Baby Leg Warmers for Mila
I’ve always been a sucker for all things Koigu, so I was super excited to see one of my favorite solid Koigu colors in their DK weight yarn, Kersti, for the first time, a lovely soft purlple-gray (#K2360.5). I paired the Kersti with stripes of 6 different purple shades from our Trio Needlepoint yarn collection (and since Trio comes in tiny skeins for needlepoint I didn’t feel like this was too extravagant).
Yarn lovers, if you adore the yarn used in this project, you’ll love exploring all of our other yarn collections! Discover over 45 thoughtfully designed yarns in nearly every natural fiber and in every spectacular color you can imagine. Only available here at Purl Soho’s online yarn store, where every skein is created with care and your creativity in mind!
I’m so pleased with the result! These little legwarmers are great for keeping Mila warm now when there is too much air conditioning, and they’ll still fit her this winter, too. -Faye
Share your progress and connect with the community by tagging your pics with #PurlSoho, #PurlSohoBusyHands, and #PurlSohoBabyLegWarmers. We can’t wait to see what you make!
Materials
- 6 skeins of Brown Paper Packages Trio, 50% Wool and 50% Silk. These colors, from the left, are #195 Aster, #194 Petunia, #116 Shrinking Violet, #157 Phlox, #28 Wisteria and #53 Plum. Please Note: We no longer carry Trio but a fun substitution would be our Appleton Tapestry Wool Bundles (Note: No longer available)!
- 1 skein of Koigu’s Kersti Merino Crepe, 100% Merino Wool. This color is K2360.5.
- A set of US 5 (3.75 mm) double-pointed needles
Shop our wonderful collection of light worsted/DK-weight yarn to find a suitable substitute for this project, and remember that it’s always a good idea to check your gauge before you cast on… Our All About Gauge Tutorial shows you how!
Gauge
24 stitches = 4 inches in stockinette stitch
Size
Approximately 8 inches in circumference x 7 inches long
Pattern
With the Kersti (Main Color), cast on 48 sts. We used a basic Long Tail Cast On.
Join for working in the round, being careful to not twist the stitches.
Round 1 : *K2, P2; repeat from * to end of round.
Repeat Round 1 seven more times.
Knit 4 rounds in MC.
*With the Trio (Contrast Color), knit 2 rounds.
With the Main Color, knit 4 rounds.
Repeat from * five more times, using a different Contrast Color each time.
Repeat Round 1 eight times.
Bind off loosely in pattern stitch and weave in the ends.
Looking for more inspiration? Explore all of our free knitting patterns and knitting tutorials, buy one of our many knitting kits and yarn bundles, and shop for beautiful yarn. We have over 35 gorgeous natural fiber yarns in 100’s of magnificent colors, designed to bring integrity, beauty, and joy to your next knitting project and only available at Purl Soho!
Would love to hear if somebody has a way to translate this into crochet for an infant. Can’t find a pattern anywhere…
I think you have to do some math to figure this one out for crochet.
The gauge above says 6 stitches is 1 inch. You would need to do a swatch of crochet to do a version using that method.
Then you can do the legging in the round, maybe using sc or hdc, once you figure out how many to chain.
For ribbing, you can do FB and BP stitches for the length needed, then switch to straight on sc of hdc for the main body, then go back to FB and BP stitches for the last ribbing section.
I don’t think you’ll get a stockinette look for the main body, but that’s the sacrifice of using crochet over knitting. You’ll possibly need a bit more yarn too since knitting uses less.
Just wanted to stop by and say I’m a new follower and I blogged about your aodrable baby leg warmers, I’m in love!
Feel free to stop by and follow us
thepepperandherpups.blogspot.com
we’ve finally got things up and running!
I just wanted to let you know that I shared your gorgeous baby knit on my blog in this post: http://thecraftymummy.com/2011/08/simple-baby-knitting-patterns/
HI Craft Mummy-
Thank you for including us in your post. We are happy to let people use our pictures as long as they link directly back to us and are properly credited, so please update your post so that it says the full title of the pattern and that it's from The Purl Bee. Something like, “Baby Leg Warmers from The Purl Bee”
Also I see that you included our brown Forever Baby Blanket in the post as well but it does not link back to us. Please update that as well with a link, the title of the post and that it comes from The Purl Bee. https://www.purlsoho.com/create/forever-baby-blanket/
Thank you!
Molly
Hi – I would love to make these adorable leg warmers as a gift for 2 new babies. Would the needlepoint yarn be enough for 2 pairs or do I need double the amount?
Thanks
Debbie
Could you use circular needles instead of double pointed needles? If so, how come you used double pointed needles?
Hi Emily,
You can use 8 inch circular needles for this project. Some people find that circular needles measuring smaller than 12 inches can be a bit cumbersome. The choice here is totally up to you!
Thanks for writing in!
Laura
I'm in love with these! I'd call myself an intermediate-beginner at knitting and this was the first time I've attempted using double pointed needles (super intimidating to me!) But this was an awesome first project! I'm feeling so much more confident now!
Hello!
I want to knit these for my one year old granddaughter, how many would you recommend I cast on? I will be using a light worsted weight yarn.
Hi Janet!
Without knowing your particular gauge on the yarn, I can’t say for certian how many you would cast-on. The number needs to be divisible by 4 for the pattern to work. My guess is on light-worsted yarn, your gauge might end up a little larger, and you could probably follow the pattern as written.
Thanks for your question!
Thomas
What age range does this pattern size up to be? Thank you!
Hi Jennifer,
Thank you for the comment! I am not entirely sure but I believe these should be able to fit from newborn to one year old. If you want them to fit a little older I would just knit a few extra rows in the beginning and end to add a bit of length.
I hope this clarifies and feel free to respond if you have anymore questions!
Happy Knitting!
Jake
I am making these leg warmers right now and they are so cute! To make it slightly longer for a bigger baby, I’ve made the contrasting color stripes 4 rounds instead of 2. However, when I add a contrasting color stripe it looks funny at the spot where I started working the new yarn color in. Would a jogless jog help remedy this issue? Thanks!
Hello Emily!
I’m not sure if the jogless jog method would help you in this case since the stripes are 4 rows instead of 2 rows tall. I would recommend just making sure your “floats” of color that span the other color’s stripes aren’t too tight! Do you think that is the issue? What do the funny spots look like? So sorry you’re having trouble! -Alyson
So do I put 16 stitches on 3 needles or 24 on 2?
Hello, Raya!
Thank you for writing in! When I knit with DPN’s I like to work with my stitches on three needles, so I recommend putting 16 stitches on 3. If you have further questions, please let us know!
Best,
Kumeko
I just found this pattern. I have been knitting like crazy for my second granddaughter. I feel like I am not ever gonna stop knitting for her. She is due any day now! These are gonna be so cute! I am going to knit some for my 2 year old granddaughter as well! Do you think that a worsted yarn is too heavy for this?
Hello Cheryl!
Thank you for writing in! I don’t think a worsted yarn would be too heavy, but if you’re concerned you can always make a little swatch to see if you like the weight of a worsted yarn. Or you can stick with lighter worsted weight yarn like Tosh Merino DK or even Annual’s For Better or Worsted.
Best wishes,
Kumeko
Hello,
Can you please suggest a machine wash yarn? Do you think Cricket would work even though it’s sport weight? Thank you.
Kat
Hi Kat,
Thanks for reaching out! Anzula Cricket can knit up as either a heavy sport weight or a light DK weight, so I think it would be perfect for this pattern! If your gauge is a little off, this pattern is quite easy to modify. To determine how many stitches to cast on, simply multiply your stitches per inch by 8 inches and round to the nearest multiple of 4!
Happy knitting!
Julianna
Thank you Julianna. I would like to make three pairs. Do you know how much yarn is used per pair?
Kat
Hi Kat,
Unfortunately we don’t have the exact yardage used for these leg warmers available – I’m so sorry about that! They are quite small, so I think one skein of Cricket might be enough for three pairs, but I would recommend purchasing two skeins just to be on the safe side! As long as the second skein is not wound, you can return it for store credit if you don’t need it.
Best,
Julianna