Hops Legwarmers by Felicity (Felix) Ford

Hops Legwarmers

Knitting
November 2014
Fingering (14 wpi) ?
32 stitches and 41 rows = 4 inches
in stranded colourwork stocking stitch, in the round
US 1 - 2.25 mm
US 0 - 2.0 mm
601 - 612 yards (550 - 560 m)
Medium and Large
English

These vibrant legwarmers celebrate strong women, thick socks, bright colours and good beer! They were developed using the KNITSONIK System, and are based on the iconic artwork of the Hop Back Brewery.

The pattern contains instructions for producing legwarmers in two sizes based on 1. Hops, or 2. your very own stranded colourwork designs. The legwarmers are worked with 1 1/2” positive ease around the ankle (enabling thick socks to be worn underneath) and 1 1/2” negative ease at the widest part of the calf to accentuate your shapely calves. The extraordinary patterned legwarmers distinctive to Muhu Island have greatly influenced this design, as have stories of Estonia’s traditional veneration of sturdy-legged women.

The charts for Hops are supplied for both sizes in full colour and in black and white, in case you wish to adapt the existing patterns to your own colour scheme. A blank template using the same dimensions and stitch-pattern widths as Hops is provided for you to fill with your own designs if going for option 2.

Sizes

Medium (M): Calf circumference measured at widest point:
36cm/14” Length: 44cm/17”

Large (L): Calf circumference measured at widest point: 41cm/16” Length: 44cm/17”

Yarn requirements

Yarn for option 1. The sample pair uses Jamieson & Smith 2 ply Jumper Weight in the following shades weights/lengths. Colour descriptions are provided for substituting with a different yarn which knits to gauge:

Medium:
shade 23 (Bright Yellow) – 62g/292m
shade 93 (Bright Red) – 9g/43m
shade 28 (Mustard Yellow) – 14g/65m
shade 79 (Emerald Green) – 18g/84m
shade 34 (Dark Green) – 9g/43m
shade 82 (Darkest Green) – 4g/17m

Large:
shade 23 (Bright Yellow) – 74g/350m
shade 93 (Bright Red) – 11g/51m
shade 28 (Mustard Yellow) – 17g/78m
shade 79 (Emerald Green) – 21g/101m
shade 34 (Dark Green) – 11g/51m
shade 82 (Darkest Green) – 5g/25m

Yarn for option 2. This will be determined by your design, and will depend on how many shades you wish to use. Looking at the quantities for the other two designs might help you to see how much yarn is needed for larger and smaller areas of colour.

Gauge
32sts/41rnds to 10cm/4” over colourwork pattern using 2.25mm needles, or needle size to meet gauge.