A stitch in time ...

Back in June 2014 I was looking for something suitable to give or make for my husband's 50th birthday. A moment of inspiration came in the form of a visit to Lauriston Farm in Goldhanger where they have North Ronaldsay sheep. The farm have the fleeces processed and sell the yarn, so I decided to knit him a jumper from their organic undyed wool for his birthday. I had 6 months to do it, easy!! .... On top of this was the house sale and move. I had also forgotten that whilst I can knit a baby jumper in a few days, with all the distractions I would be lucky to get it finished. 

The welt with the twist every fourth rib

Most of my knitting stuff was packed away during the declutter phase of the house sale. I kept this jumper and a blanket back as something to do. The real cost of this has been my layette knitting shop on ebay because it hasn't seen anything new for the duration, but I am pleased to announce that by his birthday on the 15th December not only had we sold the house and moved, but I had finished knitting his jumper as well .... but I hadn't sewn it up ... I hate sewing these things up and now it was super sized. 

Only a day or so late, he was presented with his jumper which fits but has been placed in his wardrobe case he gets it dirty. Grrrr!! My only comment to him was that if he snags it on a tree or something, let me know so I can repair it before it unravels. It fits him well which was a relief as the measurements were 6 months old. The arms look long but that is because he has long arms. Its made to measure!!

I found the pattern on ravelry.com as a freebee. It was quite a challenge as there were very little written instructions and instead you were following a chart with lots of vague symbols. I adapted and adjusted the dimensions to make it fit the recipient and added little touches like the twist in the rib which is also present on the cuffs and the neckline. 

The sleeves were inset which were easy enough and the pattern was adaptable for the increased stitches on the sleeve shaping. The wool was brilliant to work with and has a beautiful mixed colour look to it, although it looks grey here, it had flecks of brown.

I even have enough wool left over to make myself a hat, probably, if I find the time. And this adult sized jumper was definitely a very limited edition, one off - no commissions accepted.

Find out more about Lauriston Biodynamic Farm and what they do at http://www.lauristonfarm.co.uk/