“… Aulë made the Dwarves strong to endure. Therefore they are stone-hard, stubborn, fast in friendship and in enmity, and they suffer toil and hunger and hurt of body more hardily than all other speaking peoples…”

-- J.R.R.Tolkien, the Silmarillion

The Longbeard Hooded Cloak is inspired by the hooded garments of the Dwarves as described in the Hobbit, and by garment fragments found preserved in a bog near Skjoldehamn, Norway in 1936. Worked in six separate pieces, the finished pieces are seamed together to create a garment that is a cross between a Viking-era hood and a medieval tabard. The Hooded Cloak is conceived as a layering piece to wear over a winter coat, but could also be worn as a transitional garment in spring and autumn.

Sizes: one size, can be made as a hood only by omitting the front and back panels. (reduces yarn requirements by 600y)

Materials needed:

• @780m (850y) main colour and @435m (475y) contrast colour aran or bulky weight yarn (front and back contrast) OR
• @1100m (1200y) main colour and @90m (100y) contrast colour aran or bulky weight yarn (front and back are the same)
• 5mm (US 8) needles or size required to make gauge
• @150cm (5 feet) of 7.5cm (3 inch) wide ribbon or fabric to face the inside edges of the hood and stabilize the neckline
• thread and needle to sew ribbons to knitting
• a darning needle or other large eyed needle for seaming knitted sections together

Gauge: 18 sts and 24 rows = four inches/10 cm

All pattern instructions are written. The stranded colour work inserts are also charted for those who prefer that format, as a supplement to the written instructions.

Designer’s sample worked using three skeins of Cascade Yarns Ecological Wool: two skeins natural cream, 1 skein natural brown.