Stitch Up a Pair of Comfy Pants

When it comes to knit garments, I think pants are probably the most overlooked project out there. Pants are a big project, much bigger than a sweater, and they will take a long time to knit.

But knit pants are also super comfortable, and they can be made exactly to the fit you want. Add more ease in the legs, make them longer or shorter, whatever you want!

I’ve knit a pair of leggings in sock yarn, and I love them, but the Sierra Pants by Safiyyah Talley have a looser fit in the leg that would also be nice for lounge pants.

These are worked from the top down with a folded over elastic waistband. There are short rows to make the back longer than the front, as well as increases for hips and more short rows to fit the backside. The legs are worked straight and have a rolled edge, but you could easily work a folded over hem at the bottom of the leg if you wanted.

The pants are worked in fingering weight yarn held double, and they come in a whopping 17 sizes, to fit a waist from 24 to 56 inches, or 61 to 142 cm. There’s meant to be about 2 inches/5 cm of negative ease at the waist.

The pattern calls for a cotton/acrylic blend (Knit Picks Comfy Fingering), which comes in 19 different colors. This would be great for a summer pair of pants, but you could also use a wool blend if you want to make them warmer for the colder part of the year.

And of course you can add stripes or use up your whole stash of sock yarn on this project if you want.

You can grab the pattern on Ravelry or from Saifyyah’s website.

Can’t get enough knit pants? Check out this collection of pants and shorts knitting patterns.

[Photo: Safiyyah Talley]

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Many times when I write these posts I will say something like “you can use any yarn you want” or “this would be a great stash-busting project.” That’s just how my mind works. And my stash, too, since I probably have sweater quantity of two or three yarns at most, but tons of singles and odd balls and leftovers.

Blankets are generally a really good way to use up those bits, but in this case, I think you’re going to want to plan it out a bit better.

Looking at photos of the Color Study Blanket from Purl Soho, it looks like it’s made with two yarns held together, and that block in the center is worked with one of each color from the adjoining sides to make a mixed up color.

But that’s not actually how it’s done. This is three separate colors (four, really, with the neutrals in the corners) chosen form a yarn with an expansive palette so they play off each other. The project calls for a worsted weight superwash wool, which is a great choice for a blanket that’s both warm and washable.

This pattern was originally designed by Laura Ferguson and was updated by Hiromi Glover. It is worked in one piece in garter stitch intarsia, which is a great way to learn the intarsia technique if you don’t already know it. It comes in crib or throw sizes.

Despite the introduction to this post, I am going to go ahead and say that, yes, of course you could do this blanket with scraps or odd balls or even just choose five colors that don’t blend together so easily. But I really do love the look of the color play, and I think it would be worth your time to find colors that play well together to get a similar effect.

This pattern is available for free from Purl Soho.

[Photo: Purl Soho]

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