Knit Accessories Inspired by Ballet

This week’s free pattern is actually four free patterns, all from Wool and the Gang, all inspired by accessories a ballerina might wear, but that you can also enjoy even if you’re not a dancer.

First, there’s the ballet scrunchie pattern, which uses two colors and a ribbed pattern. It’s rated for intermediate knitters and the post says it takes about two hours to knit, which makes it perfect as a stocking stuffer for girls and ladies of all ages in your life. Make them in different colors and fibers to bust some stash, too.

Pair that with the Perfect Sense wrap, which is basically a long-sleeved shrug, or an extremely cropped pullover. It has a funnel neck and a relaxed fit through the arms. It’s worked from the top down so you could make the body as long as you like if you want more coverage.

If you like a more traditional ballet style sweater look, check out the Elliot Sweater, a classic wrap sweater beloved by ballerinas and others who want to be cozy and stylish at the same time. This intermediate knitting pattern is worked in a super fluffy alpaca blend yarn for extra coziness, and you’ll want to slip it on over everything all season long.

Of course you can’t talk about ballet-inspired patterns without having some legwarmers (though honestly I think legwarmers should be more popular than they are; that little extra bit of warmth always makes me happy when I wear them). The Wilkinson leg warmers pattern calls for the same yarn as the Elliot sweater above, and uses two kinds of ribbing for a stretchy, slouchy fit that still holds onto your leg where it needs to. This pattern is easy and a great one for newer knitters.

[Photo: Wool and the Gang]

Next Pattern:

If you’re looking for a sweater knitting pattern that uses up some of your stash and allows you to make just the sweater you want, the Marlina Rib by Shay Johson might be just the thing.

It’s worked with two strands of fingering weight yarn held together to make a DK weight gauge, so you can use the same two yarns throughout or change one or both regularly for an even more colorful look.

The pattern has options to make it either a crewneck or a henley style with buttons, tapered or relaxed sleeves, and a straight hemline or a split hem with buttons (which sounds so cute if you do the henley with split hem and match the buttons on both parts).

It’s also knit from the top down so you can make the body and the sleeves as long as you want. There are 10 sizes available in the pattern, with a chest circumference ranging from 32 to 68 inches, or 81.5 to 172.5 cm. It’s meant to be worn with 4-6 inches/10-15 cm of positive ease at the chest.

The pattern page on Ravelry includes tons of measurements and yardage estimates so you can make sure you’ll get a good fit for your body before you even buy the pattern. Shay also shows a few variations of the sweater so you can see how different options look before you decide how you want to put them together.

The stitch pattern is 1×2 ribbing, which is really easy to do and gives a look almost like fisherman’s rib that’s relaxed and easy to wear.

This sweater looks like a great option for people who are somewhat new to sweater knitting or those who love to have lots of customization options (because it’s like getting multiple sweater patterns in one!).

Check out all the details and grab a copy of the pattern for yourself at Ravelry.

[Photo: Shay Johnson]

Next Pattern:

Have you read?

Leave a Reply