Of ski masks and balaclavas

(August 28: Google Analytics tells me that a handful of web surfers are arriving to this post looking for a ski mask pattern. If I may, this post (scroll down) might be more useful.)

One of my current knitting projects is a ski mask and being without a pattern for one, I turned to Google.

And came up with this:


This is the first of four ski masks designed for an entire family. The rest of the photos (a definite must-see) can be found here. Click on that link. Seriously. Click on it.

According to the knitting blogosphere, the masks appear in a book of McCall's Vintage knits circa 1965. One reader liked it so much she made one for her son and took a photo of him wearing it and sent it in to the magazine, which ran the photo (scroll down the post to see the poor boy).

I actually found the PDFs of the patterns, but trashed them once I realized that they would not be useful for me (too many colour changes, poor-quality scan). I now wish I had kept them, because I can't find them online anymore. Not that I would actually knit these for anyone. Ever. You couldn't pay me enough.*

* "enough" negotiable