For a long time, I've been on the hunt for the perfect knit boot cuff pattern. Sometimes I find a great picture of some on Pinterest, but the link leads to a dead end. Other times, while browsing Ravelry, I find the perfect pattern, EXCEPT, it is never free. Now this is the ultimate admission of laziness: it's not just that I don't want to pay for the pattern. It's also that I'm literally too lazy. I'm not going to get up to find my purse & credit card, or even bother trying to remember my Paypal login info. Plus, I get really discouraged when I don't have the exact supplies I need, or can't find any projects that were made using a yarn already in my stash.
So what's left to do but make my own knit boot cuff pattern? And of course share it here for free, in case it's just what someone else has been looking for, too!
SEED STITCH & CABLED BOOT CUFFS
Materials:
Aran Weight Yarn
I used Heartland Lion Brand Yarn in Denali
Four size 7 DPN + spare needle or cable needle
Or size to get correct fit
Stitch Marker
To mark beginning of round
**I haven't included a gauge, but FYI -- I have larger calves, and these stretch quite tightly over them. I think they'd fit nicely on the average calf, but if you need to get them smaller, I have a few suggestions:
Though not visible in the pictures, these cuffs actually have a cable running down the back also. If you wanted things to go faster, you could omit that cable and just seed stitch around, decreasing by fours if necessary. The cable pattern spans over 10 stitches, so if you need to adjust the size, CO 44 instead of 48, and repeat the seed stitch (KP or PK) 6 times instead of 7. Go down by multiples of four without adjusting the cable, and subtract stitches on either side if the cable to keep things even.**
Pattern:
CO 48 stitches onto 3 Double Pointed Needles, 16 per needle, place marker at beginning
Rows 1-5: K2P2
Rows 6,8,12,14,16,18,22,24:
SEED: K1P1; repeat 7 times (14 stitches total)
CABLE: P2,K6,P2
SEED: K1P1; repeat 7 times
CABLE: P2,K6,P2
Rows 7,9,11,13,17,19,21,23:
SEED: P1K1; repeat 7 times
CABLE: P2,K6,P2
SEED: P1K1; repeat 7 times
CABLE: P2,K6,P2
Rows 10, 20:
SEED: K1P1; repeat 7 times
CABLE: P2,*C6B,P2
SEED: K1P1; repeat 7 times
CABLE: P2,*C6B,P2
Row 15:
SEED: P1K1; repeat 7 times
CABLE: P2,*C6B,P2
SEED: P1K1; repeat 7 times
CABLE: P2,*C6B,P2
Rows 25-29: K2P2
Bind Off and Weave in Ends.
*C6B - place 3 stitches on cable needle (I don't even own one.. Just use any extra needle you have. Hold the needle to the back of your work. Knit the next three stitches off the left needle. Then knit the stitches off the cable needle.
**Revised 1/22/14 for second cable left out of original directions. If you knit according to the old version, you would have had ten extra stitches on your needles where another cable should be made.
