Way back on the 11th I told you about one of the 2 gifts I knitted for the holidays. Today is all about the other one.

As I mentioned in the earlier post, my niece "R" asked for this when she overheard her brother making his request. She said she wanted an ear warmer in an olive green. The yarn for this one was just as easy as the yarn for the Fresca Hat. I happened to receive an email from Webs about the limited edition short skeins of Madeline Tosh Vintage and was instantly sold on a color called Lowland. Isn't it gorgeous? It's a good thing that this yarn is so awesome because the pattern I chose required me to knit about a mile of tube. Fatally boring if not for the deliciousness of the yarn.

The pattern I chose was called the Anthro-Style Plaited Wrap by Melynda Bernardi. I was really torn between a traditional ear warmer that was flatter (and boring) and this one. I also saw a few versions of this including a few that were cabled but the comments indicated that this one worked the best and it just looked cool.

Knitters often say that a pattern is about the construction but I've never seen one where this was more true. The knitting involved here is super simple and boring... a seemingly endless, stockinette tube. Boring! Then comes the folding and weaving which took quite a few tries before I got it right. I really don't think it has to be that hard. Better instructions would help a lot but once I figured it out it was fab!

The end result is a woven wrap with an invisible seam that is thick and warm and lovely. My niece likes it very much too. Even though it was quite late.