End of Summer Leg Warmers

September is flying by and I’m trying my best to hold on! I’ve been crocheting away, making as much as I can for the Etsy: Made in Canada craft show, and thinking of ways to display my booth. Last week my Death Star pillow made it on George Takei’s Facebook page. Needless to say, I was beyond surprised/happy/giddy. And then the emails started coming in – I got lots of questions that gave me the push I needed to finish making the Death Star video. And then the custom order requests started coming in. So, like I said, I’m trying my best to hold on to this crazy-exciting month! The show is next Saturday (OMG!!!) and I think I’m almost there…but of course that tiny voice inside my head keeps telling me I don’t have enough items and my table display looks like a barren wasteland. Jay has been lovely, telling me everything is cool and I’m cool and my stuff is cool. Bless him, he’s keeping me from burrowing my face in my yarn stash.

But, despite my frenetic mood, I realise I need to take some time for myself and have a little break by working on something unrelated to craft shows and Death Stars.

Leg warmers. The nights are getting cold and even the days now have a chill to them, so why not slip into something warm? To make these leg warmers I started with a simple ribbing at the top and then used the Lacy Wave crochet stitch from New Stitch A Day. Make sure to watch the video and familiarise yourself with the stitch before starting the pattern. The pattern is worked flat, then sewn together and then a strip of elastic is stitched around the inside rib to keep them from sliding down.

End of Summer Leg Warmers

Materials

-3 balls (50g/1.75oz) cotton yarn such as Bernat Handicrafter Cotton in colour of choice.

-Size 3.75 and 4.50mm crochet hooks.

-Needle and thread for sewing the seams and elastic.

-Strip of elastic, enough to wrap around comfortably (I only stitched the elastic along the back of the knees portion).

Stitches

Ch – Chain

Sc – Single crochet

BLO – back loop only

Dc – double crochet

Starting with hook size 3.75mm

Ch 7, sc in 2nd ch from hook and each ch across.

Ch 1, turn, sc in BLO for approx. 55 rows or until the piece fits around your calf. It should be a little snug but not so tight that you’re cutting off circulation – that’s what the elastic is for 😉

Once the ribbing is done, ch 1 and sc along the side in each row. At the end you’ll have 55 stitches if you made 55 rows.

Now continue the pattern by switching to 4.50mm crochet hook and the Lacy Wave stitch:

Row 1: ch 1, sc into 2nd ch from hook, *ch 2, skip 2 sts, 1dc into each of next 2 ch, ch 2, skip 2 sts, sc into each of next 5 sts; rep from * to end, turn

Row 2: Ch 5 (count as 1dc and 2ch), dc into 1st st, *[ch 1, skip 1 st, 1 dc into next st] twice, ch 1, dc into next 2ch space, skip 2dc**, 5dc into next 2ch space, ch 2, dc into next st; rep from * ending last rep at **, 4 dc into last 2ch space, dc into last sc, skip turning ch, turn.

Row 3: Ch 5 (count as 1dc and 2ch), dc into 1st st, *[1ch, skip 1st, 1dc into next st] twice, ch 1, skip 1 st, dc into next ch, skip [dc, ch 1, dc, ch 1 and dc], 5dc into next 2ch sp**, ch 2, dc into next st; rep from * ending last rep at ** in tch, turn.

Repeat Row 3 until you’ve reached desired length – my leg warmers are about 15 inches (incl. the ribbing) or 24 rows.

 

Photo cred: Little Sister Sue 🙂