This is a pattern I saw and immediately wanted to make; I bought the pattern and yarn, was thrilled throughout the making…

A hand-knitted cardigan on a tailor’s dummy. It’s dark blue with cream umbrellas knitted into it, and has a round neck and long sleeves.

… and then the finished object was unwearable. Firstly because I am a delicate flower and couldn’t handle the itch of the wool, secondly because the shape doesn’t work for me, and thirdly because the colour kind of doesn’t work either.

It’s a real shame because I love the umbrellas and I did a pretty good job of working them (considering my previous attempts at intarsia). But it spent so long stuffed in the back of the drawer that something had a bit of a nibble at it and even if I wanted to wear it, I couldn’t.

I didn’t want to completely let it go so in the end, I felted it and turned it into a hot water bottle cover. With this new lease of life, it gets used all the time. (The buttons have also been recycled into other projects, including Ice Cream Dreams).

A hot water bottle cover made from the felted remains of the cardigan pictured above The front of the cardigan with buttons and buttonhole have been used to make the opening in the cover. Thick white blanket-stitching around the edge holds it together.

  • Pattern: Pluie by Alex Capshaw-Taylor Ravelry Link: Pluie
  • Yarn: Jamieson’s of Shetland Shetland Spindrift in Natural White and Pacific

Project Details:



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