Knitting the Balaclava

Knitting the Balaclava will make you a blessing to some seafarer who works every day out on a cold deck which is often covered with ice and always buffetted by winds. Even in high summer, the North Atlantic can be a very, very cold place. These knitting instructions are for the specified yarn, and if followed, you will produce a standard Balaclava. Feel free to use other yarn, but because the thickness (weight) may differ, so may the size of the final product. The specified yarn is nationally available through Wal-Mart, and it is inexpensive.

Balaclava (helmet) pattern, paraphrased by Alan Teubner

Yarn: at least 5 oz of Red Heart brand worsted weight acrylic yarn, or equivalent. (Avail. at Wal-Mart.)

Tools:

• 2 pairs of 13" No. 5 (3.75 mm) straight needles
• 1 16" No. 5 circular needle
• 1 set of 7" No. 5 double-pointed needles
• 1 long (5"-6") stitch holder

Phase 1: the lower panel for the back:

Cast 28 stitches onto a straight needle. Knit back and forth (garter stitch), increasing 1 stitch at each end of every other row until there are 48 stitches. Continue knitting back and forth until the piece is at least 6" long after reaching the starting end. Break the yarn leaving about a 6" end, and set the piece aside.

Phase 2: the lower panel for the front:

Make another piece exactly like the preceding.

Phase 3: the neck ribbing:

Knit the second piece onto the circular needle. Then, knit the first piece onto the circular needle also. Close the circle, making sure that progress is clockwise around the outside, and make K2 P2 ribbing for a total height of at least 3 inches, continuing to the end of a complete circuit.

Phase 4, the sides and back of the head covering:

Continue K2 P2 for exactly twelve (12) more stitches. Slip the next 24 stitches onto the stitch holder. Reverse the direction of progress, knitting 24 stitches onto the first of three double-ended needles. Continue to knit 24 more stitches onto the second of three double-ended needles. Knit the remaining 24 stitches onto the third double-ended needle. Using the fourth needle, knit back and forth (garter stitch) from one needle to the next for exactly twenty-seven (27) round trips. (The last row should be along the outside of the u-shaped section.)

Phase 5, closing over the top of the head covering:

Reverse direction and knit exactly 50 stitches. That is, knit 24 from the first needle, as before; then knit the 24 from the second needle, plus 2 from the third needle (directly onto the second needle). Continuing from the third needle, slip 1, knit 1, pass slipped stitch over (psso), knit one, and turn the work. From here on, repeat the sequence: slip 1, knit 28, slip 1, knit 1, psso , knit 1, turn.

Each time you do this sequence, the extra "knit 1" comes from the side needle, so that a stitch is dropped from the center (psso) and one is picked up from the side needle on each pass. The center section grows forward and the sides are joined to it, row by row.

Eventually, the needle on (the wearer's) right side will be empty, and you will make three more passes in order to pick up the last stitch on the other side needle, so the last time you reach the wearer's right side there will be no extra stitch to pick up.

The first time you do this, you may be convinced that you've made a mistake somewhere, but it's supposed to work out like that. There will be exactly 30 stitches on the remaining (middle) double-pointed needle when this phase is complete.

Phase 6, ribbing around the face opening:

Slip one of the double-pointed needles through the end loop of each of the 27 rows on the wearer's left side of the face opening. Knit those 27 stitches onto the circular needle. Slip the 24 stitches that are on the stitch holder onto a double pointed needle. K2 P2 onto the circular needle, continuing the neck ribbing one more row. Slip a double-pointed needle through the end loops of the 27 rows on the other side of the opening. Knit those 27 stitches onto the circular needle, and knit one stitch from the double-pointed needle at the top onto the circular needle.

Now, begin K2 P2 ribbing onto the circular needle across the top of the opening, closing the circle when the end of the double-pointed needle is reached. Continue around the opening with K2 P2.

If the count is correct so far, the ribbing pattern will match that of the neck as you progress across the bottom of the opening. Continue for a width of at least 1 1/4 inches, ending at the end of a complete circuit, at the upper right corner, as seen by the wearer.

Bind off loosely, tuck in the 4 ends, and you're done!