For those preferring an eco-lifestyle, winter means delving into the wool stocks to keep oneself warm rather than heating the entire house – especially in a climate like Brisbane’s where the winter sunshine works its magic by late morning.

That’s how I found one of my favourite scarves had developed a hole – which I darned using an op-shop-gathered ball of wool of similar tone. I like the idea of wool being visibly mended – it’s a badge of honour that says upcycled, sustainable, care of natural resources.

After mending, I used this scarf as a wrap skirt teamed with an opshop found wool skivvy from which I removed the high neck and turned it into a head band. Along with cream wool tights and my cashmere scarf from New Delhi, this was an appropriate outfit to visit the fantastic Tangled Yarns wool shop in New Farm which is nuturing a return of handcrafted crochet, knitting, felting – and yarning – for wellbeing and pleasure. I went with my friend Carol Watson and ran into Dr John Morrison, chairman of the Board of Management of International House, of which I’m a board member. John was gathering wool supplies for his wife Jan who is hand-knitting rugs for family members. Fun to have circles intersecting.

 I’m a bit busy with Sew it Again to be taking on any major knitting or crochet projects right now, but I’m already thinking about ways I can integrate these techniques into my upcycling.

Darning is easy and practical, just do a cross-hatch pattern to fill the area of the hole and beyond to overcome the problem. I also pre-emptively darned a couple of other areas that looked like they might become holes by next winter. To change the high neck of the wool skivvy, you simply use sharp scissors to snip off the band just above where it joins the neckline. If you happen to clip it too close in places, you can always stitch it with cotton to hold but I find it works fine even when the seam separates. With neck offcut, just fold it in three so the cut edge is on the inside. I found it didn’t need stitching to hold the band shape, but you could easily do that if you wished.