The knitting pattern for Quarry Twist Headband, a cozy textured headband, is now available!
This headband is the perfect solution to keeping warm in between seasons, or when a hat feels like too much layering while you’re wearing a face mask. It’s so easy to throw on with all kinds of outfits and always helps me look put together. I’ve worn a few headbands over the years, but the fit was never perfect, and they honestly became more annoying than exciting to wear. This headband is designed to be cozy and comfy, plus I designed it in two sizes to help you get a better fit. It’s everything I had in mind!
Download Quarry Twist Headband on Ravelry and on Etsy
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Quarry Twist Headband is knit in medium (worsted) weight yarn but you can use any fiber content. That means you can easily grab some yarn from your stash and cast on. I used Ella Rae Classic Wool from my stash and love how it turned out in this 100% wool yarn. Next, I can’t wait to try some cotton based yarn so that I have a spring-friendly version of the Quarry Twist Headband. That’s one of the reasons I love this pattern so much — it’s a great stashbusting project because it can work with whatever medium weight yarn you already have on hand. It’s a goal of mine to repurpose as much of the yarn in my stash as I can, and this pattern will be a go-to solution of mine for that!
If you need some suggestions for yarns to try, here are some that my amazing test knitters used in their samples.
Quarry Twist Headband Yarn Suggestions:
- Heartland® by Lion Brand
- Wool of the Andes Worsted by Knit Picks
- Comfy Worsted by Knit Picks
- Vintage by Berroco
- Rios by Malabrigo
This headband is also a great pattern for beginner knitters who are ready to learn how to knit in the round. It’s a good choice for learning how to knit in the round because there are no complicated decreases, like on the crown of a hat, a popular first project to try knitting in the round. It’s also only knit and purl stitches, so it’s a meditative knit in which you can work on perfecting your essential stitches!
As you can see, there’s a lot that I love about the Quarry Twist Headband. And one part that I love so much and haven’t talked about yet is how it got its name. A lot of people wonder what comes first — the name or the pattern. And for me, it depends! But for the Quarry Twist Headband, the stitch pattern came first. The dot stitch pattern is a classic texture, and I’d already been wearing the headband out and about before I settled on a name for it.
I live in Southern Indiana, very close to a few limestone quarries. If you’ve ever seen a quarry, the stone is chiseled off in blocks, leaving the edges of the quarry looking like a dotted landscape. (That’s not an official description of how stone is harvested, of course, but that’s my outsider’s opinion!) These dotted gridlines very much remind me of the Quarry Twist Headband dot stitch pattern, and hence the name was born!
One of the biggest tips I can give when making the Quarry Twist Headband is not to cast on your stitches too tightly, especially for the smaller size option in the pattern. I suggest this because when you go to join the stitches for knitting in the round, it may be a stretch to get the stitches to meet on a 16″ circular needle. They will, however, fit much better after you work a few rounds.
My preferred cast on method is the long tail cast on. I love the clean edge it gives my work, and it’s a good option for most projects. I recently came across this video from knitting expert Patty Lyons (yes, she’s really an expert!) about creating an elastic long tail cast on, and it’s changed my cast on stitches for the better! Take a look, and it’ll make a big difference when you cast on for the Quarry Twist Headband.
I’ve learned a lot of small but impactful tips from her over the years, and this one is near the top of my favorites.
More details about the Quarry Twist Headband, including measurements and needle size, are available on the Quarry Twist Headband Pattern Page.
Download Quarry Twist Headband on Ravelry and on Etsy
If you make this headband, please share on Instagram with the hashtag #QuarryTwist and tag me @KnitJulep. I’ll try to share each of your projects!
Happy knitting!
Kim
knitjulep.com 