Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links and I may make a small commission on items purchased through links in this post at no extra cost to you. You can find out more in my Disclaimer.
Headband overview
The Quartz headband is a fun and quick knitting project. This headband is knitted with super chunky yarn and it works up really fast.
The simple design uses knit and purl stitches, and there is a cable twist mid-front.
The headband is knitted flat and seamed afterwards.
Measurements: To fit women’s medium (54-56 cm/ 21 3/4 – 22″).
If you are knitting for a smaller/bigger circumference just knit fewer/ more rows before and after the twist.
Gauge: 15 stitches x 22 rows = 10x10cm (4×4″ ) in garter stitch after blocking.
Finished measurements: 12 cm (43/4″) wide and 24.5cm (9.6″) long.
You will find the free knitting pattern below. Enjoy!
Be sure to check out my other headband knitting patterns.
You might also like:
- Grain Headband knitting pattern
- Thicket Headband knitting pattern
- Folgate Hat knitting pattern
- Cabled Cowl knitting pattern
- Glacier Fingerless Gloves knitting pattern
PIN this for later!
Supplies
To knit this headband you will need the following supplies:
- Yarn: ~50g (1.75 oz) super bulky weight yarn (category #6). I used Alpachino Merino from Wool and the Gang in the color rocksalt red. It’s an alpaca merino blend. If you don’t have the mentioned yarn at hand, here are similar yarn options:
- Needles: 6.5mm (US10.5) knitting needles or size needed to obtain the gauge.
- Cable needle. If you don’t have a cable needle, you can substitute it with a double-pointed needle or a large enough safety pin.
- Tapestry needle
- Scissors
Abbreviations
CO – cast on
St (s) – stitch (es)
K – knit
P – purl
Sl – slip st purlwise with yarn in front
C16B – Put 8 stitches onto cable needle and leave at back of work. Knit the remaining 8 stitches, then knit the 8 stitches from the cable needle.
WS – wrong side
RS – right side
THE QUARTZ HEADBAND KNITTING PATTERN
Cast on
CO on 16 sts using the Long-tail cast-on method or the one you prefer.
Headband
Setup-row (WS): Sl1, K2, P2, K6, P2, K3.
Row 1 (RS): Sl1, K to end.
Row 2 (WS): Sl1, K2, P2, K6, P2, K3.
Repeat rows 1 and 2 until the piece measures approximately 25 cm (9.85″).
Cable twist
The twist is simply one right-leaning cable:
Row 1 (RS): C16B.
Place the first 8 sts on the cable needle without knitting them. Hold the needle to the back of your work.
Knit the remaining 8 sts. Then knit the 8 sts from the cable needle.
Row 2 (WS): Sl1, K2, P2, K6, P2, K3.
Headband
Continue working in the established pattern until the piece measures approximately 50cm (19.5″).
Finish with row 2.
Bind off
Bind off sts knitwise.
Step 1: Knit 2, bring the first st over the second one.
Step 2: Knit the next st, bring the first st over the second one.
Repeat step 2 until you have 1 stitch left, cut the yarn leaving a 30-40cm / 12″ – 16” tail to seam the headband. Draw the yarn tail through the last stitch and pull it snug.
You will find a detailed tutorial on how to bind off knitting HERE.
Finishing
Sew the headband using the mattress stitch or the one you prefer. Weave in all loose ends.
I always advise wet blocking the finished item, this process transforms the stitches, makes them look smoother and neater.
Simply soak the knitted item in lukewarm water with some soak wash for 10-15 minutes. Lift it from the water and gently squeeze the excess water out. Next, lay it on a clean towel, and roll it up to remove moisture.
Lay the item on a clean and dry towel (make sure it doesn’t transfer color) and let it dry. Your knitting will look much better after this.
I hope you enjoyed this headband knitting pattern, be sure to check out my other knitting patterns!
Thank you for stopping by,
Mirella.
You might also like
14 Comments
I do not understand how to make the twist work for the Quartz Headband. Are the steps accurate and complete? I’m stuck. The image does not provide the necessary visual to get to the final result. Please help.
Hello Natalie, the twist is simply a cable, and you would knit it as any other cable.
On a right side row, you place half of all the stitches on a cable needle and leave it at the back of the work. Then you simply work the other half of the stitches. Next, you work the stitches from the cable needle, and you are all done. All the stitches are back on one needle, but they are twisted. Continue knitting in pattern.
Hope this helps!
I have frogged this piece 6 times. I looked at many patterns and chose this because it looked easy and was until I hit the so-called cable. It makes no sense. I am going to make 10 of these for Christmas because they look pretty.
PLEASE HELP. I can do cables with my eyes closed, but not this one. Thank you for helping Katherine
Hi Katherine, the cable is worked like one big cable, just as if you were working a right-leaning 16-stitch cable (you could also do a left-leaning cable, there is basically no difference). I’ll try to explain it in more detail:
On a right side row, you place the first half of the stitches on a cable needle and leave it at the back of the work.
Then you simply work the other half of the stitches in pattern until the end of the row (do not turn).
Next (still on the right side row) you work the stitches from the cable needle, and you are all done. All the stitches are back on one needle, but left side corsses over the right side.
Then you work the wrong side row and continue working in the established pattern.
At first, the twist will look a little weird but work a couple of rows, and it will look ok.
I hope this helps!
Thank you so much. It was the long piece of yarn across the back that was throwing me off. I usually just use 4 cross over and you hardly notice the hole.
Thank you for taking the time to answer me. BLESSINGS
Great, I’m glad I could help!
I have tried to make this twice and it does not come out right. The most frustrating pattern ever. I give up
Like the others I cannot make the cable work. It always comes out with a fold o one side. It does not look at all like the sample. I thought I saw a mention of a utube tutorial, but can’t find it now.
This was definitely hard. I don’t know how many times I took it out. Finally, and I don’t know how but I got it to work.
I have a question, when doing the twist we only do one row?
Yes, you do the cable-twist once on the right-side row, and continue knitting in the established pattern.
So on the RS when I put the first 8 stitches on the cable needle, my working yarn is on the cable needle as well. This seems wrong. Please clarify. Also, a short video of how to do this step would be most helpful.
Thank you.
The working yarn is connected to the first stitch, so, when you slip the first 8 stitch on a cable needle you bring the yarn forward and knit the 8 stitches left on the needle, then you knit the 8 stitches from the cable needle. It is just as if you are working a cable.
Just crossed the halfway/cable mark and this is a lovely little pattern! I added two stitches to make it a bit wider, so my WS is: Sl1, K2, P2, K8, P2, K3. The effect is lovely and it would be super easy to adjust the width just just adding sets of two stitches to that center section so you have an even number!
Just wanted to say: I think the folks who are ragging on this pattern are doing so because cabling that many stitches feels really clunky – your yarn will get really tight and the resulting weird little accordion of material you end up with will feel like you did something wrong. Persevere! Once you get a row or two past the cable, things will start to flatten out & make sense again!