As I do more and more walking in the winter, I find myself needing walking clothes, particularly for those day walks where I don’t want to look too scruffy, so I have made a new tracksuit. For the top I used my new BFF, Vogue 8854 – this is the third time I’ve used it, but this time I did the long back and added pockets to the front rather than in-seam. The body is made from a remnant (what else??) that I bought at Knitwit, and then had to find some contrasting fleece as I didn’t have enough fabric. I bought extra to make the pants, although I hadn’t intended it to look like a suit.

I used the StyleArc Barb Pant for the pants and decided to also add pockets to the front, to stop the bulk of in-seam pockets. Unfortunately, for some reason I decided to use red for the pockets and this has not worked out well! I thought the top would hide them, but alas, it is not to be so I suspect their days are numbered! I’m not showing a warts and all photo because they are just too ghastly and fall into the category of “what was I thinking”? Oh yes, I was trying to save the grey fabric to make another pair of pants!!

I am also not certain about the long back. The photo on the Vogue envelope shows a woman looking very alluring:

Well, ok, she’s younger, thinner and definitely more gorgeous, but that back certainly isn’t as long as mine! I get it – she’s also a lot taller than me!

The family view is that the back will be a bit of a bum warmer, and the hood is quite cute

I needed a large button to fasten it, and joy of joys, I found one in my stash! I bought this at the Perth Quilt and Craft Fair for another purpose, but couldn’t resist using it. It is a much better colour match than the photo suggests and is a gorgeous shape.

Apologies must be made for lack of make up – I took the photos just prior to walking and I definitely don’t put lipstick on for walking!

My other weekend endeavours involved reworking this jumper

I didn’t like the collar and the bands at the bottom so I pulled the bottom off and frogged the collar. I do seem to  pull out my knitting a lot, and of course the wool goes all kinky, but I am now an expert in getting it straight!

There are a number of tutorials on the web for straightening the yarn, such as http://diananatters.blogspot.com.au/2013/03/straightening-some-yarn.html, but I think this is too hard. I find that if I use a plastic milk bottle (actually soft drink bottles work well, but we don’t have those), fill it with water that is as hot as the plastic will allow, and then wind the wool round it, it straightens beautifully – even the loose bits where I haven’t quite wound it tightly enough.

I also wrap the bottle and wool in a tea towel to keep the warmth in, leave it overnight, and voila, no more kinky wool!

I then machine knitted the collar using a loose rib, and replaced the bands at the bottom of the jumper with a longer rib. It worked out ok, but I forgot to take a photograph before I changed into my walking gear!

GCC:

Average: 23,580. We are now in Dublin!