Forest Frost Headband

Forest Frost Headband by Redtiger

Project Overview

The Forest Frost Headband is a beginner-friendly knitted headband designed by Redtiger (Cynthia Levy). This downloadable PDF pattern creates a cozy, structured headband featuring decorative cable work and a functional chin strap. The finished headband measures approximately 12½ inches across the cabled body section and is secured with a decorative button closure.

What You'll Create

This project produces a fitted headband with an integrated chin strap, perfect for keeping ears warm during cold weather. The headband features a tapered design that begins narrow, expands to its full width through strategic increases, showcases cable stitch detailing across the body, and then tapers back down toward the closure. The chin strap provides additional security and comfort when worn.

Knitting Techniques Used

• Casting On: The pattern begins with a simple cast-on of 7 stitches using 3.75 mm needles
• Increases: Make-one (m1) increases worked on right-side rows to expand the headband from 7 stitches to 29 stitches
• Cable Work: A charted cable pattern (Chart A) forms the decorative body, repeated 4 times across the length
• Decreases: Slip-slip-knit (ssk) and knit-two-together (k2tog) decreases mirror the increases, tapering the headband back to 7 stitches
• Finishing: The remaining stitches continue as a chin strap, completed with a decorative button closure

Stitches and Stitch Patterns

• Stockinette Stitch: The base fabric structure, worked at a gauge of 7 stitches per 1 inch
• Garter Stitch: Used for the increase and decrease rows (knit every row) to create stable, textured edges
• Cable Stitches: Worked from Chart A using a cable needle to create the signature twisted, dimensional pattern across the headband body
• Make-One Increases (m1): Paired increases on the right side create symmetrical shaping
• Decrease Stitches (ssk and k2tog): Balanced decreases maintain the headband's centered shaping

Materials Required

Yarn: 137 yards (125 meters) of aran weight yarn. The sample headband shown uses Nashua Handknits in the Verdant Green colorway, demonstrating how this evergreen shade complements the Forest Frost theme.

Needles and Notions: 3.75 mm straight needles, a cable needle for managing cable stitches, and a decorative button (the sample uses a Cynthia Levy button) to secure the chin strap closure.

Difficulty Level

Rated as a beginner project, the Forest Frost Headband is accessible to knitters new to the craft while introducing cable work techniques. The straightforward shaping, simple stitch patterns, and clear charted instructions make it an ideal project for building confidence with cables and basic increases and decreases.

Pattern Details

Published by Redtiger Designs (Cynthia Levy) on March 4, 2012 and revised September 23, 2020, this pattern is available as a downloadable PDF. The pattern includes detailed gauge information, charted cable instructions (Chart A), and step-by-step construction guidance. Additional resources and updates can be found through Redtiger's website at redtigerdesigns.weebly.com and Ravelry profile under the username Redtiger.