Thursday, January 11, 2007

Baby Steps

On the advice of a new friend who has recently taught me to knit (or more specifically, to knit and purl), I've decided that it would be a good idea to document my projects since I have a feeling that this knitting thing is going to become part of my life for good. It was just last weekend that I learned to cast on, knit, and purl...and I found a project online that my friend said would be a perfect first project for a beginner: legwarmers. It's a basic knit/purl but the pattern was apparently unclear, so she very kindly altered it for me so they would come out just right. Legwarmers were something I've wanted to make for some time because I am a former professional ballet dancer (now teaching) and one of my best friends is still dancing, so a handmade pair of knitted legwarmers from MOI would be a PERFECT (albeit, belated) Christmas gift.

Anyway, after some fuck-ups and a few do-overs, I finally was able to finish one legwarmer and sew up the side seam. Granted, ALL of the yarn ends are still loose inside, but it's no fun weaving in the ends so I am unmotivated to do it. Besides, my BFF wants different colors than the one I made, so I have now started on that pair. Here are some pictures of my one lone legwarmer that I will forever be very proud of.

Pattern below the pics.





Size 11 needles
3 skeins of chunky yarn in 3 colors (A,B,C)

Cast on 35

Row 1: sl 1st st purlwise, K2, P1, to the end. You will end with a K1.
Row 2: sl 1st st purlwise, K1, P2, to the end. You will end with a K1.

Repeat to desired length as follows:

Color A: 8 rows
Color B: 6 rows
Color C: 4 rows
Color A: 5 rows
Color B: 3 rows
Color C: 5 rows
Color A: 6 rows
Color B: 4 rows
Color C: 3 rows
Color A: 5 rows
Color B: 3 rows
Color C: 5 rows
Color A: 6 rows
Color B: 4 rows
Color C: 3 rows
Color A: 5 rows

Bind off.
Join side seams using Mattress Stitch

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Girl your legwarmer looks great!!! Great job - beginner? I think not! LOL

Love the Blythe Doll pic on the blog - gorgeous things that they are....keep the blogging going - so nice to keep an archive of all your knitting adventures/projects.