Knit Balaclava Pattern – Wild Winter

Protect your face from wild winter winds with this knit balaclava pattern. Short rows at the opening and decreases under the chin create a smooth, comfortable fit that stays in place. It’s like a hug for your face!

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King Cole Safari Chunky Yarn

King Cole yarns provided the Safari Chunky Yarn for this design. This unique yarn is warm, lightweight and squishy, perfect for a face-hugging pattern like this one! It works up into stripes that resemble animal prints. For this knit balaclava pattern, I chose the Lagoon colorway.

See all the colors on the King Cole website. Then, find it in a shop near you with the “Find a Stockist” tool!

Wrap and Turn Short Rows

Short rows can be intimidating if you haven’t done them before, but don’t let that stop you from making the Wild Winter Balaclava! Short rows are simply rows where you don’t work all the stitches. These partial rows create the triangle shaped gussets at each side of the opening.

To avoid creating a gap, you wrap the working yarn around the first unworked stitch, then turn around and go back the way you came. This is called the wrap & turn method, and complete instructions are included in the pattern.

In garter stitch, there’s no need to pick up the wraps later like you would in stockinette. If you ignore the wraps completely, they will blend in with the surrounding purl bumps. This way they are actually less visible than if you had picked them up! Check out this Wrap and Turn Short Rows in Garter Stitch tutorial for a closer look.

A Note About Needles

When it comes to knitting in the round, there are so many options! Double-pointed, circular, magic loop, or 2 pairs of needles, all are fine for this project. Choose whichever works best for you!

I used the magic loop method for the top of the hat, then switched back and forth between short and long circular needles. Needles that are just slightly smaller than the circumference of your work make for fast, continuous knitting. But extra long cords with the magic loop method allow you to try on your balaclava as you go.

With interchangeable needles, you could even switch out your cords whenever you want. But I found it easier just to knit the stitches onto a longer needle set when I wanted to try it on.

Wild Winter Knit Balaclava Pattern

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Materials

• Yarn: 150 yds King Cole Safari Chunky – 100% acrylic, bulky weight yarn (311 yds / 150g per ball) – sample shown in #5006 Lagoon
• Needles: Your choice of needle type for knitting in the round (see note below).
  • US size 10 1/2 (6.5 mm) needles, or size needed to match gauge
  • US size 10 (6 mm) needles, or one size smaller than larger needles
• Notions:
  • Scissors
  • Yarn needle

Use your favorite method of knitting in the round, as you would for a hat. Double-pointed, circular, magic loop, or 2 sets of circulars are all fine. If using circular needles, you may need a shorter set for the top portion of the hat, or may need to use one of the other methods for that part.

Project Level

Intermediate: Increases, decreases, and wrap & turn garter stitch short rows.

Size

Child [Adult]

To fit head circumference: 17-20 inches [20-23 inches]

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I hope you enjoyed this knit balaclava pattern.  A downloadable pdf of this pattern is available on Ravelry for a small fee. The fee for the pdf format is to offset the advertising revenue lost when you print or download the pattern rather than viewing it online.

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