How to knit legs together for baby jumper?

#1

I am a beginning knitter trying to make a knit snow suit for my baby. The directions are in the book Pipsqueak Knits, by Jil Eaton (p 35). The directions say to knit Left leg (have done that), place on a holder, then knit Right leg same as left leg.
Question: do I cut the yarn from the first leg? Do I start with a new piece of yarn?
The directions then say to knit from the Right leg, cast on 2 sts (crotch), then knit from the left leg. At this point obviously I should be knitting the two legs into one piece, but how do I do that? I need more step-by-step instructions!! Would really appreciate some help!

Thanks :slight_smile:

#2

You can leave the yarn on the first leg, but you’ll end up cutting it probably. Leave enough of a tail to weave in later. The two legs are tubes like this - OO - and where they touch is the crotch; you join them by knitting around them both. So using the yarn from the R leg, CO 2 sts, then knit the sts of the L leg off the holder. Now you have all of them on one needle and can continue. It might be a little tight for the first few rounds because of the smaller size of the two legs, but you can use an additional circular or a couple dpns where it’s tight.

#3

I still don’t get it :shrug:

Ok, I cut off the yarn (leaving some length) from the first (Left) leg and placed it on a holder.

Then I knit the second (Right) leg same as the first. The directions say to then K 14 (that’s how many sts there are at this point) from the right leg, cast on 2 sts.

I don’t know how to cast on stitches once the initial casting on is done. I know how to increase but that’s not what it’s saying is it? How do I co 2 sts onto an already-existing piece? I could cast on 2 new stitches as if I was using a new piece of yarn but that would leave a big loop in between the piece and the 2 new sts.

What is meant by K 14 “from” the left leg? Is this different from just saying K 14 on left leg?

Since this is just the back of the jumper, aren’t the two leg pieces that I’m working on half-tubes?

Why would it be tight once I get the legs on the same needle? It’s the same size needle for the legs as for the body…

Argh, this is supposed to be a beginner super quickknit!!!

#4

To CO in the middle of your work, use the knit or cable CO; switch the R needle to the left hand, CO 2, then put it back into the R hand. I didn’t realize that you were knitting these flat, thought you did them in the round. In which case it’s a lot easier, knit across the sts of the R leg, CO the 2 sts, then knit all the sts of the L leg so you get them all on the same needle. Then you’ll knit up the back.

You might check out the CO videos which show knit and cable CO.

#5

Thanks very much!