No new clothes for a whole year, means knitting needles to the rescue

The weather here in Edinburgh is dire!  The winds are howling, the rain is pouring and there is a definite icy chill in the air everytime you step outside.

All of this wintery weather has got me pondering my 12 month challenge to not buy myself any clothes.  I am day-dreaming of cosy sweaters and thick tights, (M&S apparently have tights with a fleecy lining to keep you extra snug - heaven when you are standing at the bus stop while the wind whistles, I would imagine...)

But alas, new jumpers and fleecy tights are out, as I just can't afford them.  I have already made it four months into my challenge without buying any new clothes for myself.  With the thought of saving over £613 on last year's spending, I haven't found it to be too difficult so far.  Apart, that is, from the fact that my clothes seem to have all decided to fall apart at the same time!  For example, yesterday I had on jeans which had a hole in the backside, (now patched over the previous patch!), a top which had moth-type holes in the front, socks which had been darned on both toes and boots which had holes in both soles!  What a holey state of affairs!

In my usual fashion however, I do have lots of balls of wool, which I have bought and then never got round to doing anything much with.  So, at the end of last year I set to work on finishing off a lovely cosy jumper for myself, that I had begun many months before.   And today was the first day I wore it!  It was absolutely freezing outside, but my top half was snug as a bug in my wool sweater.  I teamed it with a home-knit real wool scarf I had made the year before and it definitely seemed to be true that wool keeps you much warmer than synthetic fibres.  With my puffa jacket (of many a year) on top I was ready to face the elements outside.

My next challenge is going to be to use some more of those balls of wool to knit up some gloves and a matching headband.  It is just a pity I can't knit myself up some new winter boots!