Free Pattern Day!

Lordy...we haven't had one of these in a long time, have we? I suppose that's a witness to how many paying design jobs I've had, that I haven't had time to write up a quick little freebie.Today's pattern was designed for my friend Julie's new baby, Lila Somerset. You may remember Julie from my very first Getting to Know You post; when I found out she was pregnant, I knew that her baby would need something designed just for her! These are the result:

Get the pattern for free right here!

This pattern calls for just 40 grams of fingering weight yarn, so it's a great use for that leftover sock yarn you have laying around, or a single 50 gram ball that's lost its mate! These tiny legwarmers measure in at 6 inches around the top cuff (unstretched, of course!) and 9 inches long. I honestly have no idea what that works out to in baby sizes, but as Elizabeth Zimmermann used to say, "they'll fit someone"! 

I wanted Lila's legwarmers to be a little bit lacy, as she was an April baby, but still have a nice bit of coverage for environments with overactive air conditioners. I decided on a little feather and fan, alternated with sections of stockinette. Knowing that the feather and fan would cause the fabric to ripple in a most girly way, I thought it would be fun to accent the chevrons with one of my current favorite design elements: the lateral braid stitch. This stitch is waysupereasy to do; it's basically just a twisted stitch that gets repeated across the row. And in case that sounds intimidating to you, I've created a video tutorial on the technique! Sneakety-peek (don't worry, the link is in the pattern):

  

Easy-peasy!

So congratulations to Julie and her new little family! Queue up the pattern over on Ravelry or (if you're not a Rav member), right here.

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