It’s a widely known fact that it is damn cold in Canada, even in a city as far south as Toronto. Even in late fall and much of spring, as well as the long winter. So what does one do? Knit up a pair of versatile legwarmers and use them all the time.
The pattern I chose was Les Cables de Faux, mostly because it was a) free and b) looked like it could be knit without paying much attention to it. It actually took me a terribly long time to finish them (bit of second-sock syndrome going on, I think), but on my last trip to Montreal I wove in the last end and put them on for a (chilly) night out on Mont-Royal.
Note the bare legs underneath. I soon learned that this pattern is also extremely stretchy and slouchy; sometimes a bit too much and even the smallest size was sliding down my calves a bit more than I’d like. Over tights this isn’t a problem:
To remedy this, I used a yarn needle to run a length of yarn around the upper cuff, which can be tightened and tied to keep the legwarmers from sliding down too much on bare legs. In this pic the cuff of one is folded down so you can see what I mean:
And the obligatory shot of the stitch detail, in this case the faux cables (to go with the faux French of the pattern name):
Those who see me on a regularly basis know that I really do wear these all the time. I should probably knit a second pair in another colour!