Ways to Keep Your Arms and Legs Warm

I have mentioned before my deep love of arm warmers, but leg warmers are great, too, especially when you have to be outside in the cold and you still want to wear a skirt or just need an extra layer of protection around your boots.

If you’re still in need of warmth for your hands, arms and legs this winter, I’ve come across a few patterns lately that may help.

In the armwarmer category, I have these cuties from Louisa Harding (free with registration at Love Knitting). With a little bit of lace and a flowery frill, they’re pretty as well as functional.

If you’re in the market for warm mittens, the Felted Mittens and Headband worked in Donegal Tweed might be a good choice. They certainly look really warm, don’t they?

And for super easy legwarmers, check out these ribbed, striped beauties from Lion Brand. They use a yarn with a little glitz, but you could go with a plain wool or wool blend, too, if you’re not the sparkly type.

Working on anything warm to get you through the winter? I’d love to hear about it!

Not too long ago I did a test knit for another designer that was for a cabled cardigan. It’s really cozy and nice but it just about broke me in a ton of different ways. I couldn’t get gauge, which I suppose is my own problem, but mainly I was somehow both bored and forced to pay attention at the same time.

Because it used the same cable all over, I always had to know what row I was on, but nine out of ten of those rows, nothing in particular was going on. So I couldn’t stop paying attention, but what I needed to attend to was boring.

It may have ruined me for knitting cabled sweaters, but maybe I just need something that’s more engaging. Like this Modern Aran Cardigan pattern from Lion Brand Yarn.

This is a reworking of an old pattern from their archives, and you can tell that form the classic look of the cables and the oversized feel (nothing cropped about this one!). It has allover cables, but like a classic Aran sweater it’s not the same cable, so you’ll have to pay attention to what row you’re on and what cable turns happen for which cables on that row.

Because of this, it’s considered an intermediate knitting pattern, but if you’re comfortable working from multiple charts at once it shouldn’t be a problem for you. There are three different charts and seven different cable moves.

Also because the pattern is so big and boxy there are only two sizes available, with a finished chest measurement of either 49 or 63 inches (that’s 124.5 or 160 cm). It’s up to you to decide how much ease you would like and whether that will work for your body.

The pattern uses worsted weight yarn (and calls for another classic, Lion Brand Fisherman’s Wool). It calls for six buttons and includes pockets to make it extra cozy.

This one looks like a great winter project to make and to wear if you’re up for a bit of a challenge. You can grab the free pattern or buy a kit with the yarn needed direct from Lion Brand Yarn.

[Photo: Lion Brand Yarn]

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