Knit Some Pants for Cooler Weather

January 10, 2025 by Sarah White Leave a Comment

One thing that was long on my to-knit list was a pair of lounge pants. I finally knit some a few years ago, out of sock yarn. They took forever, and I do like them because they’re really warm and cozy (and used a lot of leftover sock yarn). But I wouldn’t recommend that style as your first ever knit pants experience because it is such a big project.

I recently found the Easy Caron Lounge Around Pants from Yarnspirations, and I think these might be a good option for your first foray into knitting pants.

They’re actually worked flat from the top down, one leg at a time, rather than working in the round. Short rows are used for extra coverage in the back, and the legs are sewn together and to each other at the inseams and crotch area. The pants have an elastic wasitband so there’s a casing knit for that (as part of the leg) so you can sew in the elastic at the end. The elastic is the only special notion you’ll need outside of regular knitting supplies.

Once you get past the shaping at the top this is a pretty mindless knit, and I think you’ll make progress on it faster than you think.

These pants use worsted weight yarn so even though it’s a big project, it won’t feel like it will take forever. The yarn, Caron Simply Soft, is relatively inexpensive and cozy, though of course you can use whatever yarn you like.

The pattern is rated easy in part because it’s worked in a solid color, but it would be fun to add stripes, too, if you’re into that.

This project is available in five sizes, with a hip measurement ranging from 32-34 inches (86.5-91.5 cm) to 58-64 inches (147.5-162.5 cm).

You can get this free pattern from Yarnspirations.

[Photo: Yarnspirations]

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Tif Neilan is a known fan of herringbone stitch as a design element in her patterns. I love it, too, and have written a couple of posts about herringbone stitch and other ways to make herringbone designs in knitting.

Tif uses a herringbone stitch on the cuffs of her Ebbs & Flows sweater, a top down raglan design that also features a bit of mosaic colorwork at the hem and on the sleeves.

The herringbone bit is optional, as the pattern also includes instructions for working twisted ribbing instead, but the herringbone gives such a different textured look that I think it’s worth the effort of learning how to do it for this design.

It is worked in the round except for some German short rows for shaping after the neckline. It’s meant to hit at the high hip but you could make it longer or more cropped as you like.

The pattern comes in 10 sizes, with a finished chest circumference ranging from 32 to 68 inches, or 80 to 170 cm. It is designed to be worn with around 4 inches/10 cm of positive ease at the chest.

It calls for three colors of DK or worsted weight yarn, though you’ll need a relatively small amount of the contrasting colors since most of the body is worked in a solid color. Because of the different stitches used you’ll need a variety of knitting needle sizes and the pattern notes recommend having a set of interchangeable knitting needles to make this easier, but you can always use what you have.

You can find out more about this pattern and grab a copy on Ravelry. There are already a good number of finished projects in the gallery there so you can see how it works with different colors and different body and sleeve lengths (they’re meant to be long but I spy a couple that look like three quarters).

[Photo: Tif Neilan]

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