Wool and the Gang Double Trouble Jumper, Take Two

Hands down the best part of winter is the jumper. Jumpers are my favourite item of clothing for winter. 

1. They go with everything, jeans? yes! A skirt? Yes! A dress? Yes! pyjamas??????? YES YES YES! 

2. Technically if it a loose enough fit you don't need to wear a bra and I am all about the no bra life right now! Although is it true that if you don't wear a bra your boobs sag quicker? Is that a thing or is it just some rumour created by the head of Ann Summers to keep us spending £30 on bras? 

3. Cosy. I mean I wouldn't go as far as the say I wear one and turn the heating off. But it certainly adds an extra level of snugness to those cold winter nights. Other snugness levels can be achieved by drinking hot chocolate and lighting candles.n

This is the Double trouble jumper by wool and the gang which is one of their free patterns [find it here] .

I've made it before and even though it was suppose to be a red jumper but ended up being orange, I still wear it all the dammed time! 

So I decided to make a another, that hopefully I'd wear a bit more.

But it took me ruddy ages! I must have had this wool since last year? First of all I had other projects to complete, then I finally cast on but it just took me so long to get through the pattern! I swear the last time I made it it took a week or so? This one must have taken a month and a half maybe? And I'd made some changes to speed things up!

First of all I knit a small the same as last time. I did this because I know it will eventually "grow" from being in the washer. Although I have already vowed to wash this one on the special knitwear cycle we appear to have and to try and avoid putting it in the tumble dryer. 

Changes wise, I opted to knit the tops of the sleeves in garter stitch. Mainly to save time but also to echo the garter stitch that's used on the edge of the flappy bits at the back [Omg just had a 10 minute laughing fit at the phrase "flappy bits" nice choice of words Frankie! ]

I also crocheted the collar instead of picking up stitches with knitting needles. I have a fierce hatred of picking up stitches because I can never do it evenly. Crochet is a lot quicker and easier and by some miraculous chance it made it so I could wear it as an off the shoulder jumper. Which I know kind of defeats the object of wearing a jumper because LOL now my shoulders are cold! But it does look fabulous!!!! 

Here's the flappy edge bits! I still love this feature. I just think its so nice and comfy to wear and it makes the jumper a bit "trendy"?

I like this version a lot better than the first one. Probably because I feel like the colour suits me a lot more? I used Hayfield Bonus chunky in sandstorm. Wool and the gang do recommend using their own brand of wool for making all of their patterns up in, but I've never seen a ball of their wool in real life which makes me a bit cautious about buying some. Although I have heard very good things about it from other knitters. 

In other news!

CHRISTMAS IS NEARLY COMING! I try and make a new decoration every year but this year I'm stumped! I'm wondering if another Christmas quilt would be overkill? 

I'm still plodding away with Eat Pray Love. Its a bit of a mixed bag really sometimes I'm finding myself bored and then every now and again the writer will say something so bang on that I feel like I need to keep reading! 

I need to decide what to do with my hair. Preferably before Christmas so I don't look like a tatty head on any pictures. So far I'm thinking of going shorter again but part of me wants to go Icy blonde [A La Debbie Harry] Or pink like.......ummmmm nurse joy from Pokemon? I'm terrible about my hair I hate having it the same style for too long! 

I've started a new knitting project! I'm currently making Mr Fortywinks from Jean Greenhowes knitted clowns book. So far I'm enjoying it, its a nice combination between easy and hard enough to keep my interest. I am annoyed though because the wool I'm using for the face is the only peach colour I had in my stash and its a lot stiffer than I thought it would be. I'd decided that it would be a stash busting project which is why I haven't brought any wool but now I'm worried it might throw off the gauge? Or give him a really heavy floppy head!!!! 

Much Love

Frankie 

xxx

Wool and the Gang - #doubletroublejumper

Okay so I've reached the point where I think its impossible to hate something you've spent HOURS knitting. I mean after putting all that effort in only to decide something is hideous seems a bit like sacrilege really doesn't it?

That's the journey I had with this jumper. My problems started when the Hayfield Bonus chunky I ordered from Hobbycraft was a bit more orange than I was expecting. The name Paprika should have given it away but in my defence it did look red on the website.

 

The pattern I chose was the double trouble jumper by wool and the gang. Its a free pattern which to be honest is pretty much how I like my knitting patterns to be! [BTW they actually have quite a few free patterns on their site so its definitely worth a look] I didn't use their recommended wool "wool me tender" because I had a voucher for hobbycraft so it made sense to use the equivalent weight from their.  

I started it on valentines day and finished it in bed last week when I was feeling poorly. Because of the chunky wool and the size 8mm needles the whole thing knits up pretty quick which is very satisfying.

Knitting up wise it was an absolute breeze, there was no complicated instructions and the only trouble I ran into was when I went to cast on the sleeves. They tell you to cast on 25 stitches and knit the rib pattern but I kept getting moss stitch, In the end I just cast on 26 stitches and decided I;d fix any problems with the stitch count afterwards. 

The other issue I had was that after I'd shaped the sleeves it says to knit another 50/60 [I can;t quite remember] rows and well that just seemed like a lot! I think I did about 15 and then cast off and well as you can see the sleeves are pretty long! I'm not sure if this is a pattern error or just because I didn't use the recommended wool but either way if you do make it its worth taking a look at your sleeve length as you go.  

The same applies to the fit as you can see its pretty slouchy on me [More room for cake] and I knit the smallest size so I'm not sure if its because of my wool choice. Naturally I didn't do a swatch test!

This is the best part of the pattern, whilst its simple in the front it is PARTY in the back! I love this detail! Although I would recommend wearing a crop top or a bralette underneath because when you bend forward it does gape quite a lot.

I can see it being the perfect jumper to fly with though because the open back means its really really easy to get on and off meaning you won't disturb your possibly sleeping neighbours too much!

The other thing I did differently was to crochet the collar and not knit it by picking up stitches. Picking up stitches it a pet hate of mine and I'm lazy so I just crocheted one.

All in all I kind of like it? At first I hated the collar and the whole thing just hung so stiff but after I popped it in the wash it softened up got a great slouchy vibe. I'm definitely going to make myself another one in a cream colour or a grey because its super duper warm and cosy!!! And surprisingly I actually really enjoyed knitting it! 

In other news me and Rikki went on a date to Alton towers water park yesterday. It was so nice to spend a day just the two of us and as we are both big kids we really enjoyed it!!

Much Love

Frankie 

xxx