Tag Archive | boot toppers

FO Friday

It is Friday, right? For reals? I just now realized I posted a WIP Wednesday post…on Thursday. And you all are so nice that none of you made fun of me (in writing)! So thank you, I appreciate it. In my defense, Monday was a holiday and threw everything off. I think I’m back on track now. And I actually have a finished project to share.These are boot cuffs made for a niece’s birthday. I kind of made up my own pattern and added some of my favorite new buttons. I really hope they fit and she likes them! They’re Raveled here, if you’re interested.

And that’s all. Boy, I’m so unproductive this week. I could have worked on my seed stitch beanie, but…well. I didn’t. I had an unexpected lunch date, which was lovely, so didn’t have that time. And after I finished the cuffs and sewed the buttons on, I needed to stretch my legs plus the puppy was bonkers so he got a nice long walk and then it was almost dinner time…you know how it goes. But last night during tennis, I did cast on my beautiful rainbow Vice. It’s a plain stockinette cowl with ribbed edges and it’s going quickly.Can I just knit with this yarn forever and ever? It’s the best yarn ever and I want more.

I might not finish anything today. I get to have lunch with some good friends and then I have to run errands for the mother and errands with the children. We’ll see how far I get this morning!

I mustache you a question: Do you like boot cuffs?

Jan19

Is it bedtime yet? No? Only 3:30, eh? Well. Soon it will be wine o’clock, so that’s something. I am tired, it has been a long day already, but I can finally share the finished boot cuffs. They went to a couple of girls who love mustaches, and I just happen to have some mustache buttons. Soooo…

Fun, no? I’ll definitely be making more of these before the next craft show.

Yesterday I went shopping and bought gorgeous yarn I don’t need, and tomorrow I will show you pictures. Today I am tired so I am going to go visit my couch. It is calling my name.

Thank you, Jeny: Knitted Boot Cuffs Part III

Jan12

You guys!! I have done the most amazing thing this morning!! I learned Jeny’s Surprisingly Stretch Bind Off and it is the coolest thing I have learned so far, I think. I’ve been making boot cuffs, right? And the bind off has a bit of give but only so far, and I just wasn’t happy about it. My knitting SIL told me she’d been using Jeny’s and that it worked really well, so I bit the bullet and decided to give it a whirl. And I’m so glad I did!! (I’m really excited, can you tell??)I used my handy Cast On, Bind Off book to get started. (This book is so useful, truly. You get so many options depending on what you need, and it has great color photos.) I got around five stitches done and I wasn’t sure it looked right, so I turned to You Tube. The video I watched wasn’t great so I won’t recommend that one, but it was good enough to show me that I was doing it right. But if you want to watch a video, watch this one. It’s much better. Seriously, if you haven’t learned this bind off yet, you need to. I’m not an adventurous knitter but I figured it out pretty quickly, so you can too. I wish I’d learned it ages ago because it’s going to vastly improve my boot cuffs and fingerless gloves. Can’t wait to make more!

And I have to call out that same knitting SIL because she saved me with the teal boot cuff. Remember, I ran out of yarn with an inch of ribbing left to knit, so I was going to have to buy a whole ‘nother skein just for that. Instead, she let me use a bit of the skein she had in her stash! (Actually, it was in her daughter’s stash so I’m grateful for her too.) I had the boot cuff done in a flash and they’re ready to be washed. Yay for generous knitters!

Ok, that’s all, folks. My empty day yesterday? The one that was supposed to be full of knitting? Yeah, that didn’t happen. My daughter went to a new friend’s house so I had to get cleaned up to make a good impression on the mom. Then I got a text from my sister asking if I was interested in selling her my Wii, since we’d been thinking of upgrading to the Wii U. Well, yes, of course we were. So we had to clean out the Wii cabinet and pack up the old Wii, dust all the things, and throw away dead batteries and useless accessories. Then of course my son needed his new Wii NOW so off to Target we went. It had to be set up immediately, and by then it was time for the sister & her kids to come over to pick up their “new” Wii. We had a lovely visit and my nephew was wearing his Yoda hat. He kept stroking it and saying “Hat” lovingly. (Maybe I’m exaggerating that last part, but maybe not.) Then they went home and finally, finally, I got to sit down with my yarn. I got maybe an hour and a half in before it was time for dinner. We went out for Mexican with my MIL and it was delicious and we had a lovely visit. And I had a lovely jumbo margarita and by the time I got home I was too sleepy to knit. SO. Today I am knitting!

Knitted Boot Cuffs: Part II

Jan10

I’ve got boot cuffs on the brain right now. I haven’t made it to the store to buy the yarn for the unfinished teal pair yet, so yesterday I pulled out the HOT HOT pink yarn. They’re going to get a button accessory that I’ll show later, but they’re still pretty cute as is.I used Rebekah’s Boot Cuffs pattern but modified it for a much smaller size by using size 7 needles instead of 10. I also added an inch of ribbing at the top and bottom, and decreased three stitches in the last row before binding off. I’d seen someone else recommend it, and I like how it keeps both ends the same size. But the cast off is a bit tighter, so I need to make sure it’s the bottom of the cuff on the smaller portion of the calf.

The same pattern made this dark blue pair, but I followed the pattern. Since they were for a skinny minnie, I used size 9 needles, and they came out perfectly.Now I get to try something new. I’m going to make some long legwarmers, and I needed some mint green yarn, so of course a trip to my LYS was in order. I found three different shades of mint green but ended up with some Plymouth Encore in what they call Light Colonial Green. I think I only need one skein but bought two just in case. And then I remembered why I shouldn’t go to yarn stores. I find yarn. And I buy it. Not because I need it, but because I like it and it’s on sale. See? That Andes wool called my name because the colors went so well with the mint green I was already holding. And that pretty peach shade? Yum! Perfect Spring colors.Then I found this. It’s Classic Elite Inca Alpaca and it was 50% off. I *love* this yarn. I’ve already got several colors in my stash, including one skein of red. But I had to get the last two reds they had. They also had twenty skeins of black, but I restrained myself and only bought 5. These will make great hats and fingerless gloves for my craft show inventory.

We’ve got sunshine and the possibility of ever-so-slightly-above freezing temperatures today, so I’m going to walk the dog while the walking’s good. His walk yesterday was cut short by a paw that was bothering him. I washed it out and couldn’t find anything, and didn’t walk him last night to let it rest. So I’ll be on alert this morning, and hoping it was a temporary irritation. Hope the sun’s shining in your neck of the woods too!

Oops. Nothing Finished Here.

Jan9

You get a quickie today. No finished objects again. My plans to finish the cowl were foiled by a need to knit some boot cuffs, so that’s what I worked on yesterday. And they would be a finished object if I hadn’t run out of yarn. Last night. When I have only an inch of ribbing left to knit. Sigh.I have nothing else to show partly because I got distracted by playing with my pen collection. There’s a lovely new pen I want to buy but I have too many pens, so I thought I might pick out a few I’m willing to sell. Then I just wanted to admire all my lovely pens. See? Aren’t they pretty?These are the ones I have to keep. And I better not hear anyone say “Another pen? Don’t you have enough already?” because I know you people. You don’t want people to say, “More yarn? Don’t you have enough already?”, right? Right.

No puppy photo today. He’s downstairs eager for his walk, and I’m eager to get him walked so I can get to the yarn store. To buy more yarn. It’s for a certain project, so I’m allowed this time!

What’s On My Needles Today?

Jan8

I don’t have any finished objects to show yet, but it’s close. I did indeed start a new project yesterday, as I said I would, and oh I am in love with it. And I have Ravelry to thank for it. I was browsing patterns the other day (I can’t remember if it was the Top 20 or my highlights or New Patterns) and I saw a photo of this lovely, simple cowl. I clicked on it, saw it was free (awesome!), and then noticed the yarn that Ravelry suggested I use: Malabrigo Worsted. The same Malabrigo I bought at the Yarn Barn recently and wound with plans to knit it soon. Well, that’s fate, isn’t it? I love cowls, I love simple patterns with a twist (literal or figurative), and I love this yarn. I cast on and after three episodes of Grey’s, I have a big chunk completed. Isn’t it beautiful?? I just love the colors in this. As soon as I’m done on this darn computer, I’m retreating to my couch and finishing it. Oh yeah, you might want the pattern, eh? It’s the Clairiere Cowl and it’s an easy 4-row repeat.

I also picked out some yarn for boot cuffs today. The response has been strong and positive, so I’m planning to make several pairs for the craft show season. Here’s what I’ve got to start. That one on top is a dark brown. I’m not sure about that color, since most boots are black or brown. Would you wear brown boot cuffs with brown boots?Finally, here’s my sad puppy from yesterday. Despite his best efforts, he did not get a walk in the sub-zero temperatures, so he was a lazy pup all day long. I promise he will get a walk today. Later. It’s supposed to warm up a bit by this afternoon. Here’s hoping. Really I should be making myself a Polar Vortex hat this morning!

Knitted Boot Cuffs

Jan6

How is it already the 6th and I haven’t blogged once yet this year? I don’t know. I just don’t know. All I can say is that the kids have kept me busy. I took the girl out yesterday to spend her gift cards and get some jeans long enough for her long legs, and made her happy by also buying her a black pair of Converse. It’s the little things, you know. While we were out, I spotted this little necklace, and it was well worth the $2 for those days when I need a reminder.Today it’s the boy’s turn for new shoes, so I get to go to Target. I do love Target. Here’s hoping I can restrain myself from buying all the things. Plus I’m going to Joann!

I have been knitting, too, but not nearly as much as I was before Christmas. I had a request for some boot cuffs from a sweet friend, so those went to the top of my list. She’s seen two of them, so I can share those, but the other she hasn’t seen yet so I’ll wait a bit longer.These, I’m proud to say, are my own design. I started with a honeycomb pattern and didn’t like how it was knitting up. I needed to use this gray yarn (Knit Picks Brava Bulky in Silver. Love it.) but didn’t find many good bulky boot cuff patterns. So I just kind of winged it to make this nifty spiral with just knits and purls. You can see the details on Ravelry here. These are a basic boot cuff done in basic cream acrylic. I’d love to link to the pattern but Ravelry’s having issues with it right now. So just search for “Basic Boot Cuff” and you’ll see it. It’s nothing splashy but still cute. Might be cuter with a little button or pin at the top…hmm…I might have to play with that idea in the future.

Now that those are done, I’ve got two hats on my needles that I’m eager to get back to. One’s for the boy and one’s for inventory. I really need to get my butt in gear and start listing more things on Etsy. I got a review for my first sale and it was a fantastic, 5-star review! So exciting! I just need to get the kids back to school so I can focus again. Fingers crossed it happens tomorrow, but with wind chills at 20 below zero, I’m not holding my breath. Maybe Thursday will be my day.