flowers for my mother...

Mom decided she wanted a headband with a decorative flower on it... so i made her three!!!  this sort of thing is way outside my comfort zone (it's far too cute for my style), so i had to employ my own version of suspension of disbelief before rising to the challenge.  i don't want to give the whole process away, but vodka does play a role.

i started a Pinterest board to keep track of some of the more interesting options, and Mom narrowed the field down to the three or four that suited her best and left the final decision to me.  i settled on the two that least brought on my allergy to girlish-cuteness (it's a real medical condition, i swear)... plus an additional one that i'd formulated in honor of my governing principle... Laziness.

first, there was the crocheted headband with the big flower that she liked very much, but i prefer the look of knitted fabric, so i cast on and made a basic ribbed headband.  i generally try to avoid crocheting (chiefly, because i don't want to be talked into making doilies or anything else of that completely pointless nature), but i did dust off a hook long enough to make a large flower for decorative purposes.

(on Ravelry)

the ends overlap at the back (wish i could say this was planned, but i got carried away and made it a bit longer than intended)...

 ... and it's fastened with a pretty coconut-shell button.

next, there was the Parisian Twist Headband that Mom also liked. to be honest, i made the exact, same headband base as before, except i split it into two strips after the increase section, then twisted and rejoined them before beginning the decrease section.

(on Ravelry)

 

i opted for two smaller buttons this time, also made of coconut shells (i have a ton of them in different sizes and designs).

for the third (and final) headband, i decided to use one of my favorites... the broken rib stitch.  or, as i like to call it, texture for dummies.  this stitch is incredibly easy to do, but it produces a beautiful ribbed effect that knits up quickly and lays flat, which is why it's so popular for things like blankets and other wide expanses of fabric in desperate need of a bit of lazy texture.

(on Ravelry)

and, in keeping with the theme of unnecessary cuteness, i added a small flower (knitted this time)...  

accented with a large, silver button...

and a matching button at the back.

 but wait... there's more!  this cowl was made for Mom more than a year ago, but it got tucked away in a bag of yarn and disappeared into the ever-expanding, alternate realm that is my fiber stash.

(on Ravelry)

so, now, Mom gets three headbands and a cowl, and i get... well, i get rid of less than 1% of the yarn congesting my apartment.  it's as if it never happened.