So excited to be knitting this project! This yarn is really deep stash and I feel very motivated to move it out this holiday season. (The yarn picture contains some yarn I no longer have, or used up. But some of that deep stash is in this picture.)

Knitting stripey legwarmers out of superwash handspun yarn (not mine) for my almost 3-year-old niece for Christmas this year. My sister-in-law says that “above the knee, the circumference of her leg is about 10” and it is about 10” from her ankle to just above her knee.” I’m aiming for 11” or 12” tall legwarmers to give her a little room to grow into them.

Looking at notes from some others who used fingering weight yarn on 3s, I decided to cast on 52 sts instead of 44. This may be too many, as this handspun is not as fine as sock yarn, but I’ll check my gauge as I go and decide if I need to rip back and re-cast on with fewer stitches or not.

Six rows of ribbing is about 1 inch, so I’m thinking I’ll do 1” stripes. I’m cutting and rejoining yarn with each color change because I’m using three colors and want to keep the project stretchy. (So, yeah, hope I don’t have to rip back!)

Update 11/12/2013: Each stripe is 8 rows of stockinette. My stockinette gauge is 5 sts/in, but the flattened legwarmer-in-progress is measuring about 4.5 inches across, so a little small for my goal of 10 inches in circumference. Trying to decide if I’ll need to rip back and add more stitches or not. Also, just knit the first row of the blue, and not sure how well it works with the purple and orange. Hmm…

Update 11/14/2013: I decided the blue didn’t work with the orange and purple, so nixed it. After knitting 6 inches of the first legwarmer (7 stripes total, so each stripe is a little less than one inch), I added 4 sts evenly around the first round of stripe #8. I’m going to sit with this a while and see if I like the change. Still considering ripping back to the cast-on and adding a few more stitches. I suppose if I did that, I could knit much smaller stripes and carry the yarn instead of cutting and rejoining each stripe, which I worry will work its way loose with a three-year old wearing these. Hmm…

Okay, update 11/16/2013: I did rip back to the end of the ribbing at the cast on and started (almost) over. This is what I’m doing now:

• CO 52 sts with color A (purple)
• knit 2x2 ribbing for 6 rows
• switch to color B (orange), add 4 sts evenly across round (now 56 sts)
• continue in stockinette swapping colors A & B every 3 rows until 10 1/2 inches of stockinette, ending with color B
• on the last row of stockinette, decrease 4 sts evenly
• knit 2x2 rib for 6 rows in color A
• EZ’s sewn bind off

One legwarmer done in one day and the second already cast on. 35 g of yarn total used in first legwarmer. This yarn, especially after my ripping back, was a lot of little balls, so it has frequent spit-splice joins that I tried to make pretty generous (long tails rubbed together) so that the ends can’t work themselves loose with wear.

Finished 11/23/2013. So cute! Used 73 g or 2.55 oz of yarn total, or 172 yards. 10 inches circumference by 11.5 inches long. I apparently used 36 g of the purple and 38 of the orange, even though I’m sure I used more yardage of the purple - it is slightly thinner yarn.