I Made Something: Rice Jumper

While I haven't been reviewing (or blogging) much over the past few months, I have been reading and also doing other things! This is one of them. It's the Rice Jumper from We Are Knitters (if you plan to make a purchase sign up for emails and wait for a BIG sale like the 40% one they just ran because their 100% wool yarn is not cheap).

First I picked the yarn (the fun part!). I changed the default colors of the pattern because they kind of clash with my paleness and I went with more of a muted palette. 

Look at all the pretty yarn 💗

The Rice Jumper pattern is super easy to follow and great for tv/movie knitting, but it leaves out a few important points. Fortunately, there are usually notes on Ravelry or helpful people blog about their experiences. I found this one with my Googlefoo and it saved me so much frustration. 

https://consciousbychloe.com/2022/11/02/rice-jumper-we-are-knitters-la-casita-de-wendy/

There's a little rib stitch on the bottom and the sleeves and the rest is basically seed stitch (knit the purls, purl the knits). It was fun but a wee bit clunky at times because the needles needed for the bulky/chunky yarn were huge size 11's. I also made the mistake of sewing two of the seams up before blocking and then I tried it on and went "uh oh". It was too short and way too close fitting. Totally NOT what I wanted. But then I remembered I could block it and attempt to stretch the wool into the shape I needed so I stretched it out, tacked it down and gave it a good spray. Thankfully the wool cooperated, and it worked. Phew! There's nothing worse than spending hours on something that fits and looks wonky.

The sleeves during blocking ↓

Holy cats, it fits! Yay!!

Here's a pic of the finished project. I absolutely hated the neck originally. It was this awkward bulky bit of mock turtleneck that sort of flopped around because I accidentally got carried away and knit a few too many rows. I'm just not a fan of having wool surround my entire neck anyhow so I folded it inside, tacked it down with a few stitches and now I love it.

Next up on the needles is another rice jumper in a solid mauve color and an X Files rewatch!