Cabled Headband and Cabling Tutorial

I have a friend who is starting to knit and the only skill left for her to learn is to cable. I told her, as I am telling you, that cable knitting is way easier than it looks! I was afraid for a while until my mom showed me how, and I am hooked! I also put together a mini cabling tutorial at the bottom if you don't know how. I made up this pattern with a simple cable for her to learn, and I am sharing it with you! Around the university, these headbands are really popular, and are great for when your hair is in a ponytail. If you try this pattern, let me know how it went in the comments!

Note: C4F means cable 4 stitches forward. Take the next 4 stitches and slip them onto your spare needle, and leave it at the front. Knit the next 4 stitches from your main needle. Put the 4 stitches from the spare needle back onto your main needle, and knit them. You just cabled! See pictures below for more detailed instructions.

Materials
1 ball worsted weight yarn (4; I used Red Heart Super Saver)
Size 8 (5 mm) needles
Extra needle for cabling

Instructions
Cast on 20 stitches

Row 1: K3 P3 K8 P3 K3
Row 2: K1 P2 K3 P8 K3 P2 K1

Row 3: K3 P3 K8 P3 K3
Row 4: K1 P2 K3 P8 K3 P2 K1


Row 5: K3 P3 K8 P3 K3
Row 6: K1 P2 K3 P8 K3 P2 K1

Row 7: K3 P3 C4F P3 K3
Row 8: K1 P2 K3 P8 K3 P2 K1

Repeat rows 1-8 until it reaches desired length. Sew the two ends together, and weave in the ends.

Mini Cabling Tutorial

Here is a mini tutorial, with pictures of how to cable for the purposes of this hat. It's really not that hard, but I hope that the instructions/pictures make sense! When I say "main needle" I mean the yellow ones, and the spare needle is the purple one.

1. Slip 4 stitches onto a spare needle.

2. Leave the needle with the spare stitches at the front of your work. Knit the next 4 stitches from your main needle.

3. Slip the stitches from your spare needle back onto your main needle.

4. Knit the 4 stitches that you just slipped back onto the main needle, and continue knitting to the end of the row as per the pattern directions.

All done! That wasn't too hard right?

Oatmeal M&M Peanut Butter Chip Cookies

The hubby got home from work early and wanted to do something fun together, so we baked cookies! He looked in the cupboard of baking supplies and chose the m&ms and peanut butter chips and so I modified an oatmeal cookie recipe from my Company's Coming cook book. They turned out great! The recipe yields 5 dozen, and we ended up with 4 1/2 dozen, which means that I only ate the equivalent of 6 cookies in dough, or I made them a bit bigger... Let's go with the second option :)

Ingredients

1 cup butter or margarine
2 cups brown sugar, packed
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
2 cups rolled oats
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup m&ms
1 cup peanut butter chips

Mix butter and brown sugar together. Add in the eggs one at a time, then the vanilla. Add in the dry ingredients and mix. Add the m&ms and peanut butter chips and mix. Form into small 1" balls and place on a cookie sheet. Bake at 350F for 10 minutes and let cool on a cookie rack. Makes approximately 5 dozen cookies.

Easy Crocheted Mug Cozy

This is the perfect pattern for a beginning crocheter! I made up this pattern, but it's one of the easiest things I've ever crocheted so I don't want to take much credit. It's perfect for using up scraps of yarn too! I had just a bit left of this colour and I wanted to make a headband, but I ran out of yarn so it became a mug cozy. That being said, you could easily make this long enough to fit your head and just sew the ends together.

Use worsted weight yarn and size I/5.5mm crochet hook.

Chain 16. Double crochet into 3rd chain. Double crochet across. Chain 3. Continue to double crochet until it reaches desired length (about 9-10"). Sew the top and bottom together and weave in ends.

So easy right? You could also embellish it with felt flowers, buttons, or whatever you'd like! Try different colours, stripes, or single crochet or half double crochet. I think that one of these on a mug filled with chocolate and wrapped in cellophane would make a great gift too! These things aren't just cute too, they keep you from burning your hands on the mug and keep your drink (slightly) warmer.