Our second balaclava pattern hails from the United States. It comes from a book published by The Priscilla Publishing Co. in cooperation with the American red cross.
At the start of the book, images are shown of both nurses, convalescing Italian soldiers and young girls, diligently at work for the war effort. This is a theme we have seen time and again on our journey. All those who could help, would help and were encouraged to do so.
Next, we get some information on how to even begin to knit. How to cast on, how to cast off, how to insert your needle… anything a beginner could want. We also see a reference to the shortage of yarn mentioned under the header ‘Grade of yarn’.
As for colour, olive for the land army, dark blue for the navy, and grey will do in a pinch.
Shortages of supplies were all too common during the war. Though the US didn’t quite face the same struggle as Europe, they were strongly encouraged to curb food waste and self ration. An official ration was something the government wanted to avoid.
Now, luckily yarn is no longer in short supply, so let’s make us a ‘helmet’
Helmet No 1
Abbreviations and terms:
- K1; Knit one
- P1: Purl one
- Knitting plain: knit stitch/garter
- k2tog: Knit two stitches together
- Ribs: One pass back and forth in stockinette.
Materials :
- Around 170g or worsted weight yarn in olive, navy blue or grey
- 4,5mm or US7 needles.
- Stitch saver, spare yarn or extra needles to hold unworked stitches
- A tapestry needle. This balaclava is knit in 2 halves and sewn and grafted together at the end
- This is one of the rare examples where a gauge is given. For a 10cmx10cm or 4”x4” square it would have equated to roughly 16 stitches by 18 rows in stockinette
Instructions:
Front Panel:
Setting up – Cast on 48 stitches
Knit plain for 25 ribs
Now knit 2 purl 2 knit for 35 rows total
For the opening of the face:
k2, p2, k2, p2, k2, loosely bind off the next 28 stitches, p1, k2, p2, k2, p2
Put the stitches you knit after the cast off on a spare needle, stitch saver or piece of spare yarn
K2, p2 the other switches for 12 rows with the last row ending at the opening
Cast on 28 stitches to form the top of the face opening
With the saved stitches, knit 12 rows following the ribbing pattern, starting at the face opening.
At the 12th row, knit across all stitches, making a total of 48 again
k2, p2 for another 28 rows.
Crown
Row 1: k2, k2tog, k14, k2tog, k14, k2tog, k12
Row 2: purl. All even rows will be purled
Row 3: k2, k2tog, k13, k2tog, k13, k2tog, k11
Row 5: k2, k2tog, k12, k2tog, k12, k2tog, k10
Continue this pattern, narrowing in the same spots until you have 9 stitches left. Place these on a stitch saver/spare yarn.
Back Panel:
Setting up – Cast on 48 stitches
Knit plain for 25 ribs
Now knit 2 purl 2 for a total of 76 rows
Crown
Row 1: k2, k2tog, k14, k2tog, k14, k2tog, k12
Row 2: purl. All even rows will be purled
Row 3: k2, k2tog, k13, k2tog, k13, k2tog, k11
Row 5: k2, k2tog, k12, k2tog, k12, k2tog, k10
Continue this pattern, narrowing in the same spots until you have 9 stitches left.
Put the two panels on top of one another and graft the 9 stitches together witht he kitchener stitch.
Sew up the sides and you’re done!
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