Chunky knitted polo tank top

Once autumn arrived, and I'd finished my Granny square cushion, I felt the need for more wool-based crafting to curl up on the sofa with. Don't get me wrong, there's still definitely sewing happening too (I'm working on a muslin of a dress and waiting for some lovely fabric for the final version to arrive in the post at the moment), but sometimes when it's chilly snuggling up with some wool seems more appealing than sitting at the sewing machine. I already had a project waiting for me in the form of a chunky polo neck tank top I started knitting towards the end of last winter, and thankfully for me the lovely thick yarn knits up really quickly so I've finished it already.

I used a pattern from Sirdar Big Softie Knits for Beginners and the yarn was Sirdar Big Softie in meringue. I'm not a complete beginner when it comes to knitting, and I have knitted a couple of scarves and hats before, but this was the first time I'd made any clothing (or at least the first time I'd finished any clothing - more on that below) so I think it was good to use a simple pattern to get my confidence up, and this did just the job! There are simpler patterns and smaller projects (hats, scarves, fingerless gloves etc.) in the pattern book and it contains a pull-out section with instructions on how to knit so I think this would definitely be a good introduction to knitting for a complete beginner, or a nice collection of quick and simple patterns for the more experienced knitter.

The only problem that I had was that, as the name suggests, the yarn is very soft so when I was using it to stitch up the seams it had a tendency to stretch and pull apart leaving me with lots of wispy pieces (but I have since thought of a use for them which may be either ingenious or ridiculous, so it's all good!). Apart from that the pattern was really straightforward, clear and easy to follow, and the pull-out section was useful for the only part that I was slightly unsure about (picking up stitches to attach the polo neck and sleeves).

I'm modelling it here with my second version of the Sewaholic Hollyburn skirt, which is now being worn as it was originally intended to be with tights and boots and is proving to be a very useful and pretty skirt! 

I'm happy with the top but I think I need to wait until autumn turns into winter to wear it properly - the chunky wool means it's a little too cosy still at the moment.

I've now moved on to finishing off a cardigan that I started waaaay back at the start of winter in 2011 which uses double knitting wool and 4 mm needles, which seem very small in comparison with chunky wool and 10 mm needles! And the knitting takes so much longer to grow! The cardigan is looking lovely so far, but part of me is missing the speed at which my tank top grew, so here are a couple of close-up photos of the lovely chunkiness...

To alleviate my craving for quick knitting, I'm currently planning a small chunky wool project to add to my autumn/winter accessories collection. More on that soon!

Pom pom flowers

On a recent charity shop trip I acquired a nice tall vase. So tall, in fact, that it won't fit in any of my cupboards meaning it has since been sitting somewhat forlornly in my living room crying out to be filled with something pretty. Obviously there are lovely flowers that I could buy, but this vase really needs the tall, dramatic type flowers that always cost that bit more than I would like to spend on something that's going to have wilted and need to be replaced within a week. So I set about trying to find some nice artificial ones, failed, and came to the conclusion that the best thing would be to make some "flowers" instead. A quick browse of Pinterest later, and pom pom flowers seemed to be the answer - simple, colourful, a bit quirky and cheap being as I have quite a bit of wool left over from various projects.

There are plenty of versions out there (this one and this one were the main ones that inspired me), but here's my interpretation...

As you can probably tell they're really simple - just make your pom poms in whatever shapes and colours you like using your preferred pom pom making method (I might have to try out a Clover pom pom maker at some point, but this time I used the old-fashioned method of wrapping wool round 2 pieces of card), get some appropriate lengths of garden cane, put a little bit of glue (I used my hot glue gun) on the end and hold the pom pom onto the end of the cane for a couple of minutes to make sure it sticks...

That's all it takes! 

Here's my "bouquet" and the no-longer-forlorn vase in all their glory...

Simple but effective I think! I might have to make some others in different colours and alternate them, but I've got a couple more projects in the pipeline that need to be finished before I get round to that - watch this space!