Wednesday, December 5, 2012

You Call Them What?


Calf Wraps!  I call them Calf Wraps, a.k.a. Boot Cuffs.  One of the newest fashion items to hit the needles are boot cuffs.  But, as I looked into designing a knitted pair, I realized that it's really your calfs that are getting wrapped up - hence, "Calf Wraps."


They are so superbly simple and one skein of Cascade 220 worsted weight yarn on size 5 double pointed needles will quickly make up a pair.  I just listed the pattern for $3.00 in our Etsy shop and I hope that you'll cross your fingers and toes that the pattern does well.


And yesterday I finished this lovely pair of hand cranked socks made with "Step" sock yarn.  They'll be listed in our other Etsy shop tomorrow.


Our middle grandson, Mitchell, wanted a pair of red mittens for Christmas.  So, I also finished those up yesterday.  But, don't tell him, ok?


And then I thought that you might enjoy seeing what our family room looks like this season.  Usually we put the tree in the front room, but decided that it would be nice by the fireplace this year.  Don't you just love the Christmas season?

Since we have a new design out, would you like to have a little giveaway?  How about if you leave a comment on this post and tell everyone what you're knitting for gifts this year.  On Saturday, Dec. 8th, I'll randomly draw one lucky name to win a downloadable PDF copy of our "Calf Wraps" pattern.  Please be sure to leave contact info for me, ok?

9 comments:

Unknown said...

I just saw these on Ravelry. Love them. Which led me to your blog. Cool!

Anonymous said...

Socks, Toys and sweater is what I am knitting....all as gifts ....to myself lol
rosebob on ravelry

InJuneau said...

I'm knitting a hat as part of a random act of kindness gift. Other than that I'm not actually doing any holiday knitting this year, though I should finish my husband's sweater. I did make 3 Christmas stockings though!

Unknown said...

These really are SO trendy this season! I like this pattern. Good job.

Unknown said...

Hello Kitty scarf and hat for DGD and an alligator scarf for DGS. And baking tons of cookies. :-)

Unknown said...

I'm knitting a hat/scarf combo for my DIL, and socks for the hubby. The socks aren't a surprise but are very highly anticipated.
I love this bootcuff idea. I just told my boss, who's daughter is fussing over having just the right socks to wear with her boots, that boot cuffs would be a good idea, and here I find this!

Mshea said...

Hi, I really like your blog and am also a long time owner of a csm. I have a question: when I knit my socks on my LeGare, I generally rib all the way down to the ankle area, 70 rows or so, add 20-30 rows of stockinette, then proceed to knit my heel and the foot portion in stockinette.
I noticed that you knit a smaller number of rib rows, and complete your socks in stockinette. Do you find that they fit much better? Sometimes my daughters complain that my ribbed socks are loose. Recently, I've been adding a hair thin strand of Lycra to address the looseness, and the jury is out on my experiment yet, since I've only just started doing this.
Once again, I really enjoy your blog, and you've got a nice etsy storefront!
Martha
Wisconsin

Kathy at Knitting Off The Grid said...

Hi Martha,
I'm definitely not an expert in these antique sock machines and without seeing your socks, my guess is that you need to tighten the tension. Also, when you work your ribbing, do you place the yarn in the take up position? This causes a drag and tightens the tension. I usually do that for the ribbing, heel and toe and then place the yarn in the regular position for the leg and foot.

Each sock yarn can give a different tension and gauge, so there's always lots of fiddling to do. Keep a log for each fiber that you use that will include what your tension setting is, how many rows for each section and the various sizes.

I generally stick with 3 sizes of socks for women and keep track of how many rounds for each size.

Hope that helps.

Anonymous said...

I was originally going to make hats and mittens for all my great-nieces and nephews but I was stressing over trying to get the finished so I allowed myself the grace to quit. I'm currently just making some crocheted snowflake package toppers.