Medieval Crochet

“Can you crochet a medieval chain mail hood for me to wear with my knight costume?”

These were not the words of one of my children.  These were the words my husband spoke to me early yesterday morning.  I was still staring vacantly into my coffee cup, waiting for the combined healing powers of ibuprofen and caffeine to kick in.

“Come again?”

“Can you crochet one of these?”  He showed me a picture from ebay.  Sure enough, some guy was posing in a chain mail hood, crafted from yarn.  “I want it for Vacation Bible School.”

Vacation Bible School (VBS) would begin on Monday, less than forty eight hours away from this request.  Brian was in charge of skits, and this year his featured role was that of a somewhat comical Knight.

I looked at the picture, but there was no pattern available as they were trying to sell the finished product.  I ran a quick internet search and found this pattern, but it was sized for a child.

I bowed out of helping with VBS this year, so maybe I had some latent guilt that compelled me to commit to the project.  Maybe I enjoy a challenge.  Whatever the reason, despite my doubts, I grabbed two skeins of Caron Simply Soft yarn in Grey Heather, an I hook and my yarn scissors, and set to work.

For the most part I followed the pattern.  I made a few changes to adjust the project to an adult size.  I added extra rows of the open work chain mail, left out the open loops across the forehead, and added increases to expand the collar so that rested on his shoulders.

It required several hours of crocheting on both Saturday and Sunday to complete, but overall I was amazed that it worked up as quickly as it did.  Here’s how it turned out:

I can’t take any credit for the rest of the costume.  Brian put that together himself.

I hope the kids at VBS have as much fun as Pastor Brian will!