Knitting FO: Ruffled Boot Toppers

 Crunchy Leaves and Warm Legs
Pattern: Julia Boot Cuff by Heidi Hennessy
Yarn: Lion Brand Fishermen's Wool in Oatmeal

So I knit up these boot toppers way back in September and have yet to wear them. It's not really the boot toppers' fault. It's that, after last year's polar vortex, downright frigid temperatures, snow, ice, sleet and general misery, I don't want it to be winter yet. I spent six months in boots last year and I'm in no hurry to repeat that, so this year I'm wearing flats as long as my feet can handle it.

Plus my old boots died and I haven't found a proper replacement yet. (RIP Best Boots Ever. Not those pictured, by the way. Those suck, literally. I think they may be vampire boots because they like to make my feet bleed.)

Here's a secret: I detest paying for knitting patterns, especially ones I could figure out myself if I wanted to take the time. And this one was $6!! That's quite a lot, considering you could go to the store and buy a pair of already-made boot toppers for that price. But the toppers were exactly what I was looking for: buttons, ruffles, just a little bit feminine. So Paypal handed over my 6 smackeroos and I was the proud owner of a lovely but rather overpriced pattern.

The fantasy boot toppers in my head were knit in a soft, pretty tan yarn, but lo and behold the yarn of my imagination apparently does not exist at JoAnn or Michael's (and for some reason I felt like I needed to knit these puppies THAT DAY), so I then shelled out $11 for a humongous skein of Lion Brand Fishermen's Wool, the only non-shiny tan-ish yarn I could find. What on earth I will do with the rest of the 450+ yards I have no clue, because it's scratchy as hell!

 The pattern was pretty quick to work up and I do have to give props to the designer. The method for doing the ruffles is really clever, and the finished product is just what I'd hoped for. Unfortunately, the toppers are a bit small on my large calves so the ruffles don't lie down flat, but they're still cute. Now I just have to find a pair of non-vampire boots to wear them with. (And something to knit with a bunch of itchy tan wool!)