How to Knit Legwarmers With Two Normal Knitting Needles
Although tubular garments, such as socks or legwarmers, are usually knit in continuous rounds with either circular knitting needles or double pointed needles, you can also use straight needles to create a flat fabric first, then sew the ends of the fabric panel together to form the circular shape. For legwarmers, which are long open-ended tubes that slide onto your calves, you will need to knit a large rectangle in dimensions that correspond to the legwarmer size you need.
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Things You'll Need
- 14-inch straight knitting needles
- Worsted weight or bulky weight wool yarn
- Fabric measuring tape
- Scissors
- Yarn needle
Instructions
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1
Knit a four or five inch square gauge swatch to calculate how many stitches per inch your yarn and needles give you. See Resources if you need to review basic knitting instructions.
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2
Use a fabric measuring tape---the flexible type used in sewing---to measure the length and circumference of the leg that will be wearing the legwarmers. Measure your ankle area and your calf at the widest spot.
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3
Use the circumference measurement of the thinnest part of your leg (probably your ankle) and your gauge swatch to determine how many stitches you need to cast on the needle to create the lower part of the legwarmer.
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4
Use the circumference measurement of the widest part of your leg and your gauge swatch to determine how many stitches you will need to add on to increase the width of the legwarmer so it fits your calf area.
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5
Cast on an even number of stitches based on your calculations from step 3.
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6
Alternate between knitting a stitch and purling a stitch for knit-one, purl-one (k1p1) ribbing across the first row and repeat this on every row for the first three inches of your legwarmer. This creates a stretchy cuff for the ankle.
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7
Widen the legwarmer in the next row by evenly spacing knit increases across the row that correspond to how many stitches you calculated in step 4 that you need to add. To increase a stitch (make one stitch into two stitches), knit into the front bar, then into the back bar of the same stitch on the left needle before removing it from the left needle.
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8
Purl across the next row, then alternate between knitting one row and purling the next row to create a smooth knitted fabric for the length of the legwarmer. Stop when the legwarmer measures about two inches shorter than you need it.
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9
Make the same k1p1 ribbing you did for the bottom of the legwarmer for the next two inches, then bind off, leaving a 24-inch tail of yarn for sewing.
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10
Thread the yarn needle and use the mattress stitch (see Resources if needed) to sew an invisible seam that joins the long edges of the legwarmer and forms a tube shape. Weave in the yarn tail on the inside of the legwarmer when you are done.
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Tips & Warnings
The mattress stitch gives you an invisible seam that will make the legwarmers seem like they were knit in the round.
Stitch a thicker seam up the back if your measurements were off and you need to make the legwarmers a little tighter.
Bulky yarn has less stitches to the inch so your project works up more quickly.
Remember that knitted fabric stretches, so when you are taking the leg measurements, don't hold the tape too loosely.
Avoid using cotton yarn for legwarmers. Cotton yarn is not elastic and loses its shape over time.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit Ball of yarn image by kellykramer from Fotolia.com
