Leftovers

I’m always surprised to hear that some people won’t eat leftovers. I generally like them, although sometimes I transform them into something new rather than eating the same exact thing again at another meal.

I found myself knitting leftovers of both types this winter.

First, Remember the cowl I made from Great White Bale Lot #1? It was a really simple pattern composed of just ribbing and seed stitch. This winter, S1 asked for a new cowl. The one I made her a couple years ago has a tendency to snag on the corner of her glasses. Plus, she keeps wearing it inside out which bugs me (and no one else). She pointed to my GWB cowl and said “…something like this, sturdy but soft.” I said “how about something JUST like that, because I have another skein of that yarn and could whip it up so fast?” So, we now have the cowl’s twin, made from leftovers: I made it exactly like the first one except that I forgot to do the clever bind-off (*K2tog tbl, transfer stitch back to left needle*) and just did the regular one instead. She’ll never know.

My second leftovers were from the Epic Chevron Blanket project. We got some new living room furniture last year. It’s got a groovy, mid-century modern style… you know, with the chair legs that taper down? The furniture pads that stick to the bottom of the legs don’t stay on very well. That’s important because (a) we have a hard floor and (b) we move the chair/ottoman almost daily if we want to watch TV. So, I knit some chair socks. They are little tiny cylinders with cushy garter stitch on the bottom and a bit of ribbing at the top: And they fit on our chair/ottoman legs just perfectly!

I stuffed a little fiber in to fill in the gap between the bottom of that button thing on the leg and the edge of the leg before putting on the socks (does that make sense?):My initial plan was to knit most of the socks in dark brown, to blend in with the legs, but make one in yellow to be fun and to coordinate with the throw pillows. But then I ran out of brown and switched over to a deep blue that is one of the blanket colors.

Here’s the pattern:

CO 8. Join to knit in the round. (I use two circulars)
Round 1: P
Round 2: *Kfb* (16)
Round 3: P
Round 4 *K1 Kfb* (24)
Round 5: P
Knit the next 16 rounds.
*K2 P2* ribbing for 5 rounds.
BO in pattern.