Kate Davies on Knitting Her Way Back to Health

Kate Davies is a knitwear designer you might have heard of before, who uses traditional Scottish patterns in her designs, but what you might not know is that she had a stroke at a young age and had to work hard to learn to knit again — not to mention all the normal regular stuff of daily life.

She had a stroke five years ago that was caused by an undiagnosed congenital heart defect, and spent six months in the hospital regaining function. She says people thought she was crazy when she said she was going to start knitting and designing patterns to sell, but now she’s sold patterns more than 40,000 times and has her own line of yarn.

Before the stroke she was a lecturer and had earned a PhD in 18th century history. She uses her knowledge of historic knitting patterns and her love of the Scottish landscape as inspiration for her designs.

Check out the full story at the Daily Record.

[Photo via Daily Record.]

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Not too long ago my daughter and I had a discussion about what a chestnut really looks like. The nut itself is small and brown, of course, but on the tree they’re covered with this weird kind of spiky, kind of fuzzy shell. It’s a wonder anyone ever figured out they were edible.

If you didn’t know that, you might wonder why this project is call Chestnut balaclava, but now you know.

This fun design from Yevheniia Pyroh is covered with spikes just like a chestnut shell, and is even the same color, though of course you can make yours whatever color you like. It uses two strands of fingering weight yarn held together (which it says is fingering weight but you could try a light/DK yarn and see if you get gauge with it if you’d rather).

There are two different design options in the pattern. One is a more fitted balaclava style hat (it doesn’t cover the face but does go around the neck) and a looser fit hood.

It’s worked primarily in garter stitch, with shaping done by knitting and purling in the same stitch and through various decreases (including a knit 3 together).

The pattern is charted but also explained in words. It’s worked flat to the size you want, and then joined into a hood shape with ribbing at the neck. The opening for the face is finished with I-cord.

This hood/balaclava would definitely be a conversation starter and in different colors it might read more dinosaur than chestnut, which could also be fun. The sizing is totally custom so you can make it fit whatever head you’re stitching for.

If you want to try it for yourself (and I’d love to hear about it if you do!) you can download the free pattern from Ravelry.

[Photo: Yevheniia Pyroh]

Balaclava Knitting Patterns

Colorwork Balaclava Knitting Pattern [Knitting]

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