Good beginner project - simple leg warmers
Fall is in the air in north east Pennsylvania and the other day, I felt like I would no be able to warm up unless I put on some leg warmers. I put on the warm and fuzzy ones I bought in Chile, and it made me think that I needed more of these. It inspired me to go find some fuzzy yarn and I lucked out with a ball of Lion Brand Ferris Wheel in the clearance bin at Joann's.
The pattern designing and the execution are both simple and appropriate for a beginner who got bored of knitting scarves. Each leg warmer is a trapezoid that gets closed with a seam down the side at the end. If you are a very beginner, you can even go with rectangles and not mess with increase rows. It will give you cute Japanese high school girl style leg warmers that are loose around the ankles.
You will need three measurements:
1) snug just below the knee
2) with ease around the ankle
3) The length from ankle to below the knee
Also knit up a swatch with your choice of yarn and needles and figure out how many stitches to the inch and how many rows to make up an inch. Next it's a matter of figuring how many stitches to cast on, how many stitches are needed at the top (below the knee), and how frequently to work an increase row.
The leg warmer begins at the ankle with a band of 1/1 ribbing, stockinette in between, and another band of 1/1 ribbing at the top. Below I will use my example of gauge and measurement as an illustration of the math. It's all based on simple proportionality. At the end, I give the very beginner version of the pattern. As a disclaimer, I have not tried the very beginner version. I would envision that one might have to tighten the leg warmer around the ankle with an elastic or a string to achieve hold and cuteness.
I always use centimeters in my knitting and sewing for three reasons.
1) I was born and raised in a country that uses the metric system
2) Being a smaller unit, the centimeter is more precise
3) Related to 2, I despise fractions.
My gauge is 15 stitches and 20 rows to make up a square 8 cm x 8 cm.
Around the ankle, I determined that I needed 24 cm. Below the knee, I am up to 30 cm. The length from ankle to below the knee is 27 cm.
Number of stitches to cast on = 15 st/ 8 cm x 24 cm = 15 st x 3 = 45 stitches. So I don't get confused in the ribbing, make that an even number, 46.
At the top, I need to work my way up to 15 st/8 cm x 30 cm = 56 stitches. I will need to increase 10 stitches total, 5 on each side.
Subtracting the two ribbed edges at the ankle and below the knee (who are going to be 3 cm each), that means my increases need to happen over 21 cm. That works out to 20 rows/8 cm x 21 cm = 52.5 rows. Round down to 52 (to make sure all increases can be worked, if your round up, you may get to the top before it's time for the last increase). Furthermore, we need 5 increase rows. 50 divides nicely by 5, not 52. And so it's going to be one increase row every 10 rows.
-Work 3 cm in 1/1 ribbing then switch to stockinette
-Increase 1 stitch on each side every 10 rows
-Continue straight once you have 56 stitches on the needles
-3 cm short of the intended length of the leg warmer, switch to 1/1 ribbing
-CO loosely, leaving a tail that is about 3 times the length of the leg warmer
-Use that tail and a darning needle to sew the side seams on the wrong side and make a tube
-Turn the leg warmer back to the right side
-Make as many as you need
A note on techniques. See this post on techniques to obtain neat edges to the work that's easy for sewing or for picking up stitches, and for a method that leads to neat increases.
The pattern designing and the execution are both simple and appropriate for a beginner who got bored of knitting scarves. Each leg warmer is a trapezoid that gets closed with a seam down the side at the end. If you are a very beginner, you can even go with rectangles and not mess with increase rows. It will give you cute Japanese high school girl style leg warmers that are loose around the ankles.
You will need three measurements:
1) snug just below the knee
2) with ease around the ankle
3) The length from ankle to below the knee
Also knit up a swatch with your choice of yarn and needles and figure out how many stitches to the inch and how many rows to make up an inch. Next it's a matter of figuring how many stitches to cast on, how many stitches are needed at the top (below the knee), and how frequently to work an increase row.
The leg warmer begins at the ankle with a band of 1/1 ribbing, stockinette in between, and another band of 1/1 ribbing at the top. Below I will use my example of gauge and measurement as an illustration of the math. It's all based on simple proportionality. At the end, I give the very beginner version of the pattern. As a disclaimer, I have not tried the very beginner version. I would envision that one might have to tighten the leg warmer around the ankle with an elastic or a string to achieve hold and cuteness.
I always use centimeters in my knitting and sewing for three reasons.
1) I was born and raised in a country that uses the metric system
2) Being a smaller unit, the centimeter is more precise
3) Related to 2, I despise fractions.
My gauge is 15 stitches and 20 rows to make up a square 8 cm x 8 cm.
Around the ankle, I determined that I needed 24 cm. Below the knee, I am up to 30 cm. The length from ankle to below the knee is 27 cm.
Number of stitches to cast on = 15 st/ 8 cm x 24 cm = 15 st x 3 = 45 stitches. So I don't get confused in the ribbing, make that an even number, 46.
At the top, I need to work my way up to 15 st/8 cm x 30 cm = 56 stitches. I will need to increase 10 stitches total, 5 on each side.
Subtracting the two ribbed edges at the ankle and below the knee (who are going to be 3 cm each), that means my increases need to happen over 21 cm. That works out to 20 rows/8 cm x 21 cm = 52.5 rows. Round down to 52 (to make sure all increases can be worked, if your round up, you may get to the top before it's time for the last increase). Furthermore, we need 5 increase rows. 50 divides nicely by 5, not 52. And so it's going to be one increase row every 10 rows.
To summarize:
-CO 46 stitches-Work 3 cm in 1/1 ribbing then switch to stockinette
-Increase 1 stitch on each side every 10 rows
-Continue straight once you have 56 stitches on the needles
-3 cm short of the intended length of the leg warmer, switch to 1/1 ribbing
-CO loosely, leaving a tail that is about 3 times the length of the leg warmer
-Use that tail and a darning needle to sew the side seams on the wrong side and make a tube
-Turn the leg warmer back to the right side
-Make as many as you need
A note on techniques. See this post on techniques to obtain neat edges to the work that's easy for sewing or for picking up stitches, and for a method that leads to neat increases.
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