Knitting

Free Patterns, Tutorials and Project Ideas

Helmet Liners, Knitted For Our Troops

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I’m sure you’ve heard of these, and possibly even knitted some yourselves, but just in case you haven’t, here’s a pattern (click on the image to see a bigger version):

As a note… with the liners that I have knit, I’ve made them longer to cover up more of the neck, and I’ve used Cascade 220, as it’s a superwash wool. The majority of these recipients will be guys, and guys, being guys, won’t take the time to gently wash a wool garment, so a superwash is good.

And, in the prototype that I knit, for myself, it’s awesome underneath my snowmobile helmet, for doing chores out in the winter, and even under my motorcycle helmet when it’s really too cold to ride but you really really want to….. anyway….

From a reader…..”We are knitting these helmet liners for the men in my husband’s unit of the US Marine Corps and putting them in packages we will be sending out for Christmas. Our goal is 1000 helmet liners. We need all the help we can get! If you would like to help, email me and I will send you instructions on where to send the completed liners. [email protected]”

I hope you can help her, it’s an awesome idea.

Comments

  1. My father told me that during WWII, women were knitting for the Troops and referred to it as “Knittin for Britian”

Have you read?

Knit a Log Cabin Blanket with All Your Scraps

I guess I must have had this pattern on my mind, because I had chosen this log cabin blanket recipe to write about, promptly forgot about it and a couple of weeks later started knitting a log cabin blanket using all my pink yarn. 

It might stay pink if it makes it to baby blanket sized, or I might add in some pastel green and blue, too, to make a bigger blanket. We’ll see. I’m also holding several strands of yarn together to make a kind of bulky yarn, which means it’s deeply satisfying how much yarn is used even as the project is still relatively small. 

In Kristen Finlay’s version, DK weight yarn scraps (or fingering/sock yarn held double) are used to make a simple scrappy log cabin blanket that’s lighter weight than my version. Log cabin is a great technique for knitters of any skill level because it’s worked in garter stitch. The only not completely basic technique you need for log cabin knitting is picking up stitches. 

If you’ve never worked a log cabin knitting project before, this is a good introduction, and it is really nice to use all your yarn scraps in one big project you’ll use for years to come. 

If you use a lot of DK weight yarn you can keep building on it whenever you finish a project, or if you use more worsted weight you can do the same thing with it, it will just be a little bigger starting out than the pattern calls for. How big it gets is totally up to you. 

I have really been enjoying working on my log cabin project, and it’s my current sitting at my desk and need a break knit (do you have one of those or is it just me?). 

Ready to start your own log cabin blanket knitting project? You can grab the free pattern from Kristen Finlay on Ravelry. 

Need more log cabin inspiration? Check out more log cabin knitting patterns. 

[Photo: Kristen Finlay]