Leggies - Free Legwarmer Pattern

Well as you know I bought some lovely hand dyed merino sock yarn from Tash at Knitsch and I decided to make some legwarmers for my youngest daughter. I tried a couple of patterns out in other yarns first but wasnt really happy with them because she's a big girl for an 8 month old and didnt fit 6 month sizing or the 1 year sizing of patterns I found. So, I decided to design my own pattern and here it is:

LEGGIES

Size: 9 Months

Yarn: fingering weight sock yarn

Needles: 3.25mm circulars, 80cm length

Abbreviations: k = Knit, p = Purl, m = Make

Pattern Instructions:

Cast on 44sts, Join and work in the round using the Magic Loop technique,

Work 8 rounds in 1x1 Twisted rib (Knit into the back of the stitch)

Then switch to stocking stitch and work 25 rounds

Next round Increase: k1, m1, k to last stitch, m1, k1  (46 sts on needles)

Then work 15 rounds in stocking stitch

Repeat increase round (48 sts)

Work a further 10 rounds in stocking stitch

Repeat increase round (50 sts)

Work a further 10 rounds in stocking stitch

Repeat increase round (52 sts)

Switch to 1x1 Twisted rib and work 8 rounds

Cast off in rib

Weave in ends.

Notes: if you want a tighter weave and slightly smaller size you should use size 3mm needles

This pattern is the intellectual property of Jennie Kuzman and is copyright protected. You may use this pattern to make items for your personal use only - not for commercial gain.

Hi my name is Jennie and I am a swap addict....

These are some of the goodies I have aquired in the last two months

Book and Yarn Round Robin:

Filatura di Crosa Maxime Sock Yarn

Knits & Pretties Light Fingering Weight Cotton

Stranded in OZ DK Merino

$10 Swap Group

June Swap

Karma Swap Group Swaps

Plymouth Happy Feet

Araucania Pomaire

Berocco Ultra Ulpaca

Koigu Sock Yarn

Project Bags

I decided to turn my hand to making some Knitting Project bags last weekend.  I had fun making these, I had made similar bags before (laundry and garment bags) so it wasn't a stretch to make ones for knitting projects.

Medium and Sock Bags

Large and Petite Bags

They are all lined with unbleached calico.

I plan on making a few more tonight as the Owl fabric I found at Spotlight is proving popular.

Knitsch Yarn Club - First installment

Well those of you who know me will realise I am no Sock knitter - I've only made ones for my children and they were by no means a "good effort". However, I do love Sock yarn for other items and I love Knitsch yarn. So When Tash decided to start a Yarn Club I couldn't help myself from signing up :D

The first Installment was received at the end of last month, I got to choose one of two colourways that she is creating each month. I chose the Semi-solid Peacock in the Parlour because I just LOVE peacock colours. Stupidly I did not take a picture before I got it caked so you can't see how truly yummy it is!

I am planning on actually making myself some socks with these, but a suitable pattern has not yet presented itself.

Stitchmarkers

I was hit with a creativity drive and went off and made some stitchmarkers...

Is it really July?

Gosh it's been a long time since I posted anything as there has been so much going on!


Alice is growing by the second and is not my little baby any more - At 8 months old she looks like a 10-12 month old.

It's been very cold here this last month, Alice sleeps in a baby sleeping bag but gets cold hands, so after a quick search on Ravelry I managed to find a cute pattern for fingerless Mitts - Sucky Thumb Mitts by Marianne Cant

The Legwarmers have worked a treat as She has mastered crawling backwards commando style and rolls to get forward, she has on many occasions got up onto all fours and rocked but she shows no inclination towards moving forward into a crawl.

I managed to finish the cardi (Sunday Brunch by Sublime Yarns)  my Nana-in-law started and I was quite pleased with the finished product considerign the pieces were all different lengths and widths

June was the month of hats, I had to make hats for three of my friends little girls:

Cara is also growing up, she is at Kindergarten three afternoons a week and is a sponge for learning at the moment, really interested in everything. Her artwork is beautiful and she really is good at puzzles.

Its the end of the month...

So what have I acheived this month? not a lot really.....

I finished Alice's stripey Cardi, and I am reasonably happy with it.

I taught myself to magic loop using u-tube video's and made leg warmers for Alice. 

They are a big wonky on the ribbing but not too bad for my first efforts,  and they have proven very useful over the last few days of bad weather. Next time though I will make them longer as they are a little short.


I have made a start on all the hat presents that I have promised my friends kids  - I have three to complete and its already winter!

I bought more yarn....

Some lovely Cinque Terre from Knitsch, she also sent me some cute notecards.

I participated in another swap in the Ravelry $10 Swap group, which has been really fun so far. I got loads of great stuff this month from a Chicago Raveller and it included some lovely Bamboo yarn.

May, BRRR it's winter already

Its May over here in New Zealand and that means even though its still technically Autumn, its basically Winter because its soo darn cold!

My hands are so cold right now I must knit some nice gloves...

I participated in another yarn swap with a lovely american lady and got the most awesome package which included some Malabrigo Silky Merino, Some hand Dyed Cotton, a bag, 2 patterns, and she even included a colouring in book, crayons and sunglasses for my daughter and a catnip toy for my cat.

I sent her some Sirdar Calico, a Pattern for the Noble Cowl, some buttons, and coloured pins, a gift bag, a sheep magnetic notepad, and a bag of Pineapple lumps

















I am very excited about trying the Malabrigo, I think I'll make the scarf pattern she sent as it looks gorgeous.

Its been a trying week at home, my baby daughter Alice has just cut her first tooth  - not a moment to soon as she is dreadful whilst teething. My older daughter Cara has started on tantrums again, sigh, I know I have to be patient but GRRRR! On the bright side, my Great Aunt is visiting and its been lovely to see her.

Just Checking in....

Well its been a lousy 4 days so far....
I caught a nasty gastrobug in the weekend and haven't been able to do anything! It's been so bad that my dear husband has had to take time off work to look after the kids and I haven't been able to knit even one stitch! Worst of all I missed my knitting group meeting yesterday and I am very sad as I really enjoy those meetings. Thankfully we are meeting up tonight so I shall drag myself along for an hour or so as I am no longer sick - just tired.

Anyway I am trying not to be a drama queen so lets focus on what else I've been up to since my last post.

I finished a hat which I had intended for a friends little girl, however my daughter Cara went mad for it because its pink, so I let her have it and I'll make another one in green.

My kids are growing up! My eldest is now at Kindergarten (USA equivalent = preschool)  three afternoons a week and my youngest just started solids and is trying to crawl.
It leaves me with a bit more time up my sleeve and I have been eyeing up some more challenging projects to do - now I just have to wait for my Knit Picks order to arrive from the USA.

Book and Yarn Swap - Parcel Received

I received my parcel from the USA!
Many thanks to Vanessa from New Jersey who was my swap partner.
Unfortunately, New Zealand Post opened up my parcel and broke into all the Easter eggs, but it didnt stop my daughter making a beeline for them!

I received a Ball of Chunky Green Sugar and Creme yarn, (which I will turn into a hat for my daughter), a copy of  The Sword and The Chrysanthemum by Susan Scharfman, an activity book called The Girls Doodle Book for my daughter (who loves it) and lots of yummy chocolate Easter eggs.

Slow going with this AWFUL yarn...

I am tring very hard to finish this sweater for my eldest daughter, its not a hard pattern, its on 4.5mm needles and you'd think that I would have finished it by now considering its been on my needles for 3 weeks! Alas there is a hiccup - the yarn - its AWFUL! its Panda Magnum Soft - a 100% acrylic that my daughter chose for herself so I couldn't say no .... 

It was fine in the ball, seemed soft enough but once I started knitting it I began to hate it - its scratchy, itchy and not soft enough for my liking! Its not that I hate acrylics in general I just hate this one and its enough to make me vow to never buy a 100% acrylic again!

Panda Magnum Soft

I decided to test myself on a different acrylic to see if its just the panda and yes it is, I started knitting with the King Cole Splash I was given and successfully finished the back of a Cardi for my younger daughter over two nights, whilst also struggling to do about 10 rows of the other....... (sigh). The King Cole is fine to knit with - no problems at all and I like the self striping pattern.   I promised myself that I will finish the magnum yarn and then never buy it again.

King Cole Splash

Yarn, Yarn,Yarn and More Yarn

I have been buying again - very naughty as I am supposed to be on a yarn diet. There are mitigating circumstances though.....

About a month ago I ordered some lovely alpaca from Webs in the USA, it was sooo slow to arrive that I decided to e-mail and complain, they told me to wait another two weeks and if it didn't arrive they would do a trace. Well of course it didn't arrive and they tried to trace - no luck. They e-mailed me to apologise and refunded me my money - of course I was gutted! Anyway, the very next day it turned up!  I am a firm believer in what goes around comes around, so I e-mailed them to say that it had arrived and to cancel the refund, but they refunded me anyway - thanks very much I will definitely buy from you again.

Classic Elite Inca Marl - Coral

Plymouth Worsted Alpaca

Whilst I was waiting for this yarn to arrive, I discovered a gorgeous pattern for Leg Warmers by Marie Connolly  and went on a yarn hunt for some nice 4ply. At the same time, I received a Voucher for $10 to use at Spotlight so I bought some cute merino. - yay more free yarn!

Cleckheaton Merino Bambino

Now that I had successfully bought some yarn for free, I decided to spend some actual money...

I need to make a sweater for a friend's little girl and as she is a very girly little girl so I went in search of a nice pink and bought some Organic Merino from SkeiNZ, for $5 a ball - what a steal, this stuff is a test dye for the Elan Organic Merino which usually goes for $12 a ball and should do the job nicely!

Organic Merino

Unfortunately though it didnt stop there.........just as I was leaving SkeiNZ, I noticed a bin of odds and ends, and discovered two balls of a lovely burgandy DK wool which will be perfect for some Nappy Soakers that I am trying to convince my friends mum to crochet for me.....

Sigh, I promise to be better at my yarn diet next month.

DK Wool

GRRRR Knitting maths gone wrong

Well I got about 10cm into the front of "Preppie" for Cara and then realised my maths was so far out that I was making it about three sizes too big. I was sooo mad but figured hey I'll carry on and put it in the drawer for when it fits. However, 20cm further on I realised I wouldn't have enough yarn for that size!
So, sadly I frogged back to the start, had a break, re balled it and started again. However, this time I decided to use an existing pattern for a 3-4 size and I am going to add the dot pattern as a panel on front. That way I wont have to worry about my maths skills until I get to the panel.......

Latest Splurge

I just bought some gorgeous 4ply Merino Mix from www.needlefood.co.nz
It's called Sprinkles and its just gorgeous.

I bought it spur of the moment when Michelle from needlefood e-mailed to let me know that my new Hiya-Hiya needles had arrived, I was impressed with the speed of delivery and they sent me a small whittakers chocolate and some cute stitchmarkers, so I am very happy.

Then, I collected my mail and my friend Sally, who's in the UK, sent me two balls of self-striping King Cole Splash which will be very cute for a kids cardigan.

Work In Progress

Well its been awhile....

I finished the baby sweater, decided not to crochet instead my mum is going to embroider something pretty.

I also made a new beanie for my daughter Alice, its from all the left overs from the others I made. I think it turned out quite cute.

Now I'm working on a sweater for my other Daughter - Cara......

Agnes Sweater

I am now working on the Agnes Sweater by Lois Daykin

from Rowan's Little Treasures

I am using Patons Zhivago Baby in cream for the sweater and Patons Feathersoft in yellow for the chick applique.

Whilst its a reasonably easy pattern I have had to frog back twice as I was not paying enough attention to detail! Oh well, one sleeve to go and then it's time to make it up and tackle the most challenging part - the chick applique which is crocheted - a skill I sorely lack in.