Knit Legwarmers on a Circular Knitting Machine

Circular knitting machines are a lot of fun to use and make it easy to knit tubes. Despite the name, it’s also possible to knit flat panels on a knitting machine, but this is a function a lot of people don’t use because there’s a bit more of a learning curve around the technique.

Once you understand how it works, though, it’s just about as easy to work panels on a knitting machine as it is to crank tubes. (I say almost because you do have to pay more attention to make sure you aren’t dropping stitches on the sides of your panels.)

And once you know how to make panels, you can make them any size, from a couple of stitches for an animal’s ear to using most of the stitches on your machine for a project like these knit legwarmers.

To make legwarmers on my knitting machine I made a swatch using the yarn I was planning to use and measured it and my leg to determine how many stitches I needed. It was just about all the stitches my machine will do flat, so if you need bigger legwarmers you might need to do two smaller panels for each leg and sew them together.

Because I’m a knitter I also knit ribbing on each end of the leg opening (using a smaller needle at the bottom of the leg so it would hung my ankle more). This makes them look like hand knit legwarmers even though they took a fraction of the time knitting by hand would.

I made mine kind of short because of yarn limitations, but you can make yours a lot longer to increase the slouch factor if you like. Or add stripes, stitch on your name or a design in duplicate stitch…there are so many options!

Check out the free pattern for knitting legwarmers on a knitting machine over at Our Daily Craft. And let me know if you’re looking for particular knitting machine patterns and I’ll see what I can find or design for you!

When my daughter was in early elementary school we were at Joann together (RIP) and she picked out some variegated pink and white blanket yarn for me to knit a blanket for her bed. Now probably 10 years later, it’s one of her favorite possessions. I note this because the blankets we give to little ones might seem simple on the surface, like something they need to keep warm, but they can turn into so much more.

Take the Pocketful of Love Blanket from Purl Soho. On the surface this is a pretty but also easy to knit blanket for a little one. It’s worked in garter stitch stripes using sport weight yarn (the sample is a superwash wool, but this would also be nice in cotton or a blend) and available in a crib or small throw size. Though of course because it’s garter stitch, it’s pretty easy to make it any size you want.

But what makes this blanket extra special is the little details. The slip stitch selvedges and I-cord bind off give it a crisp look that’s perfect with the garter stitch of the body.

And then there’s the pocket.

This is a big pocket. At 10 inches wide and 12.25 inches tall (that’s 25.4 by 31 cm) for the crib size and 12.75 by 14.25 inches (32.4 by 36 cm) for the throw, you can easily fit a favorite stuffed animal, toy or book into the pocket.

I love how even though it uses the same striped garter stitch pattern as the blanket, it’s stitched down so the stripes run the opposite way (horizontal when the blanket stripes are vertical), though of course you can match stripes if you’d rather.

I think this blanket has the potential to be greatly loved by the little one its given to, and by the knitter look for an easy, pretty baby blanket with a little extra useful twist.

Grab the free pattern from Purl Soho.

[Photo: Purl Soho]

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