Here's how I knitted my first ever top

Yep. Me. A complete knitting novice.

Image by Alysia Georgiades

I always enjoy a challenge, and after re-learning how to knit last November, I decided to make a top five months into picking up this new craft.

This is the first wearable knit I've attempted, other than a kit I bought to make a snood, and I had no idea what I was doing. The kit came with everything; the yarn, the needles and the instructions. This time I had to find the right yarn, buy the right needles and then follow the instructions.

The pattern I used by Gina Michele was fairly simple, which was why I chose it. All I had to do was knit two identical rectangles, then sew them together. Easy!

The top is created with a drop stitch pattern, which I had never done before. But after watching a tutorial a few times it seemed easy enough, wrapping the yarn around the needle in between stitches for one row, then dropping them the next.

If I lost track of what number row I was on, it would all go horribly wrong, which it did on the second panel when I noticed one 'stripe' of stitches thinner than the others. But it was too late to go back and fix it, and luckily it had the correct amount of rows on the reverse, so no one would have to know!

Image by Alysia Georgiades

Except they do, because I'm also a novice at sewing, and thinking I was sewing the two pieces together correctly with the inside panels facing up, the seam ended up being visible on the other side. The outside. So the inside became the outside to hide the seams, and the thinner stripe is now on show.

Did that make sense?

Simply put, this top is far from perfect. But it is finished, it does fit (although the first time I sewed the neck hole it did not), and it's entirely unique. Whether that's because I knitted it myself or because of the errors, I'll let you decide.

Despite the mistakes I would definitely make the top again, for myself or for someone else. I don't think there's a future clothes-maker or mender in my future, but the obstacles have been overcome and I've improved a skill that's still very new to me. So a win win?

Image by Alysia Georgiades

And on top of that to be able to mend or create my own clothes means I can avoid fast fashion a little, and be a bit more self sufficient. We're all aware of how our clothes are made, how many we buy and how many we throw away each year, and it's having a real impact on our environment, from water and air pollution to landfill. So if I can learn to knit some original items or fix tired ones, then I'm contributing less to that negative loop and helping the planet out in the tiniest of ways.

If I am going to keep up this skill I would try and use 100% natural yarns, as a lot on the market, including the one used for this top, are a mix of acrylic, nylon, and wool. As the microplastics in synthetic fabrics are damaging to ocean life, I'll be trying to look for pure wool, cotton, or another natural fibre instead.

So maybe this little achievement of mine will inspire you to try something new, or maybe it will inspire a challenge of some sort.

Either way, please don't expect another post about knitting for a while. The next project is definitely going to take more than two months.