Design: Little Legwarmers
Designer: me - such as the design is!
Fibre: 97% acrylic, 3% metallic
Colour: 1084
Needles: 3.75mm DPN and small circular
These are a Christmas gift, but I'm safe posting about this as the recipient is only three (and a half! most important...) and can't (quite) read my blog.
My niece, The Tot, has recently started ballet lessons - you can see her in her 'uniform' above - and is also in that 'pink princess' stage little girls seem to go through. We don't know where she gets it from, as none of the family have exactly been encouraging it, but you've got to make a little girl happy, haven't you? And how better to do that than combine her favourite colours with some sparkle in a pair of 'proper dancer's' accessories?
The photo doesn't show you the full horror effect. The pink is very lurid, not quite day-glo but nearly, and running all the way through the yarn is a strand of silver sparkle. The fair isle section is fuchsia and white. All I'm going to say is that whilst these would have made an ideal bus project, I wasn't going to be seen knitting this stuff in public...
It was quite fun to think I'd seen this yarn as a sample when we'd been to the Creative Yarn warehouse in the summer though!
The hardest part of knitting these was juggling with the metal DPNS, so I switched to a 16" circular and progress was quicker, although I had to keep shoving stitches around.
If you'd like to make your own budding ballerina a pair of legwarmers, you will need:
Little Legwarmers - for little legs
(age 3-4 approx) (pattern especially for Barb M!)
100g double knitting yarn - you won't use all the ball, but having extra will give you chance to lengthen the legs
4mm double pointed needles or small (16"/40cm) circular needle - I used 3.75mm because I knit slightly loosely. Tension isn't wildly important but you don't want too loose a fabric If you want to knit straight, then a pair of 4mm ordinary needles needed.
yarn needle
Cast on 36 stitches loosely - or use a 5mm needle
Divide stitches over double pointed needles and join in the round, being careful not to twist stitches (or use a small circular needle)
Work knit 2, purl 2 rib for 16 rows
Knit 64 rows
Work knit 2, purl 2 rib for 6 row
Cast off loosely in rib
Darn in ends.
If you wanted to knit these in the flat and seam, then:
Cast on 38 stitches loosely - or use a 5mm needle
Row 1: knit 2, purl 2 to end, ending with knit 2
Row 2: purl 2, knit 2 to end, ending with purl 2
Repeat Rows 1 and 2 seven more times
Row 17: knit
Row 18: purl
Repeat Rows 17 and 18 31 more times
Row 81: knit 2, purl 2 to end, ending with knit 2
Row 82: purl 2, knit 2 to end, ending with purl 2
Repeat Rows 81 and 82 twice more
Cast off loosely in rib.
Seam using a mattress seam. There is a one stitch seam allowance.
