortened or lengthened for smaller or larger sizes than those listed. It will be about 5” (12.5 cm) wide at its widest point.
Yarn and Colorways
Here is what Joan says is needed:
For the headband: Light DK or Sport weight yarn. 100 yds (91 m)
For the chameleon she says one can use any yarn, but yarn that includes at least 50% wool will hold the shape better.
She also notes that the headband is easy knitting, but the chameleon is not. The chameleon is an experienced level pattern, using several techniques, and is quite fiddly to do.
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What we put together is a set of yarn quite different than the one she knit her original one in.
For the headband we offer from Schoppel the sport weight Starke 6, with 75% wool + 25% nylon and wound into balls of 437 yards per 150 gram ball. The yarn is plied with long color spans. This colorway is called Fohnlage and has somewhat subdued colors including yellow-green, gray, charcoal, pink and soft blue.
For the chameleon we have the almost-solid colorway Sea Urchin in the sport weight Silk Blend from Manos Del Uruguay (70% extrafine merino wool, 30% silk and with approx. 150 yds / 135 mts per 1.75 oz / 50 g). This is a deep rich aubergine.
For the details of the chameleon we thought it best to add a few mini-skeins of Teenie Weenie Wool (75% wool + 25% nylon skein giving 44 yards/ 10g), one each in Chartreuse, Ecru, and Sand (to my eye, a butterscotch).
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You could, of course, knit the headband in the Sea Urchin Silk Blend and the Chameleon in the Fohnlage Starke 6. Or even use sections of the Fohnlage in amongst the Sea Urchin as highlights to tie everything together. There is more than enough yardage of each to "play".
