cozy

Carol comments: Now I wonder what would happen if you went into a big box craft store and when they asked you for help, you told them you were looking for a pattern for a knit prosthetic cozy?

hahaha...very funny!
Actually, I read that and asked myself why I hadn't already thought of pulling that stunt!!

It only took me about a second to answer that.

See, to be totally honest, the reason I haven't tried pulling that particular shennanigan is because (unlike the fake need for lubricants and springs), I actually DO have a need for a cozy.

And I've actually considerred knitting one.
Not a prosthesis cozy, exactly.
But a Stump Cozy.


Let me tell ya'...my "residual limb" (often referred to by The One who cuddles up next to it as "a fricking iceberg") would definitely benefit from having some sort of warming garment. And I doubt I'm going to find a Stump-Cozy at a department store. So, like most knitters obsessed with our craft, I thought....I'll knit something myself!

Except I haven't figured out exactly how to do that yet.
I'm not a pattern designer.
Not that a Stump Cozy should be rocket science. I can knit socks, and I obvioulsy wont be needing a heel on this contraption. In fact, I've figured out that whatever kind of Stump Cozy I'd knit up (being an above-knee amputee) is probably not going to be sock-like at all. It will probably be more like a handbag.

One cold night, when neccessity was being the mother of invention, I realized...wow! My stump is about the same size as my head!

And looks great in my kitty hat.

But seriously, in my novice pattern designing mind, I cant seem to figure out how to get a stump cozy to stay on my leg without cutting off circulation, which would just increase the iceberg factor. My residual limb is very short, so ribbing at the top would be right on the femoral artery. I've considerred an i-cord drawstring, knitting in an elastic thread, using Cascade Fixation, and I've even thought about attaching some kind of waist belt (which just sounds miserable). So I just dont know.

My Cozy thoughts have extended to covering these, also:


See? That's what I need to knit! I need Crutch Cozies! (the grey fake sheepskin is pretty ugly)
Last year I even went out and bought this lovely Koigu for them.

See all the colors? They will go with anything I'm wearing!
(....which will do just fine while I knit a matching pair for every outfit)

But then I did the math of warm/damp armpits, plus the friction of swinging crutches, with the addition of wool....(the equation being felt) and I realized I really needed to rethink this project a bit.

My friends have suggested that I must knit a cozy for my wheelchair seat.

Sure. That'll be the day. Right after I finish that Lysol can cozy for my 92 year old grand-mother.

But here's my latest cozy obsession: the covering of the socket.
THIS is my temporary socket.

I think I've told you guys about this before....it looks like I made it myself with a glue gun and duct tape (and there IS actual duct tape on it). Now, I aint complaining, because this is the first socket that has stayed on my leg so I can walk. But DAMN is it ugly, and in the few warm days we've had here since I got this new socket, I've worn shorts, and it looks reallllllly bad.

So I want to knit something to cover it.

And I just realized, that this WOULD be a prosthetic cozy, after all, now wouldnt it (?).

I'm on my way to that big-box craft store right now to ask for that pattern.