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.]

I rarely understand why something becomes a trend in crafting. Gnomes and geese are both cute I guess, but I never thought we’d be making them for all seasons. (See, for example, this collection of gnome knitting patterns, or these knit geese.)

Another one I don’t totally understand is sardines or little fish more generally. Sure, they’re cute, and the shape is fun, but I had no idea when I was sharing this pattern for a fish-shaped pouch last year that it would become a hugely popular pattern that people are still searching for on the site. It is pretty cute, though, so if you weren’t around then or don’t remember you should got check it out.

Recently another fishy knitting pattern crossed my monitor: the little knit fish from Classical Songbird Designs.

Just as the name suggests, these fish are little, about 4.5 inches or 11 cm from end to end. They look like little sardines and take about 12 yards of sock yarn to make.

You can even make a two-tone fish and use just 6 yards of each color.

This sounds to me like just about the perfect use for the yarn that’s left over after knitting a pair of socks, or a mini skein or several that have been sitting around unused in your stash.

The fish are knit flat in one piece, which makes it easy to stitch on the eyes with more yarn or embroidery floss before stuffing, and you can stitch up the sides while you stuff (though it’s not a very big piece so you could probably stitch and then stuff, finishing with the end of the tail).

Because I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one wondering, I measured an Altoids box and as the pattern is written the fish are a little too big to fit in it (the box is about 4 inches/10 cm long). But you could make the fish a little smaller if you want to make a box of them. Or just make a fishy bag to put them in!

You can grab the free pattern for the little knit fish at Classical Songbird Designs.

[Photo: Classical Songbird Designs.]

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