This is another knit that I finished within the last year but didn’t manage to share at the time. 2021 was very much the year of the jumper for me! As I mentioned before, the changes wrought by the pandemic had an impact on the things I look for in my making: lots of colour, texture and cosiness are the name of the game! What has also made a difference is the fact that my life has a significantly different rhythm, now that I study full time. I can’t really see myself going back to working the way that I used to, and that directly affects the things I make to wear.
Pattern: ‘Favourite Flannel’ (Kids) by Alicia Plummer
Yarn: Kerry Woollen Mills Aran, 2.75 skeins, 275g, 550m
Needles: 4.5mm (I think!)
This is a fun, straight-forward pattern. I have a real coup de coeur for an all-over texture pattern, and this one, being a slight variation on a rib pattern, is about as easy as they come. The raglan shaping is modified a bit so that the neckline isn’t totally square, which I like. I also worked a set of short rows at the back of the neck to raise it further. I do this on pretty much everything now.
There are a few versions of this pattern. The original one is for a DK weight (20st = 10cm) and is ostensibly for women, although it seems pretty unisex to me. Plummer subsequently released a kid’s and a men’s version, both for a worsted weight (18st = 10cm), and I decided to get the kid’s version during the promotional sale. The main reason for this is that the smaller size range would allow me to knit the same pattern with a heavier weight yarn. So, in this instance, I knit the 28.75″ size in order to get a 34″ finished size.
In looking up those details, I noticed that she has a heavier weight version (14st = 10cm), as well as a flannel hat pattern, so if you like the idea of a cozy waffle stitch, you’re well covered.
I got the yarn on a very enjoyable day trip to Westport at the end of last summer before we went back to school. It is not that easy to get a hold of the Kerry Woollen Mills aran in person, and often I find that the colour range is a bit… strange. This rich raspberry colour really caught my eye though, and I was very hopeful that 3 skeins would be enough for a jumper (it was!).
The yarn is a 100% irish wool and as such, is very crispy with great stitch definition. True, it is a little scratchy but it softened up a bit after I blocked it. I also find that, with yarns that are initially quite hairy or scratchy, with wearing, the guard hairs fall out over time and the wool develops beautifully. I have had this experience many times over with Lopi yarns, whose guard hairs could take an eye out at first, but then soften over time.
Really, it is just a good all-round woolly jumper…
… with lots of waffley goodness.
Enjoy that weekend, folks. Those days are getting longer!