Shining Armor

As the mother of a daughter, I am concerned about raising a child to believe she is not helpless. As encouraging as it’s been to see the trend of princesses in pop culture rescuing themselves lately, we decided our little princess needed her very own set of armor. Of course, this armored chest plate is suitable for boys as well.

Special thanks to Amyfishgirl for her assistance in developing this pattern!

Skill Level: Intermediate.

Finished Size: 2T (4T, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16)

The Front piece of the Armor measures wider than the Back piece. This is so that the scale maille section will wrap around the sides of the body. You may also wish to make the Armor one size larger than what your child normally wears, both to facilitate putting it on by themselves and so that they can grow into it.

Materials:

• Cascade 220: 1 (1, 1, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2) skeins
• Aluminum scales, 7/8 x 1.5 inches: 206 (256, 307, 391, 454, 507, 562, 562)
• Size J-10 (6.0 mm) crochet hook
• Yarn needle

Gauge Square: Ch 18. Row 1.Dc in fourth ch from hook (first 3 ch count as 1 dc) and ea rem ch across. Rows 2-8.Ch 3; turn. Dc in ea dc across. Finish off. 16 dc and 8 rows = 4 inch square.Note: Pattern is written for smallest size with changes for larger sizes in parentheses. To avoid confusion, it may be helpful to circle the numbers corresponding to your size before beginning this project. When only one number is given, it applies to all sizes.

Special Stitch: Crochet Scale Maille

Crochet scale maille is worked over a series of two stitches. For counting purposes, both dc and dc2tog are counted as one stitch. When the pattern says to “work in scale maille,” you will be adding one scale every two stitches (whether the stitches be dc or dc2tog) as follows:

1. Crochet the first stitch as usual, then carefully remove the hook from the stitch. Thread the loop from the stitch through the hole in the scale, making sure the scale is concave side UP and the hole is on top (the scale will be “bulging” side down). Replace the loop on the hook.
2. Crochet the second stitch as usual, then remove the hook from the stitch again. Thread the loop through the same scale that was attached in Step 1, flipping the scale to the right so that it is now concave side DOWN. The scale should now be “bulging” side up.
3. Repeat steps 1 & 2 for the next two stitches, and so on throughout the scale maille section. The process will look like this: *dc, add scale, dc, flip; rep from * across.
4. If the scale maille section has an uneven number of stitches in any given row, leave the last stitch without a scale.

Pro Tips:

1. If you find that you missed a scale a few rows back, just tie it in with a bit of yarn and weave in the ends. No one will be the wiser.
2. To speed up the process of adding the scales, slide multiple scales onto the hook at once, then slide them off as needed while you are crocheting (thank you, Amyfishgirl, for this recommendation!).

Front

Worked from bottom up.

Ch 54 (60, 68, 72, 76, 82, 88, 88).

Row 1 (WS). Dc in 4th ch from hook (first 3 ch count as dc now and throughout pattern) and ea rem ch across. 52 (58, 66, 70, 74, 80, 86, 86) dc.

Row 2 (RS). Ch 3; turn. Working in scale maille, dc in ea dc across. 52 (58, 66, 70, 74, 80, 86, 86) dc and 26 (29, 33, 35, 37, 40, 43, 43) scales.

Reminder: The first 3 ch of ea row count as a dc, so your first scale in row 2 is added to the beg ch-3.

Row 3 (non-scale maille row). Ch 3; turn. Dc in ea dc across.

Row 4 (scale maille row). Ch 3; turn. Working in scale maille, dc in ea dc across.
Note: You will achieve more coverage from the scales if you offset the scales in this row from the previous scale maille row. To do this, the first scale in this row would be added to the first actual dc instead of the beg ch-3, and the rest of the row worked as usual. The next scale maille row would then be worked the same as row 2, the following scale maille row would be worked the same as row 4, and so on, so that the placement of the scales alternates. This scale placement is optional, and will result in one less scale in the offset row. If you do not wish to have to keep track of offset rows, you can place the scales the same as row 2 for every scale maille row.

Rows 5-12 (5-14, 5-14, 5-18, 5-20, 5-20, 5-20, 5-20). Rep rows 3 & 4.

At this point you should have 6 (7, 7, 9, 10, 10, 10, 10) rows of scale maille.

Armhole Shaping

Row 13 (15, 15, 19, 21, 21, 21, 21). Turn. Sl st in first 13 (15, 17, 19, 20, 22, 24, 24) dc, ch 3 (counts as dc, dc in next 27 (29, 33, 33, 35, 37, 39, 39) dc; leave rem dc un-worked. 28 (30, 34, 34, 36, 38, 40, 40) dc.

Row 14 (16, 16, 20, 22, 22, 22, 22). Rep row 4. 28 (30, 34, 34, 36, 38, 40, 40) dc and 14 (15, 17, 17, 18, 19, 20, 20) scales.

Rows 15-18 (17-20, 17-22, 21-26, 23-28, 23-30, 23-32, 23-32). Rep rows 3 & 4.

Right Shoulder Shaping

Row 19 (21, 23, 27, 29, 31, 33, 33). Ch 3; turn. Dc in next 3 (4, 4, 4, 5, 5, 5, 5) dc; leave rem dc un-worked. 4 (5, 5, 5, 6, 6, 6, 6) dc.

Row 20 (22, 24, 28, 30, 32, 34, 34). Rep row 4. 4 (5, 5, 5, 6, 6, 6, 6) dc and 2 (2, 2, 2, 3, 3, 3, 3) scales.

Rows 21-22 (23-24, 25-26, 29-30, 31-32, 33-34, 35-36, 35-36). Rep rows 3 & 4.

Finish off.

Left Shoulder Shaping

Skip next 20 (20, 24, 24, 24, 26, 28, 28) un-worked dc in row 18 (20, 22, 26, 28, 30, 32, 32), join yarn with sl st in next dc.

Row 19 (21, 23, 27, 29, 31, 33, 33). Ch 3 (counts as dc). Dc in next 3 (4, 4, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5) dc. 4 (5, 5, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6) dc.

Row 20 (22, 24, 28, 30, 32, 34, 34). Rep row 4. 4 (5, 5, 5, 6, 6, 6, 6) dc and 2 (2, 2, 2, 3, 3, 3, 3) scales.

Rows 21-22 (23-24, 25-26, 29-30, 31-32, 33-34, 35-36, 35-36). Rep rows 3 & 4.

Finish off.

Back

Worked from bottom up.

Ch 46 (50, 50, 54, 54, 58, 58, 62).

Row 1. Sc in 10th ch from hook, *ch 5, skip next 3 ch, sc in next ch; rep from * across. 10 (11, 11, 12, 12, 13, 13, 14) ch-sp.

Row 2. Ch 6; turn. *Sc in next ch-sp, ch 5; rep from * across, ending with 1 sc in last ch-sp, ch 2, dc in fourth ch from the bottom of beg ch-9 from row 1. 11 (12, 12, 13, 13, 14, 14, 15) ch-sp.

Row 3. Ch 6 (counts as 1 sc and 5 ch); turn. You may wish to place a st marker in the first ch to make it more obvious where this row ends when you work the next row. Sc in first ch-5 sp, *ch 5, sc in next ch-sp; rep from * across. 10 (11, 11, 12, 12, 13, 13, 14) ch-sp.

Row 4. Ch 6 (counts as 1 dc and 3 ch); turn. You may wish to place a st marker in the third ch to make it more obvious where this row ends when you work the next row. *Sc in next ch-sp, ch 5; rep from * across, ending with 1 sc in last ch-sp, ch 2, dc in first ch of t-ch from previous row. 11 (12, 12, 13, 13, 14, 14, 15) ch-sp.

Rows 5-14 (5-14, 5-16, 5-18, 5-20, 5-20, 5-22, 5-22). Rep rows 3 & 4. 11 (12, 12, 13, 13, 14, 14, 15) ch-5 sp.

Armhole Shaping

Rows 15-19 (15-19, 17-21, 19-23, 21-25, 21-25, 23-27, 23-27). Ch 6; turn. Sc in first ch-5 sp, *ch 5, sc in next ch-sp; rep from * across to last ch-sp. Ch 2, dc in last ch-sp. 6 (7, 7, 8, 8, 9, 9, 10) ch-5 sp.

Right Shoulder Shaping

Row 20 (20, 22, 24, 26, 26, 28, 28). Ch 6; turn. Sc in first ch-5 sp, ch 5, sc in next ch-sp; leave rem st un-worked. 2 ch-sp.

Row 21 (21, 23, 25, 27, 27, 29, 29). Rep row 4.

Rows 22-23 (22-25, 24-27, 26-31, 28-33, 28-35, 30-37, 30-37). Rep rows 3 & 4.

Finish off, leaving a 12-inch tail for joining.

Left Shoulder Shaping

Join yarn with sl st in third to last un-worked ch-5 sp of row 19 (19, 21, 23, 25, 25, 27, 27).

Row 20 (20, 22, 24, 26, 26, 28, 28). Ch 6; turn. Sc in first ch-5 sp, ch 5, sc in last ch-sp. 2 ch-sp.

Row 21 (21, 23, 25, 27, 27, 29, 29). Rep row 4.

Rows 22-23 (22-25, 24-26, 26-30, 28-32, 28-34, 30-36, 30-36). Rep rows 3 & 4.

Finish off, leaving a 12-inch tail for joining.

Finishing

Sc Front to Back at Shoulders. Whipstitch sides from bottom to Armhole Shaping. Weave in all ends.

Abbreviations

• beg (beginning)
• ch (chain)
• dc (double crochet)
• ea (each)
• rem (remaining)
• rep (repeat)
• RS (right side)
• sc (single crochet)
• sl st (slip stitch)
• sp (space)
• t-ch (turning chain)
• tog (together)
• WS (wrong side)