Quick Knit: Boot Toppers

If you’re still looking for something to stitch up for someone for the holidays or a little treat for yourself now that all your holiday knitting is done, why not whip up some cute boot toppers?

These are little almost like legwarmers that are just a few inches long and are usually meant to go under your boot and mostly show above the top of your boot. The idea is that it’s a little more comfortable to have just this bit of bulkier material at the top of the boot rather than wearing a big bulky sock that might get bunched up in your boot.

The Sweater Babe is offering a cute pattern for cabled boot cuffs that take a single ball of yarn; the pattern PDF retails for $3.

If you want to go the free route there are several options on Ravelry. Some of my favorites include Rebekah’s Boot Cuffs, which have an easy twisted stitch pattern and the super simple Boot Cuff from Lewis Knits.

Looking for more Boot Cuff knitting patterns? Check these out on Etsy as well as this Knitted Boot Cuff Pattern book on Amazon.

Have you ever knit or worn boot toppers? I’d love to hear about your experience. I’m thinking of making myself some really soon…

[Photo via the Sweater Babe.]

Next Pattern:

Many times when I write these posts I will say something like “you can use any yarn you want” or “this would be a great stash-busting project.” That’s just how my mind works. And my stash, too, since I probably have sweater quantity of two or three yarns at most, but tons of singles and odd balls and leftovers.

Blankets are generally a really good way to use up those bits, but in this case, I think you’re going to want to plan it out a bit better.

Looking at photos of the Color Study Blanket from Purl Soho, it looks like it’s made with two yarns held together, and that block in the center is worked with one of each color from the adjoining sides to make a mixed up color.

But that’s not actually how it’s done. This is three separate colors (four, really, with the neutrals in the corners) chosen form a yarn with an expansive palette so they play off each other. The project calls for a worsted weight superwash wool, which is a great choice for a blanket that’s both warm and washable.

This pattern was originally designed by Laura Ferguson and was updated by Hiromi Glover. It is worked in one piece in garter stitch intarsia, which is a great way to learn the intarsia technique if you don’t already know it. It comes in crib or throw sizes.

Despite the introduction to this post, I am going to go ahead and say that, yes, of course you could do this blanket with scraps or odd balls or even just choose five colors that don’t blend together so easily. But I really do love the look of the color play, and I think it would be worth your time to find colors that play well together to get a similar effect.

This pattern is available for free from Purl Soho.

[Photo: Purl Soho]

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