Chilly weather top and infinity scarf

Well, the sewing has been happening it's just that the blogging about it hasn't! Sorry about that but I've also been sewing lots of repeats from the same patterns which have become real favourites. Just like today's post!

The weather has gone quite chilly and I needed some thicker-than-your-average-jersey-knit tops. I'm still funding the Cloth Spot with my purchases (thank you for the Christmas card!) and basically buy fabric when I see it. I should just set up a direct debit with them! I don't have a huge fabric stash as I generally sew it up quite soon after buying it.

So, here's today's offering. This is a top pattern that I traced from a favourite Marks & Spencer's old jersey top. I've made it before but with this top I decided to narrow the neck at the shoulder seams by 2cms and that's worked a treat. Much better fit with this.

I also guess-timated the neck band by measuring (very roughly) the neck opening circumference, then cutting the neck band 7/8th of this length. That's worked a treat too.

I had some fabric left as I'd bought my usual 2 metres so I decided to sew up an infinity scarf from the left-overs. I can loop it twice around my neck and it's super cosy.

I think there's quite  abit of natural fibre - viscose definitely, and possibly some cotton too, and something in it that's man made. It's an interesting fabric that sems to be made of two layers that are then loosely held together somehow. So, basically, you need to finish all those raw edges or it will come apart. I overlocked everything. It's the kind of fabric that doesn't need ironing and I've basically been washing and wearing it since I made it a couple of weeks ago.

It's a winner!

Crikey! I'm knitting....

I know, I'm first and foremost a proud sewist and love sewing clothes for myself and here I am...knitting. Knitting!!!!! Well, I'll give you a couple of minutes to get over the shock of it all. Maybe it's the dark nights or something, but there it is.

There is a story behind how all this came to pass. A colleague went on summer holiday to the Faroe Islands and brought me back a ball of wool and a book on Fair Isle knitting. The gauntlet had been flung down! How could I NOT knit something. Also in the summer I went on my first sewing bloggers meet-up in the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh. Some lovely ladies were helping visitors get to grips with knitting and they had some lovely wool cowls. I took one of their cowl patterns and worked myself up to the idea of knitting it. It took a few months!

Gives you an idea how long it is

It's been years since I knitted anything but I thought I'd like the challenge of a mini-project in knitting to take with me when I spent the weekend with my family and was physically parted from my sewing machine and overlocker. Idle hands, and all that!

Lovely golden trees in the communal garden

I bought Rowan Big Wool Colour in Jamboree colourway from John Lewis which has a high wool content, 96% wool and 4% polyamide, just enough man-made content to discourage our 'pet moths'. Hopefully. The knitting needles (10mm) are huge! It didn't take long to knit up the 4 balls of wool but it did take another fortnight to sew in the ends and sew up the one seam to change it from a scarf to a cowl. Then of course, there's finding daylight time to take photos but that's not going to change anytime soon! 

Beautiful carpet of golden fallen leaves

So, to round it all up, I'm very pleased with my new wool cowl and it will go with my new (when I get it finished) forest green jacket. It was lovely and toasty when I was outside taking these photos so that's good to know! What next? Well, I skulked about on Etsy and bought a knitting pattern for gloves/mittens/convertibles (not a type of car, they're fingerless gloves or mittens with a flip top on them). I've just finished knitting the first glove and done some rib on the second. I don't think I'm a knitter at all but I have enjoyed these small projects so far. Maybe I'm a seasonal winter knitter! What about you, do you take up the knitting needles in autumn and lay them down in spring?
 

And such a blue sky