Heads up! This post contains affiliate links which means I get may get a commission if you purchase something based on my recommendations here.
Many years ago, I took a stab at knitting an entrelac scarf, but I quickly gave up. Why? Well, first, a scarf is a huge commitment when you are learning a new skill – I think a small project is the best way to go because you can perfect your technique before tackling a bigger project. Second, I don’t love the way the back side of entrelac knitting looks and that was going to be super visible with a scarf. Yuck!
Fast forward to 2025 and I’m happy to report that I found the perfect pattern for a beginner entrelac project! (And it’s free!)
The Quant Earwarmer is a low-stakes project for entrelac newbies for two reasons:
One, you’re not going to invest a ton of time or money into this project, so if you mess up, who cares?! Quant is a “one-skein wonder” free pattern that you can knit up in a weekend. I only used half a ball of Knit Picks Chroma Worsted – a beautiful color-shifting yarn that is perfect for entrelac!
Two, I love the idea of doing entrelac on an ear warmer like this because the ugly side faces down on your head so no one can see. Brilliant!
The only thing I didn’t love about this project is that the method the designer recommends to finish off the entrelac part of the headband doesn’t really match the start of the band. Luckily, this pattern was published in 2007, and knitters have had plenty of time to figure out the mods needed to make it symmetrical! I followed mightbekatrina’s notes on Ravelry, and it turned out perfect!
Well… it turned out almost perfect:
The Chroma colorway I chose has three shades of brown in a row and I ended up with a big pool of one color taking up half the ear warmer. I considered ripping it back and manually controlling the color shift by cutting out a section of the yarn to shorten the brown stretch. But entrelac isn’t super easy to rip back a few inches unless you’ve placed a lifeline, which I hadn’t. So I just decided to roll with it. I crocheted up some cute flowers to applique over that section and I love how it looks:
Here are my usual project details, plus some bonus pics of me modeling my Quant and a peek at what the backside of entrelac looks like, since I mentioned how unsightly it can be.
yarn details
Knit Picks Chroma Worsted in Fiona
Worsted Weight
70% Superwash Wool, 30% Nylon
Machine Wash Gentle Cold / Tumble Dry Low (but I don’t know how the applique would hold up in the wash)
100 g/198 yd balls
project details
pattern: “Quant” by Star Athena (free in the Winter 2007 issue of Knitty), incorporating modifications as explained by mightbekatrina on Ravelry.
needles: US size 6 (4.0 mm) wood circular needles (from my Sunstruck set) – I used a smaller needle because I wanted a tighter gauge
yarn used: 97 yards (49 grams)
finished size: width: 4.5”, length of entrelac panel: 15”, length of full band: 18.5”, icords: 10”
duration: September 2024
Bonus Pics!
Leave a Comment