Knit a Sock Weight Balaclava

I usually think of balaclavas as being for the coldest part of winter. I knit my husband one (one of the rare things I’ve knit for him because I knew he would actually use it) and he wears it for shoveling snow from the driveway or other needed outdoor things when it’s super cold outside.

But you might want a similar head-hugging design even when it’s not the dead of winter.

In that case, you’ll need Nick Davis’ Socklaclava (let’s not talk about how much time I spent playing with pronouncing that work, OK?). As you can probably guess from the name, this is a balaclava style knit hat that’s made with sock yarn.

And much like the little garter stitch shawl I shared earlier this week, it’s actually intended to be made with leftovers from other projects, giving it a scrappy, color blocked look. But go ahead and use a whole skein of the same yarn if you want. I won’t tell. It calls for 330 to 400 yards, or 302 to 366 meters, of yarn, so you can play with your stash to make a unique topper or two.

The pattern is more like a hood than a face mask style balaclava, which is also probably better when the temperature is a little warmer. The ribbed section at the bottom can cover the neck or it can be folded up to look like the brim of a hat. The top of the hood is worked in garter stitch with some stockinette stitch stripes for contrast, so it’s a fun knit in terms of giving you lots of different things to do, and a fun way to bust a little bit of stash.

It comes in two sizes so it should fit teens, women and men.

You can get the pattern on Ravelry.

[Photo: Nick Davis]

Balaclava Knitting Patterns

Colorwork Balaclava Knitting Pattern

Over the years I have shared a lot of pumpkin knitting patterns, and I’ve knit and crocheted a lot of pumpkins myself. But it feels like there are always more fun things to try with knit pumpkins, so this year I wanted to look a little more beyond basic stockinette or ribbed pumpkins and share some pumpkin patterns with cables, bobbles and colorwork.

In the cable collection we’ve got these cute little basic cable and ribbed pumpkins from Elly Bear Knits. There are two sizes that make a wide, flat pumpkin and a taller round pumpkin. Both are worked in the round as a tube that’s cinched top and bottom when you’re done, and they use bulky weight yarn.

Another cute cable pumpkin knitting pattern comes from Gray Bear Akswokrat. This one is knit flat and it looks like a chunky yarn but you could use other weights to make pumpkins of different sizes. This one also has an I-cord stem and uses yarn to cinch up the sections of the pumpkin, giving it a more natural look.

Add some bobbles to your pumpkins with this design from Autumn Shelter Makes. Also worked in the round in a tube, it features a repeating pattern of bobbles and uses yarn wrapped around the outside to make segments. This one looks like worsted weight yarn to me.

Of course there’s nothing that says your pumpkin has to be a single color, so let’s throw in some colorwork. I love the look of the Cozy Fall Pumpkin knitting pattern from South Stitch Girls. The little leather loop adds a rustic touch but you could also just add a stick. These pumpkins have five colorwork options and are worked in worsted weight yarn in the round.

There’s also the Autumn Fair Isle Trio pumpkins pattern from Equestriann Style, which has three different sizes of pumpkins with four colorwork designs. They are worked in super bulky yarn in the round and look good with high contrast or more muted color combinations.

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