Why you should mend your knitwear now

Here in the UK we’re now fully into Spring/ Summer. This is the best time to look after your knitwear and repair it, in my opinion, and these are my reasons why:

The days are lighter and brighter just now- which is great for a couple of reasons.

Firstly, working in good light is really important, so this is one of my main reasons for preferring to spend more time mending in summer. It allows you to see your work better, and it doesn’t put such a strain on your eyesight.

A cardigan of mine that’s partially repaired, partially customised. You can see work in progress for this in a previous blog post if you’re interested. Good light is essential for projects like this, as it’s very fine work.

Secondly, it makes choosing colours much easier. I always choose my colours with natural light, and I find it much easier to feel creative and inspired when working with colour in natural daylight. Artificial light makes colours look different and it can throw me off my design. So if you want to repair and create something that will be colourful, make the most of the light at the moment.

You’re probably not wearing your knitwear as much just now, or you might even be putting it in storage for the summer. Before you put it away, make sure it’s clean (to avoid moths) and give it a check to see if it needs any repairs or reinforcement. As you’re less likely to be wearing it, you won’t miss it if it takes you a while to repair it! This way, when you take it out again in the Autumn, it will be repaired ready to wear again, rather than looking sad when you want to wear it next.

A recent mending commission, repaired using darning, and swiss darning.

 This time of year is often when you find more moths about, so take all precautions when putting your knitwear away. You can have a look at my blog about avoiding moths if you’re not sure what to do. The last thing you want is to pull your knitwear out when it’s cold only to find it’s full of holes.

A stitch in time saves nine! This is such a good phrase for mending- it’s a good reminder to not put the small repair jobs off to ensure they don’t become big jobs later. Catch wear and tear early if you can, and it will save you having to mend much bigger holes in the future.

Do you have sweaters that aren’t in need of repair, but you’re just tired of them? This is the time to get creative with them- why not customise them to change the design? Add embroidery, or swiss darn a new design onto them to look like it’s knitted in. You can use graph paper to plan your ideas (if using swiss darning), or sketch out some ideas for embroidery. My book has chapters on embroidery, swiss darning and design, to help you get creative. Or come along to one of my online workshops, and I’ll teach you the techniques I enjoy most when it comes to being creative. Personally, I find a few changes to a sweater I’ve had for years can make it feel new and exciting again.

This sweater is one I have repaired and customised. I’ve used embroidery to cover up a stain on the front, and it has made it feel like a new piece to wear again.

 Just make the most of the longer and brighter daylight hours- it really does help with creativity, colour choices and will ensure your knitwear is ready to wear when you need it most.