Ciao, Bellas! Benvenute! Welcome to An Italian Story, courtesy of Red Heart yarn. We begin our story with Ora, a very thick, singles yarn made with 60% acrylic, 30% wool, and 10% nylon fibers.
Ora is so thick, the gauge is a mere 8 sts to 4″ [10cm] using size 15 [10mm] needles! Clearly, anything knit with Ora will provide instant gratification!
Ora in Caramello, will make thick, warm, instant knits!
Let’s learn some Italian, shall we? Ora is very appropriately named, because one of the meanings of ‘ora’ is ‘now’, and that’s about how quickly you can knit a headband!
Ora comes in 8 colors, and we can learn from them, too! Nero is black, and Barolo is a dry red wine made in the Piedmont region of Italy. Needless to say, the color of the yarn matches the color of the wine!
Most of us know what Latte is, and that it’s a shade of natural or off-white. As you can imagine, Caramello is caramel, and Foresta is forest. Foresta reminds me of the color of a blue spruce. Lampone is raspberry, and Ora’s Lampone is the bright magenta color of a good raspberry gelato! Notte, or night, is a midnight blue, and Pietra, which means stone, is a very neutral gray.
My swatch using Ora yarn from Red Heart An Italian Story premium line
As I said, Ora offers instant gratification: my gauge swatch has only 12 stitches in it, and it measures just shy of 6″ [15cm] which is consistent with the recommended tension of 8 sts to 4″ [10cm].
The Red Heart site has several patterns for Ora. Caldo (which means hot) is a mammoth scarf that measures 14½” x 79″ [37 x 200cm]. It’s almost a stole and it consumes 7 balls. Fiesole, a lap robe named after a town in the Tuscany region, measures 44″ [110cm] square and uses 12 balls. The Classico hat is shown in several colors and takes just 2 balls.
I think I can get a warm winter headband out of the rest of this 52 yd [48m] ball of yarn.
Headband is a cozy knit using Ora yarn from Red Heart An Italian Story premium line
If you’re a beginner knitter, just follow the instructions. If your knitting skills are more accomplished, use a provisional cast on and graft the end of the knitting to the beginning to avoid having a seam at the back of the head.
Ora Headband
materials
- 1 ball of Red Heart Ora
- 8mm knitting needles
- tapestry needle for sewing or grafting
gauge – is not important
instructions
Cast on 6 sts. K 6 rows.
Next row: K and p in 1st st, k to last st, p and k in last st (8 sts)
Ear
*Row 1: K1, p to last st, k1.
Row 2: K across.
Rep Rows 1 and 2 4 more times. ** (RS facing for next row)
Row 1: Ssk, k to end. (7 sts)
Row 2: K across.
Rep Row 1. (6 sts)
Forehead
K every row until band, when slightly stretched, reaches from center back to center front (or half of the circumference of the head measurement).
Count the number of ridges from the decrease, and knit that many more ridges. End with RS facing for next row.
Row 1: K and p in 1st st, k to end. (7 sts)
Row 2: K across.
Next row: Rep Row 1. (8 sts)
Work from * to ** for Ear.
Back band
Next row: Ssk, k to last 2 sts, k2tog (6 sts)
K 6 rows. Cast off all sts and sew seam. Weave in ends.
I hope you’ve enjoyed the first chapter of our Italian Story. Come back tomorrow for Luce, a story of light.
This is part 2 of 5 in this series.
Go back to part 1: Colorful Chic Sheep – pure wool, pure knitting fun
Go to part 3: Luce yarn from Red Heart – An Italian Story continues
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