Fisherman's Rib Jumper

Many years ago, when I was just getting into knitting, I disovered the joys of buying job lots of knitting patterns from eBay. Part of the thrill of this was not knowing what quality of pattern you were going to get; would any of it be wearable? Or would it only be good for laughing at gurning models attempting to look sophisticated while wearing the itchiest wool known to man?

While there were some delightful 80s mohair horrors (mohairrors?) that I’ve promised myself I will make at least one of for the lols, this pattern is a little more practical. It’s from a properly vintage Woman’s Weekly supplement from the 50s or 60s, with some basic patterns that didn’t scream ‘make me’, but I thought might come in useful one day.

And they did, or one of them did, when I picked up some cheap and cheerful sparkly black acrylic from a shop that mostly sold sheets and towels, but also had a random corner of cheap yarn at the back. I decided I just wanted quite a simple jumper, so I dug out the booklet and got started (the pattern is the one on the bottom left).

Sadly I didn’t immediately engage my brain. I was after a quick fix, and you’d think I’d know by now that quick fixes still need a gauge swatch. [Spoiler alert: I do not]. So I knitted the front, back, and most of a sleeve with the recommended needles before realising that I didn’t like the texture - it was a bit loose and airy and while not terrible, that wasn’t really what I was after. So, I ripped it back to the waistbands, and started again with a smaller needle (yes I did do a swatch this time). Much better.

I didn’t want the full collar but I wouldn’t have been able to even if I had. I bought the yarn with no specific project in mind (i.e. a completely random amount) so once I decided on the pattern I couldn’t do much more than eyeball it and think ’eh that’ll be fine’. And it was… sort of. Without the gauge alteration I don’t think I’d even have made it to the neckband; as it was I had to seam it with plain black yarn just to squeeze as much of a collar out of the sparkles as I could. Slightly foolish but it worked out in the end.

This is (arguably) my most-travelled project of recent times - it’s been to London, it’s been to Brighton, it’s spent a few pleasant afternoons in the local park. I do love a bit of knitting in public, even if I do forget the official day pretty much every year.

It smells of the sea, a particular handcream I’ve been keeping in my bag, and maybe a little bit of grass. Nice.