Who thinks woolly shorts can't be hot?

"My bum freezes while  sitting in the snow," said my sister-in-law to me asking for woolly pants. Well, it so happens that I'm a knitter and can indeed grant such a wish. I headed off to find the perfect pattern and inquired about her favorite colors

What: Majas Mamelucker / Maja Karlsson

How: Circular needles 2.25 mm

From: Knitlob's lair Tuulen tytär, 121 g

Right at the time she asked for woolly pants, I bumbed into a really good looking pattern for wool shorts. She told me she didn't dare to think woolly shorts could look good but sure they can if you pick the right pattern. These look even sexy.

The pattern was very simple. The pants are knit top down. First you knit a looong rib that can be kept up to keep your stomach warm or you can roll it down. After the rib you add some stitches and the rest of the pants are stockinette stitch while the ribbing continues on the sides. Few short rows make room for the booty and once the shorts are long enough, you knit a gusset and pick up stitches along it for the legs. The cuffs are knit in ribbing. Easy and good looking.

The pattern is written for just one size, M/L. My sister-in-law is size S. At first I tried to modify the stitch counts but ended up with a garment that resembeled more a cowl than something that should accomodate hips. So I scratched that and begun again this time following the pattern. To get smaller shorts, I took needles that were one size smaller. I wish I hadn't added as many stitches after the rib but they fit quite well. It's just that they could fit even better.

The most fun part of this project was learning yet another knitting language. The pattern is written in Swedish. They do teach Swedish at our schools but that was years ago and I never became fluent. I only had to resort to a dictionary a few times. It was much more fun to try to figure out the meaning from the context. The side ribbing turned out more narrow than it should because I decifered the abbrevations for knit and purl wrong. But I think you won't notice unless I tell you. Whoops.

The yarn was soft and just the right kind of semisolid. It was a pleasure to knit. I really ought to knit a few sweaters in this one. One skein was almost enough for the shorts. I ran out of yarn during the first cuff. If I'd have worked the top ribbing a bit shorter, this project would've been a one-skein-wonder.

Thank you so much, sister-in-law, for lending your bum for the photoshoot. It was a joy to knit these shorts as the gift was very much appreciated.