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

Fall will be here before we know it, and that means there are holidays coming right behind where we might be entertaining at home. It’s always fun to have a hand knit touch in your home for other people to see, and if you’re going to be in the kitchen all day you might as well have some nice knit dish cloths to use.

I love this little plaid hand towel from Darling Jadore. Use a little bit of leftover cotton yarn from another project for the plaid portion. It looks like the horizontal stripes are worked as you knit and the vertical stripes are done with duplicate stitch, making this a quick and easy project even newer knitters can make.

Combine garter stitch and an easy eyelet pattern worked sideways to make the Annette Dish Towel from Cluck Cluck Boots, which is meant to be reminiscent of flour sack towels. It calls for DK weight yarn and you can work it in one color or two (or even three!).

Add a little more texture with this set of kitchen towels from Whileberry Creative. They’re mostly worked in garter stitch with borders in easy knit/purl patterns, and you can work them in sport or worsted weight yarn.

Two of Wands Shop has another cute allover knit and purl pattern they call the Seersucker Textured Tea Towel. It’s an easy repeating pattern worked in worsted weight yarn, and there’s a chart in the pattern you can use, but don’t have to, if you want to practice knitting from a chart.

The Classic Cloth dish towel from Handmade Home by Connie is another one that can use a little leftover yarn in a contrasting color, or you could color block it our use stripes throughout the pattern. This one uses worsted weight yarn and another easy repeating knit purl stitch pattern.

If you like to hang your towel on the oven handle or elsewhere but it’s always falling off, try the Stay Put kitchen towel from Fancy Step Knits. This project is worked in garter stitch and includes a hole partway through so you can pull the towel through itself over a rod or handle. Stripes are optional but a nice addition.

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