September 1985 – The Leg Warmers - finished

About the pattern
The pattern is very short and simple.

Chain 30, join with a slip stitch to form ring, ch 2, do not turn
Row 1:    Sc in each ch, join with a slip stitch in top of ch-2, ch 2, do not turn.
Row 2 – 9:  Repeat row 1.
Row 9: with larger hook, ch 2, hdc in each sc across, join with slip stitch in top of ch 2, ch 2, turn.  Repeat row 9 to length desired, after last sl st, ch 2, do not turn
Top Edge: Continuing with larger hook, *sc in each hdc across, join with a slip stitch in top of ch 2, ch 2, do not turn.  Repeat from * until 10 rows are completed.  Fasten off.

How it went:
For the first pair I made one simple change:  I started with a foundation single crochet so it would have a little more stretch than a chain stitch.  Moogly has a great tutorial for foundation single crochet stitch. 

Version 2:
After they were finished I didn’t think there was enough stretch in the cuffs so decided to change the cuff area to have ribbing.  There are a few different ways to make ribbing.  You can make vertical ribbing by alternating front and back post stitches or alternating post stitches with a regular stitch.   You can make horizontal ribbing by working in the back loop in rows.  Then you would join the beginning row and end row to make a tube.   Because the yarn is patterned I thought it would look better with ribbing going in the same direction as the rest of the leg warmer.   Shibaguyz have an excellent tutorial on vertical post stitch ribbing along with descriptions and tutorials for other ways to make ribbing.
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I also changed the main part of the leg warmers .  I decided that the ridge turning every row made wasn’t necessary in the multicolored yarn and just went in one direction with the half double crochet stitches.  

​How it turned out.
Even after the second pair I’m not super excited about how these turned out but Ravelry has over 1000 patterns for leg warmers so head over there for patterns for leg warmers and boot cuffs. Many of them are free.    Even the August 2018 issue of Simply Crochet Magazine had a pair done in small motifs.  

What I learned:
I was reminded how little stretch some crochet stitches have and learned several different ways to make ribbing.

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Next week I’ll share something I made that isn't a vintage pattern but it is from a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...