Dear KnitBits® Subscribers,

Give your favorite boots a leg up!
With this season's fashion focus on layering and on the leg, we are seeing opaque and patterned tights, cowboy boots, motorcycle boots and lace-up boots with denim jeans, voluminous peasant skirts and mini skirts alike. The obvious "must knit" accessory for the leg is the legwarmer. So don't neglect to dress your legs for warmth and protection against the inclement weather.
Today we are giving you three free patterns to adorn and comfort your legs.

1) Une is really a boot that you can make by purchasing a fleece or felt heelless clog. We bought a pair of "red fleece scuffs" from the current L.L. Bean® catalog. We designed this great knitted upper with a braided cable up the center and a 2 by 2 ribbed cuff that will stretch to fit your leg and stay put. We chose a red shade of Air™ that matches the shoe and knitted a legging. Sewed to the opening of the shoe, this makes a chic red Berroco Boot.

2) Deux is a beginner legwarmer knit in Foliage™ in simple 2 by 2 ribbing. We worked straight for ease of knitting. You can fold a cuff if you wish. It looks great with a short boot or motorcycle clog as shown. It would look nice tucked into a cowboy boot for extra cozy winter style. You can knit it to any length depending on how much leg you want to cover.

3) Trois is a very easy colorwork project that has the look of a multi-colored fairisle leg warmer. It is knit with a strand of solid Softwist™ and a strand of Softwist® Colors. The spacedyed Softwist yarn gives a multi-colored look. It's one of the easiest fairisle projects that you will ever knit.




Selma from Toronto wrote: "How do you stop the edges of either knitting or crocheting from curling up? I always have this problem in whatever project I am working on. Does anyone else have this trouble? Keep up your good work, as I enjoy reading your newsletter."

Selma, Thanks for the kind words and for the very good question. Some of our fancy yarns, like Medley™, Monet, Chinchilla™ and Berroco Plush™, don't tend to curl at the selvedge or cast on and bind off edges, even in stockinette stitch. Most traditionally spun and twisted yarns do, however. I recommend steaming or wet blocking before finishing. You can also eliminate curling by knitting reversible pattern stitches like rib stitch, seed stitch, moss stitch and even garter stitch. If you want to use stockinette or reverse stockinette, use ribbing to trim hems, cuffs and necklines that you donât want to curl. There are also other methods to control if not eliminate curling. A rustic edging for blankets is an embroidery stitch like the blanket stitch or overcast stitch. You can also experiment with a variety of crochet stitches. For a classic clean edge, one of my favorites is backwards sc or crab stitch. A single crochet edge is more handmade looking. If you want a lacy edge, there are many crochet stitch options, all of which will control curling of stockinette edges.