Baby it's cold outside! Knit your way to warmth

The temperature is dropping steadily and what do you do to keep warm while skating? In addition to hats, scarves, mittens and thermal wear, many skaters also wear boot covers (see right) which come in all sorts of materials. My friend Rikki Samuels, who teaches at Rockefeller Rink and is a regular contributor to my Advice from a Pro columns, is a knitting addict and at times, she's covered head to toe with items that she's knitted, including knitted boot covers! She and I took a trip one afternoon to Stitches East, a knitting store in midtown Manhattan and it's a visual treat for the eyes -- so many wonderful colors and fabrics that I wished I could knit! (Even the New York Times is getting on the bandwagon -- apparently, knitting is recession- proof. Link to article)

Rikki showed me her current project -- a pair of white boot covers (see right). I like that they Velcro in the back so you can easily put them on and take them off. She told me that these boot covers took less than eight hours of knitting time over a two week period, mostly while waiting for the Zamboni to finish, the ice to dry and while traveling to the rink. She told me she chose worsted yarn that knits up quickly and tightly yet isn't bulky like goose down, so skaters can still work on close footwork. So with 2 skeins (each approximately 190 yards/173 M) of Lamb's Pride worsted from Brown's Sheep Company, Inc., 18 inches of Velcro, an upholstery thread and upholstery needle, and size 9 (5.5mm) needles, you can pretty much keep your feet warm while skating!

I'm feeling inspired! Rikki told me that knitters are a "crazy (in the best sense of the word) bunch", just like skaters. Apparently it's not uncommon for a knitter to approach a stranger to ask, "Excuse me, did you knit that?" It's like a code -- they recognize a fellow knitter. I really got an education about the whole knitting world from her and it's very interesting. I sensed a lot of similarities between skating and knitting: expressing yourself creatively, need for perfection (I saw people knitting at the work tables at Stitches East pull everything apart because there was a flaw in something they saw, and don't we practice a mohawk a thousand times because we just can't "get it?") and a sense of accomplishment at the end. (photo at right, Rikki is in heaven surrounded by yarn working on her boot covers)

When I ride the subways, oftentimes I see (usually) women with their purse and a shopping bag on their lap with yarn and needles sticking out, knitting away, oblivious to their surroundings, and I always wondered about that and them. I would think, "Boy, you must love to knit, carting that whole thing around." Well, wonder no more! I now have better insight into their world and will contemplate whether to enter it next year.

Comments

[Mrs Redboots]

Been knitting bootcovers for years - much warmer than lycra!

[LP Skater]

Knitting rules! I have been knitting for two years, and enjoy knitting anytime, anywhere....even hanging around at the rink!! I like to make scarves and hats sometimes; haven't quite graduated to bootcovers yet ;)

[Dela]

YES! I too have noticed knitters obsessively working on the train. Thanks for the insight in their world.

[Sara]

awesome post!

I am an obsessive knitter and skater too - I recently blogged this:
http://saraskates.com/?p=194

a knitted skating dress heh.

[Kim Huismans]

Wow, I love this Idea for skate covers...
My 12 year old and I speed skate and sometimes we are outside and it is very cold on the feet....
I would love to try making a pair, if someone could be so kind and forward me the Pattern to make them.

Greatly appreciated.
Kim/Carlina Huismans

[Denise D]

This is awesome. I would love to make a pair for my daughter who loves to skate. She just turned 11. Please send me the pattern. If I have to pay for it, please send me an invoice. Thanks
Denise
mrsdenise424@yahoo.com

[Patty Phillips]

Can I buy the pattern for skate covers?

[ann magnuson]

I love these, skate covers. Is there a pattern to these?

[ann magnuson]

here is a link to another skate boot cover for kids and adults to knit..
http://www.patonsyarns.com/pattern.php?PID=4412&cps=21191

[fran]

Can anybody send me a knitting pattern for the skate covers

[Francine]

Can anybody please send me the knitted pattern of the skate covers shown in white with velcro on this page-fran-nie@hotmail.com

[Merete Isabell Ervesvåg]

Please! Can anyone help a Norwegian out! I need this pattern, and can´t find it anywhere.
mereteeriksen@aol.com

[Laurie B]

These are beautiful and I would love to make them and wear them. How do I get the pattern?