Crafty finishes

I made another jumper!!!! It took about seven months - I ordered the wool in March - which is exactly over winter. I won't be able to wear it for another four months... and my next project is a short-sleeved tee! My timing is off (I think I should be getting faster at knitting, but I'm not).

So this is the Academie pattern, in a 50/50 bamboo wool blend from Bendigo Woollen Mills, and it is quite poorly executed because it was all sorts of techniques I hadn't done before. There was a lot of picking up stitches for the body and sleeves which is still obvious on the garment (it shouldn't be) and there is something strange going on with the decorative rows on the shoulder seams.

The v-neck was a bit tricky to get right and I didn't do a stretchy bind off because I was worried it would be too big and stretchy ... so of course it is ridiculously tight and I have to take my glasses off to get it on. But who cares, because it is done, and I am very pleased with myself. The bamboo makes it nice and silky to wear and the colour is pretty! Yay me.

This next one is completely out of left field - an old-fashioned rag rug. My life is awash in textile scraps of all sorts and I hate wasting it, so when this came up randomly on tiktok I thought I would give it a go. I donate any of my clothes that are fit to wear but old nighties and t-shirts and trackpants aren't generally wearable ... but they can be made into rag rugs! This is two nighties, four t-shirts, one pair of leggings, various quilting fabrics and a ghastly microfibre pillowcase. 

It is a very simple technique - cut into narrow strips and pull-up in loops with a big crochet hook. No finishing, no knotting, no latching, no covering the back. I bought proper hessian from Spotlight but it was far too tightly woven to do this technique with, so I ordered some very open-weave burlap from Amazon that is meant for covering your trees. It was also a tenth of the price for a five metre roll (I also used it for making my little shade house for the lettuces!) and worked out perfectly for a hook rug. 

I was very unsure about this as I was making it - Dad didn't help by commenting on the rag bath mats that my great-grandmother had made and which were apparently still in existence in my grandma's house when I was a child ... indestructible and unloved according to him. I don't remember them, but my rag rug is absolutely delightful. It has a lovely weight and heft, feels great on bare toes, and looks pretty. I've started another one.