Knitting: not just for winter

On a stitch and bitch evening last week, one of my friends said she hadn't brought any knitting because she doesn't think it goes with summer. 'But hang on,' I said, 'there are all kinds of things you can knit in summer. Little vests…cotton jumpers… all kinds of cover-ups to keep off the evening chill (or keep the sun off reddened shoulders)…things for the home…not to mention getting started on a large-scale knitting project...'

Anyway, it got me thinking, so here's my round-up of knit-it-now summer knitting patterns: vests, cold-shoulder, bralette – oh, and a dishcloth...

Fringing is everywhere at the mo, and this Dylan top from Wool and the Gang is knitted in Rowan Stone Washed, cool cotton tape yarn.
Click here for the free pattern from Wool and the Gang

Interesting sleeveless vest top in stocking stitch with gathered stitch detail on the front, designed by Lisa Richardson, a merino wool and cotton blend
Click here for the free pattern from Rowan Yarns (You'll need to register first.)

Capri: stripy short-sleeved cropped sweater, designed by Erika Knight. Knitted in stocking stitch in 100% linen yarn, the front and back are exactly the same. In winter, you could layer it over a poloneck or long-sleeved T-shirt.
Click here for the pattern, £2.99 from Deramores

Yep, it's a bralette, coming in kit form, knitted in rib and reverse stocking stitch.
Click here to buy the pattern and kit from Wool and the Gang

A cold-shoulder slouchy sweater in a holey design to keep you cool
Click here for the free pattern from Love Knitting

Designed by Sarah Hatton, this textured-stripe vest is knitted with cotton yarn in stocking stitch and moss stitch
Click here for the free pattern from Knit Rowan

This design definitely has a summer feel: a bikini-pattern dishcloth in Lily Sugar 'n Cream cotton yarn.
Click here for the free pattern, from Hobbycraft

One of my favourite bags is one I made from a jumper I knitted then accidentally felted… I love the patchwork tiled effect of this one
Click here for the free pattern from Love Knitting

This lacy cap-sleeve top is designed by Martin Storey and knitted in Kidsilk Haze yarn, a blend of kid mohair and silk.
Click here for the free pattern from Knit Rowan

This short-sleeved T-shirt is worked in cotton yarn, and has a cute loop fastening at the back.
Click here for the free pattern from Rowan

Bringing a bra back to life

'If it fastens, Newey's make it' says the card

I bought these vintage hooks and eyes (or 'bar loops' as the card says) a few months ago. Not just because I like vintage haberdashery, but with a particular make-do-and-mend project in mind.

Made by Newey's, these vintage hooks and eyes date back to the 1940s, I believe. There's a 'size 2' card of them in the Imperial War Museum collection. Newey's was founded in the West Midlands in the 1790s as a producer of pins and haberdashery, gaining a royal warrant.

I love the idea that I'm doing 'make do and mend' with haberdashery from the period when making do and mending was an everyday necessity.

Amourette, from £30, sizes 32-42, A-K, matching knickers

On to the project I bought them for… three years ago I was fitted for a Triumph Amourette bra (left) at a press event. As I said in my blog on the website where I was working at the time:
  'It's been a couple of years since I was last fitted - and things appear to have changed. I was fitted with the gorgeous bra on the left (mine is a vibrant fuchsia shade), and it's four inches and two cup sizes different from the bra I was wearing when I arrived!'

In need of repair

Now, I know three years is a long time in an underwear drawer, but shortly after I got the bra I managed to destroy a couple of the hooks and eyes (left) or maybe it was a prototype, I'm not sure).

But I loved this soft, comfy, lacy bra and kept meaning to get round to fixing it.

As I opened my sewing box, I saw my pins, made by... Newey's!

And now I have: I simply sewed the two wayward eyes back in place, and added a new (or rather, old) hook, and sewed that in, using the two metal loops to push the needle through. Now I have a good-as-new bra that I can actually wear again.