Guban Jumper

I am not quite sure what is up with me. When we went into lockdown one of my positive thoughts was "at least I will have lots of time for knitting and craft", but you may have noticed less than normal craft posts. Hopefully this will change, as I have finally finished my daughter's jumper, which has taken a very long time. I am really happy with how it has turned out, and more importantly so is she. She was very specific about what she wanted, it had to be plain black, and not too long, and 4ply. This pattern appealed to me, as I thought the pattern would be interesting to knit.

The pattern is called Guban by Sarah Hatton, and is available on ravelry free, and is also a Rowan pattern. (I probably shouldn't mention this, but I don't think I have ever bought a pattern online. If you hunt about a bit is always seems possible to find a free pattern that suits.)

I did not use the recommended wool, so it was a bit of a worry whether the wool I did use would work. I used 6 x 50g balls of Drops Flora, which as the recommended wool took 225g, I thought would be plenty. I keep thinking that I may have mislaid a ball, as I ran out before I had knitted the neck, and had to use some other black that I had for that. (I have just weighed the finished garment, and I am right, I must have mislaid a ball of wool. I will have to do some hunting behind the sofa.)

Sometimes I don't knit garments because it seems to work out so expensive, but this cost £13.20 for the wool, from Wool Warehouse, which I thought was really quite reasonable for a pure wool/alpaca mix jumper.

This was not an easy knit, but I did enjoy the front and back patterned sections, once I got the hang of them. I think it was made harder for me because I was using black wool. Half-way up the front I had to unravel, as I could see a mistake lower down. Family told me not to, but I knew it would always be glaring at me if I did not.

So what next. I also bought some sock wool, so am going to have a hunt about for a different sock pattern, probably for me. There are lots of nettles in the garden, so my summer look is skirt or dress, but still with wellington boots on, so I don't get stung.  I also now have my sewing machine back (hurrah), and a half-written baby pattern which I will get back to now. My daughter is also working on an extended project for her art A-level, which is going to involve sewing and dancing. I do hope she lets me show you. Happy crafting!

Just a reminder that there is still time left to join in my Ginx Woolly Linx party for June. Click on the photo above or at the top of the page to find the party. I would love to see what you have been working on this month.