Christmas Boot Cuffs

These Boot Cuffs, by Rebecca Gunderson, were the beginning of a Christmas knitting/ childhood movie marathon.  Obviously I changed my mind about knitting gifts this year.

It’s all really subtle, at first.  My daughter was finally taking an interest in all of my knitting books and patterns.  This is something I’ve always wanted, like having a family running buddy, other than my dog, that will run farther than to the corner and back with me.  So when she requested a Dreiecke hat for her best friend and, after flipping through Island, an Arbutus cowl for herself, I thought, “Okay, I can do that.”  I started to think of how cute a pair of Becca’s Cabled Boot Cuffs would look in the same color of City Tweed as her cowl and how I could probably eek out a pair for myself too before Christmas.  Okay, I can do that.  This led to archeology: my digging through ancient stash to find odd skeins of yarn for making all of the women on my husband’s side of the family a pair.  Okay, I can do that too.  Since I was already knitting for them, surely I could modify the cuffs to make matching ones for their daughters…

So here I am boot tops deep in Christmas knitting after all.  And it’s okay.  I know my daughter and her friend will love their gifts and if the rest don’t, no harm is done.  It’s the thought that matters to me and it was good tv knitting, either way.  Since both of our children have been gone a few days, my husband and I have had total control of the tv and are watching movies from our childhood.  Yesterday it was Star Trek, The Final Frontier and The Undiscovered Country and tonight it may be Stripes or Groundhog Day.  All of these cuffs will probably be done by tomorrow.

I’m using size US 2.5 circulars and various skeins of Wool-Ease and Patons Classic Wool.

I’m staying motivated by knitting two at a time.  For those where I only have one skein, I’m just knitting one in each color at once, so I won’t have to divide skeins.  If I don’t pause between pairs, my gauge should be consistent.  These are a last minute gift that can be done in time!

Also, they are really cute and truly do the job of making my outdoor boots completely warm during our first “real” cold spell of the year.