Finished Fibre Mood Tara jumper!

The Tara styled with some incredible trousers in pattern book 1

The Tara looked like a fairly easy second knit with lots of garter stitch and stocking stitch, but slightly more challenging than my first, which was made up purely of squares/rectangles. The sizing is a little limited, with only XS, S or M to choose from, so I went with the size M (40-42) as I wanted it be oversized. I picked this Drops Eskimo super chunky yarn in Olive from Wool Warehouse. The low price and huge colour range made it pretty appealing, plus it's 100% wool. After using a Wool and the Gang kit last time, this was my first attempt at pairing yarn with a pattern. Luckily my Mum is an expert knitter so she could check I'd made a good choice and help me to calculate the yardage!.

Drops Eskimo in olive

I'm by no means an expert, so can't talk at length about the standard of the instructions or compare it to many other knitting projects, but I can tell you the things I learned along the way! First up was the Italian cast on method, which I found out is really good for ribbed edges. I've since used the same method to cast on a double-knitting ribbed hat I've made so many times and it's made a huge improvement!
Casting off the shoulders/top of the sleeves together was totally new to me too and made for a really professional finish, plus it reduced the amount of sewing up at the end. I learnt how important it is to do this loosely so not to restrict the movement or fit of the jumper - I'd probably try to cast off even more loosely next time!

Shoulders cast off together

Slip stitched neck

The full jumper took 10 balls of yarn and I used every last bit, even ordering an emergency ball when I got the 'fear' near the end. I realised I wasted quite a lot of yarn when finishing one ball and joining in the next, so I think that's something I could work on improving with my next knitting project. There were LOTS of ends to weave in, but I found it to be surprisingly therapeutic!

Worn with my faux leather Ready to Sew Juliet

Whilst I really like my finished Tara Jumper, I would say that it's a lot less oversized than I expected based on the images in the pattern book - the model is very slim I guess, but even the sleeves look longer on her! My tension was fine, so I wonder if knitting it on slightly bigger needles in future would be ok (the instructions suggest using 10mm needles, 8mm for the ribbing). I'd also consider knitting it on circulars next time just because of the sheer volume of stitches on your needles when you increase the stitches for the sleeves.

Back view

Overall, the Tara was fun and interesting to knit and it's great to wear. At £21.95 for a wool jumper I think it's turned out to be a real bargain and has totally squashed some of the misconceptions I had about knitting being way more expensive than sewing - phew that it can be done on a budget as I don't think my bank account could support another expensive crafty hobby! I've already cast on my next project using a different colour of the Drops Eskimo yarn and would definitely recommend it and the Tara Jumper as a good starting point for fellow novice knitters!

I can definitely see the benefit of having a knitting project on the go at all times now and I've started saving some of my favourite patterns to Pinterest. Do you have a knitting pattern that helped you to learn the ropes? Please leave me your suggestions below so I can add them to my knitting plans!

MY FIRST KNIT!!!

It's almost a year to the day since I started making this Wool and the Gang Relax Knit Through It Sweater having bought the kit in the 2017 Christmas sales. I bought the pattern and Feeling Good Yarn alone saving money on the needles as I already had a pair in my stash. Their well-styled but arguably overpriced knit kits always tempt me as the quick fix way to get started on a project, but it takes a bit more willpower to finish them. I've seen a lot of sewists pick up the knitting needles recently - see the amazing bubble sleeve cardigan by @rubymurraysmusings and Emily Self Assembly Required's incredible chunky knit efforts for serious inspiration - which helped in spurring me on to finish this long-time project.

Composition: Baby Alpaca 70% / Merino 7% and Nylon 23%

I chose the beautiful Cinnamon Dust Feeling Good Yarn as I was going through my orange phase at the time (see this skirt and these trousers) and luckily I still love the colour now it's finished. Size 2 requires 6 balls, but I was surprised to find that I only used 5 in the end - though I wouldn't take the risk on ordering less, having heard a friend's knitting horror story of running out of wool with another WATG kit!

The sweater is knitted on 6.5mm needles so it comes together quite quickly when you put the effort in. It's made up of stocking stitch squares without any shaping, so it's easy to the point where it's almost a boring knit (I clearly can't find the balance between interest/speed with my knitting)!

I learnt the long tail cast on which gives a more elastic finish. The written guidance on this isn't the best and I struggled to visualise the technique, so I'd recommend watching the Wool and the Gang YouTube tutorials. Having spent years casting on (mainly hats) using the standard method, I'm a total convert. I used the long tail method for a new hat recently and it gives a much neater edge.

Stocking stitch squares, pre-funnel neck

The most fun and challenging part of the make was picking up stitches around the neckline for the  funnel neck. After sewing up one shoulder seam, you add the neck stitches from the front and back sweater to your needle before knitting another long piece of stocking stitch, This means you have to sew up the other side of the neck, leaving a visible seam on the wrong side when the neck rolls into place. If I was savvier with knitting, I think I'd do this on a circular needle in future to avoid that extra seam.

I finally learnt how to sew up my knitting properly with invisible seams, which is probably one of the most useful skills I gained from this project. Again, the YouTube tutorials were much easier to digest than the written instructions.

Back view

I actually had a bit of a mare with sewing up as the measurements given for attaching the sleeves are really small. I attached both sleeves and sewed a whole side up before realising that it was impossibly small in the armpit and unpicking the whole thing. If you think unpicking sewing is a pain, try undoing your invisible seams in an alpaca/mohair mix wool - definitely tested my patience! If I was to make the jumper again, I'd go up a size for the sleeve to give a bit more room for movement.

Jumper love

I don't think it's the most flattering or beautiful sweater in the world - thanks to my Dad and boyfriend for the comments of 'did you run out of wool?', 'it's a bit short' - but it doesn't matter as I feel SO PROUD knowing I made it. Despite making me a bit sneezy, the wool is so soft and warm. I'm not giving up on sewing by any means, but I am finally ready to embrace the knitting needles!

I do think you're paying mostly for the brand with Wool and the Gang, so moving away from them, I'm currently eyeing up all the amazing chunky knit patterns from Good Night, Day. Next up though is the Fibre Mood Tara, using this super chunky bargain wool in olive from Wool Warehouse - heads up, there are also some amazing sewing patterns in Fibre Mood too! Has anyone else caught the knitting bug this winter?