Lacy Cable Legwarmers Pattern

I knew if I didn’t get this pattern written up as fast as possible, I would never share it. So here it is. I would have loved to make it a beautiful downloadable pdf file but this will have to do. The original stitch pattern (chart A) is the Eyelet Herringbone from the Vogue Knitting Stitchionary. I’ve charted it and created the reverse stitch pattern. The ribbing at top and bottom are not the same because I wanted them to flow from the stitch pattern and there are increases that made using the same ribbing sequence impossible.

Lacy Cable Legwarmers

Materials:

• 1 skein sock yarn (mine had 385 yards with some leftover)
• 3mm double pointed needles (alternately one long circular needle for magic loop or two circular needles, which is my preferred method of knitting in the round)

Note on sizing and gauge: I did not measure gauge and just adjusted the size to fit E. She’s a small 9 year old and usually wears a size 7 in clothing. 8 if we’re lucky.

Charts:

Chart A

Chart B

Right Twist: Insert needle into 2nd stitch through front loop and knit that stitch, leaving the stitch on the needle . Then, knit the first stitch and let both stitches fall off the needle.

Left Twist: Insert needle into 2nd stitch through back loop (behind the needle) and knit that stitch, leaving the stitch on the needle . Then, knit the first stitch and let both stitches fall off the needle.

Instructions:

First legwarmer

Cast on 54 sts and join for working in the round. I used a purlwise cable cast on.

Ribbing: *(purl 2, knit 2, purl 3, knit 2), repeat from * until end. Work for 15 rows.

Work the 12 rows of chart A 4 times. (The chart should repeat 6 times around.)

Work increases in purl columns as follows. I used a make one purl increase (after first purl stitch, lift the bar between the two stitches from back to front and purl into the front). On row 3, increase one stitch in 1st and 4th purl columns. On row 7, increase one stitch in 2nd and 5th purl columns. On row 11, increase one stitch in 3rd and 6th purl columns. 6 stitches increased.

Work the increases once more. 12 stitches total increased, 66 stitches total. The 12 rows of chart A have been worked 6 times total. The purl columns now have 4 stitches rather than the 2 in the chart.

Work the 12 rows of chart A 3 more times, keeping in mind that the purl columns now have 4 stitches.

Ribbing: purl 1, *(knit 2, purl 2, knit 2, purl 1, knit 2, purl2), repeat from * until 10 stitches remain, knit 2, purl 2, knit 2, purl1, knit 2, purl 1. Work for 20 rows.

Bind off. I chose to bind off purlwise from inside so that it would look like a knitwise bind off from outside but have a bit more stretch.

Second legwarmer

Work as first legwarmer, this time using chart B.

Final note: I was originally going to make these plain tubes and skip increases but I screwed up when measuring E’s leg. I tried it on when I only had about 10 rows of ribbing and it was super stretchy to the point that it looked like it could fall down. I thought I was good. After 30-40 rows, I realized that it was quite tight so I added increases to make the legwarmers more comfortable over the calf. To make roughly the same size but without increases, cast on 63 stitches instead of 54. There will be 7 repeats of the chart around the leg instead of 6 and the bottom ribbing pattern can be used at the top as well.

And don’t hesitate to ask me questions!

About deuxsouriceaux

Creative mommy at home to two wonderful little girls, trying to juggle family, sewing, exercise, family, knitting, photography, and did I mention family?