Acorn Head

Hi.

I have a new pattern to share with you.

It's easy to make and your friends and family will tell you how cute you are and ask you to please make one for them. Really! Wear this guy with a hat underneath and you can brave even the most windy winter day. I made this for a trip to Minnesota and wore it non-stop (I think I might have slept in it one time).

All you need to know for this pattern is knit, purl, knitting in the round (you could knit it flat too), and some seaming. Because this pattern is quite simple, I've written it as more of a knitting recipe that a standard pattern. Feel free to email me if it's confusing and I'll try to clarify.

Hooded Circle Scarf a.k.a. Acorn Head

You Will Need:

- 2 Balls of Lion Brand Wool-Ease Thick & Quick (I used the color Denim)

- Size 17 29-Inch Circular Needles

- Size 17 Straight Needles (Optional)

- 1 Stitch Marker (I just use some scrap yarn tied into a loop)

- 1 Tapestry Needle ( or a crochet hook will do just fine)

First start off making a basic Circle Scarf (you can see the Circle Scarf Tutorial I made here):

Loosely cast on 70 stitches with your circular needles (edit 10/21/10: some folks on Ravelry have been knitting Acorn Heads in which the scarf portion is a bit too short. If you're a tight knitter you may want to cast on an extra 10 stitches). Join to knit in the round and place marker (be careful not to twist your cast-on stitches).

Purl one round. Knit one round.

Continue in this fashion of alternating purl and knit rows until you have about 6 1/2 inches of knitting from the cast-on edge, ending with a purl row.

Loosely bind off 57 stitches. You will have 13 stitches left.

At this point you can switch to straight needles if you want.

Now you begin knitting this flap extending from your scarf that will form the hood.

You will be knitting flat so you will knit both sides (garter stitch). I like to slip the first stitch on the side opposite the join to create a neater edge on the outside of the hood.

Knit these 13 stitches in garter stitch until the flap measures about 19 inches long. Bind off all stitches and leave a long tail for sewing. Fold over the flap so that the freshly bound-off edge is against the bound-off edge on the opposite side of the join (right next to the base of the flap). See how that will form your hood?

Use the tail from your bind off to sew these two bind-off edges together and then continue sewing up the back seam of the hood (you want the seam for the back of the hood to line up with the join of the circle scarf). Weave in ends. You're done!

Notes: The circumference of the entire long circular part is about 4 feet. The hood is about 8.5 inches deep. Remember that this isn't science though, and you shouldn't worry yourself to much trying to be exact.

The first 2 photos show how the piece looks if it is double wrapped, the 4th photo is single wrapped. See that cute little point on the top of the hood? That's why it's called Acorn Head. Thank you to Maya for coming up with the name and modeling for me.