Once upon a time I had a whole cupboard full of hand knit sweaters and I'd walk around proudly boasting that I didn't need to buy commercial knit sweaters*. To put that into context, I had a lot of time on my hands - I was living with my parents and running Stranded full time - but aside from that, I didn't really have any responsibilities and I definitely didn't have a social life! (I still don't really have much of a social life - but I'm working on it!) 

In theory, if they're well looked after, providing the bugs don't get at them, hand knit garments last a long time. All of mine are still going strong - most of them still live in my mum's closet! The problem was two-fold, one, like many of us, my body shape changed significantly during the pandemic and my sweaters did not change with it. 

Secondly, my taste in clothing has changed drastically. Although my knits were never particularly feminine**, transitioning has meant that I'm very aware of how my clothes fit and how they make me feel. I go into more detail about this in a youtube video I posted earlier in the year. 

So now it's a year later, I've rehomed most of my sweaters - my mum is always a grateful recipient of knitwear, and some of my friends had some as well. But the weather in Scotland is getting colder, I live in a stone house that's over 150yrs old and is about as well insulated as a packet of crisps! Which means I need to actually get into gear and knit some replacements! 

I'm still plugging away on my Single Malt sweater by Maxim Cyr out of Coffee Bean on Merino Aran - I've still got the sleeves to finish - let's see if I can get them done before the temperature drops too low!

Jude. 

*Obviously there is zero shame in buying clothes. People buy clothes for all sorts of reasons, myself included. I was just proud that I'd made a lot of sweaters. And I was young and foolish! 

**Not that clothes or inanimate objects are gendered. I go into my relationship with clothes and gender more in the video if you're interested.