Sunday, March 04, 2012

Balaclava



Balaclava collage, originally uploaded by samjoepics.
4th knitting project of 2012 completed: the balaclava that Joe had been asking for.

I'd started out knitting a beanie to go with his fingerless gloves. The yardage in this skein of cratively dyed sock yarn seems to go on, and on, and on, so I ripped the beanie back and made the balaclava that Joe had asked for.

The balaclava is based on the sockhead hat from Boho knits blog:
- I cast on the number of stitches called for in the sockhead pattern
- Knit in 2x2 rib until it was a good length for the neck
- Change to stocking stitch and knit until it covers the mouth
- Cast off 45 stitches for the face opening
- Knit back and forth until it is the depth that you would like for the eye opening
- Cast on 45 stitches and knit in the round for an inch
- Follow hat pattern for the crown of the beanie
- To finish, pick up stitches around the border of the face opening and knit in 1x1 rib for and inch, then cast off looesly

I like that it is versatile to wear as a balaclava on those really cold days, or roll up like a beanie to just take the chill off.

It cracks me up that Naomi wanted to model this after Daddy had modelled it (and that it covers her past her shoulders!)

3 comments:

Terrie D. (StarSpry) said...

That's very cool! And so adorable that Naomi wanted to model it to :)

Denise said...

I love it :) Should we ever get to CO I will have to knit some. I remember by brothers used to wear them years ago when it snowed in England.

Andi said...

This knit would have been perfect when I was growing up and lived in Colorado. That wind chill factor was a real skin burner.
I love the color choice! Beautiful work.