Here's how it goes when you're making stuff up...

For whatever reason, it seems that 99% of the time I have a compulsion to figure out how to make things on my own rather than getting and/or using an existing pattern. Here's what it looks like when I'm figuring something out:

I like those little headband thingies that cover the ears. They're good for people who actually have hair. You know how dorky it looks with long hair hanging out of a hat, or even more special is long hair in a big bump inside the back of a hat. Our existing granddaughter has long hair. She's young enough that she's ok with the hat thing, but I wanted to try out a headband thingie for her. I'm doing it with Opal sock yarn in a cable pattern. The notebook's for writing down what I did (do) and when. Hopefully when I'm done, it will be small enough to fit her little head and be really cute with opposing cables. I'll probably put some short rows in to fit the curve of her head. If it works out as cute as it has the potential to, I'll post the pattern somewhere with a better picture. (I know my model needs a bath - she got into some mystery brown crap that doesn't seem to want to wipe off.)

And, yeah, I read while I knit. I decide what's going to happen on the row, write it down then read while my fingers do what I just wrote down. It doesn't work for lace or 'hairy' yarn or something that requires a lot of counting, but for your basics it's good.