Date: Tue, 18 Nov 1997 08:22:40 -0800
From: Diana Foss <diana@mooseyard.com>
To: KNIT@bolis.com
Subject: KNIT: hood pattern [...]



Hood Pattern
------------

Debbie Davis asked for a balaclava pattern. I sent her this pattern,
then decided that I'd post it to the list, too, after taking the
trouble to type it.

Well, this is a generic instruction for a knit hood, not a real
balaclava that covers the mouth (and shows only the eyes and
may make the wearer look like a bank robber. :-)

My husband's aunt knitted one of these for my son when he was a baby,
and I was so struck by the cleverness of the pattern that I used it
on my baby bunting pattern I posted to last year's gift exchange.

The measurements you need are:

A) from the side of the face, just at the base of the jaw, up over the
   top of the head and down to the base of the jaw at the other side.

B) From the top of the forehead (or, wherever you want the hood to sit)
   along the top of the head to the "pointy bit," just where the head
   starts going down.

Using your chosen yarn and gauge, cast on enough stitches for measurement
A. Knit the first inch in 1x1 or 2x2 ribbing, then switch to st st,
or a pattern st, and knit until you've got enough rows for measurement
B. End with a WS row, so you're ready to knit the RS.

Now we shape the hood like a band heel on a sock. Take the number of
sts on the needle and divide by 3. If it's not even, the assign the
remainder to the middle. For example, if there are 80 sts on the
needle, 80/3 = 26 2/3. So you'd have 26 sts on either side, and 27 in
the middle.

Knit to one st before the end of the middle sts (26 + 26 = 52, in our
example) and ssk. Turn the piece, work to one st before the end of
the middle sts (26) and p2tog. Continue this way, knitting the
end sts of the middle section with each successive st of the end sections,
until you have an inch or so worth of end section sts left on either
end.

Now, knit to within 3 sts of the end of the middle section (24 sts,
in our example) and ssk twice. Turn, work to within 3 sts of the
end of the middle section (23 sts, since we decreased one on the last
row) and p2tog twice. Continue until you've used up all of the end
section stitches. You should end on a WS row.

Turn the work one last time, knit across the remaining sts, and
continue around the hood, picking up sts along the bottom. When
you get to the front opening, cast on the number of sts you had
in the middle section (27, in the example) and then continue
picking up sts around the other side of the hood. Knit in rounds,
in the same ribbing you used at the beginning, until the neck cuff
is as long as you like. Cast off loosely (I use single crochet to
cast off) and you're done!!

If you knit this, let me know how you like it!


[...]

					Diana Foss,
					trying to keep her son
					away from the keyboard,
					in cloudy San Jose, CA

Diana Foss         diana@mooseyard.com        http://www.mooseyard.com
Stop casting porosity.

---
This pattern downloaded from Wool Works: the online knitting compendium
http://www.woolworks.org/