Did I mention I have a new pattern out? It's true! I'd committed to let a local yarn shop have exclusive first dibs on the pattern for their accessory knitting club for the month of December, but the Ballymeade Boot Toppers finally made their official, public debut in January.
I toyed with adding a few other twists or cables, but decided to keep the design simple and easy for newer cable knitters.
I love how boot toppers provide a stylish look without the discomfort of sweaty feet, or a snug fit, from wearing full-foot socks inside dressy boots. And the fact that they knit up quickly (from just one skein of Cascade 220) makes me happy too.
Being an eclectic kind of girl, I had a really hard time deciding which photos to use, but finally opted to use photos of both the casual and dressy styling (it might be that little touch of Libra in me, haha).
I am so happy to finally be able to share Ballymeade here. Bringing this pattern to publication, along with everything else in my life, has been a real challenge for reasons I won't get into in this post, but will share soon. And many, many thanks to the awesome Josefina, Laurie, Connie and Julia for offering to test knit these for me.
I hope everyone is staying warm and safe during the extremely cold temperatures occurring throughout the US and other corners of the world. Thanks for stopping by my studio today, happy stitching!
Although I often like to knit interesting and complex projects that include elaborate stitches, color changes or charts, I also enjoy a simple project that is easy to take on the road or knit in the company of others. My garter stitch-based Sothia shawl is one such pattern, and my current on-the-go project from my recent trip is another easy project, worked in simple ribbing.
The first photo at the top of the post shows some swatches from my current project, and I've added a favorite quote from the book Knitting Without Tears, by Elizabeth Zimmerman.
Autumn has finally begun to put on a color show around here, and the yarn colors choices for my project were inspired by our seasonal leaves.
The swatches were worked in a worsted weight yarn and cast on with the German Twisted Cast On method (aka Old Norwegian method), which makes for a very elastic edge. This is the same edge I used in my Greyhaven Hat. The swatches were bound off using Jeny's Surprisingly Stretchy Bind Off.
While some knitters profess to loathe the boring
nature of ribbing, I find the mindless rhythm of swinging the yarn from
front to back meditative and soothing. Perhaps
because I usually choose to knit in the Continental style ('picking' with
yarn held in my left hand) rather than English style ('throwing' with yarn held
in my right hand), I greatly enjoy knitting rib stitch combinations
like k1p1, and k2p2.
How about you - do you love or loathe knitting ribbing or fall somewhere in between? Do you have any special tips or tricks you like to use when you knit ribbing?
