Floozy Too Pattern Review

If you've been following the blog this year, you'll know that I've been working on my Floozy Too by Libby Jonson of Truly Myrtle since January. I finished it on March 5... just in time for a pre-spring wave of warm weather. Since then, I have been able to wear it only once, but I've fallen in love, so let's talk about it.

Why I Love It:

What strikes me most about this sweater is that it feels store-bought. I know that isn't always the goal of handknits, but when I'm making clothes, I never want people to see them and go, "Did you make that yourself? Bless your heart." The Floozy Too does not look homemade; it looks classic, detailed, and well-fitting. Plus, being knit with a light fingering weight yarn at a tight gauge pushes this closer to the territory of a machine knit piece rather than something you would make with craft store yarn.

I also love the richness of the colors, but since they won't be seasonally appropriate for another 6+ months, I kind of wish I had chosen a more neutral color palette. 

 

What I Changed:

While I followed this pattern more closely than I have with some others, I did incorporate a few modifications.

First, we need to address the gauge. I used US size 1 (2.25mm) needles and reached a final gauge of 26.5 stitches per 4 inches. The gauge in the pattern is 27 stitches per 4 inches on US Size 4 needles. What in the hell? How is that even physically possible? If Libby Jonson is knitting that tight, she might need a mental health intervention; just sayin.

My second modification was to pick up stitches for the collar rather than begin it at the cast-on edge. With the same needles I used for the body, I cast on the number of stitches in the pattern, knit one row plain, then jumped straight to the first round of yoke increases. I came back later and picked up stitches for the collar, but I only worked it 0.75" / 1.9cm instead of 1.25" / 3cm. I even worked a tubular bind off!

The pattern is written using mosaic knitting, so you're only supposed to need one color per round. However, I found I was getting a lot of pulling and puckering when I tried that, so I ended up working the 2x2 "Honey Baby" motifs using stranded knitting. I also didn't bother to break my yarn between motifs, I just carried it along inside.

After what felt like an eternity of stockinette, I finally got to the bottom hem. Like most patterns, this one recommends using smaller needles for the ribbing. I opted to size up my needles instead, because I didn't want a cinched effect at the hips. The result is almost perfectly straight with the rest of the body.

 

Sizing 

I made the Size 4, which turned out at about 44" / 112cm at my gauge. I love the way this fits with neutral ease, but I think it would also be nice a with the recommended 2-6" / 5-15cm of positive ease. Because the sleeves are slim, this would feel comfy cozy without looking like you stole a sweater from Shaq.

I also appreciate that the pattern is gender neutral. While there are some great shapely patterns out there, I personally prefer when the pattern has a simple shape and leaves lots of room for personalization. If you do end up making this pattern for someone broad-shouldered, I would recommend choosing a size by measuring around the upper chest AND arms and comparing that to the pre-sleeve-split stitch count.

 

Yarn Choice

I used Cascade ReFine in "Rooibos Tea" (MC), "Orange Marmalade" (CC), and "Marigold" (yellow zigzag). The yarn has recently been discontinued, but I hope Cascade will bring back something similar, because this is one of the only 100% post-consumer recycled yarns I've found, and the colors are absolutely beautiful. That being said, it's fairly scratchy, so I have to wear this sweater with something underneath.

The pattern calls for three colors, but you could use anywhere from 2 to 12 colors if you were so inclined. There are lots of different combinations in the Ravelry project pages, so I highly recommend scrolling through those for inspiration.

 

Project Cost 

The pattern costs $16 NZD, or about $10 USD. I can absolutely see myself making another one in different colors, but for now, we'll count the full $10 in our project cost.

The yarn  cost $5.61 per ball at yarn.com, and I ended up using less than three full balls of the Rooibos color. The Orange Marmalade and Marigold colors were leftover from my 2319 Sweater. Thus, $5.61 x 3 = $16.83.

That's a $27 sweater, y'all! 

 

The Bad

I don't know if "Floozy" means something different in New Zealand English, but here in the States, it's not exactly complimentary. Perhaps a more respectable person would have made the "Wavecrest" or the "Embers" cardigan, but here we are. Lord only knows what I've done to my SEO talking about floozies every week.

 

If you're wrapping up any of your winter knits, I'd love to hear about them in the comments! If you're ready to ditch the winter woolies and move on to  warm weather knits, check out my roundup of free spring patterns.