Jitterbug Boogie

Picture above copyright Knit Now Magazine

We like to boogie...here it is then, design number two for February: Jitterbug Boogie. The pattern appears in this month's issue of
Knit Now, having been chosen for the 'Designer Challenge' feature using Araucania Botany Lace.

Inspiration comes from all sorts of places and this one's heritage was a proper mish-mash. It started with some Colinette Jitterbug that I had in my stash. Now I love the idea of sock yarn- with all those gorgeous colours, that section of a yarn shop is always like the sweetie counter- but I just can't get on with knitting larger things in that weight and have chronic 'second sock syndrome' which means I've never really got on with them. In part because of this situation, I was quite attracted to the viral knitting phenomenon of
The Beekeepers Quilt, presenting as it does a chance to use up pretty lighter weight yarn. Beekeeping introduced me to knitting tubes that are joined at either end (by using Judy's Magic Cast On or similar) and then a slightly random Twitter conversation about dyeing hair pink got me thinking about cartoony, rockabilly hair and the possibilities of knitting around a hairband...and Jitterbug Boogie was born.

A small amount of sock yarn, along with a store-bought hairband and some stuffing means you can knock out a hairband in an evening, and once I'd made one, I wanted to try a larger-bow version. This time I tried a different yarn: Rowan Kidsilk Haze held double, which, with its fuzzy halo gave even more of a retro effect. I think you could have a lot of fun messing with the basic concept like this- use different yarns, add buttons or bits of netting to go for more of a cocktail hat effect or do full on matching by choosing a colour that's the same as your shoes, bag or gloves.

UPDATE 17th February: Okay people, seems between my dubious web abilities and the limitations of this format, my first giveaway was a bit of a non-starter. I'll run it again another time if I can sort out the technical problems.