Wool & the Gang: Would I recomend?
I had been hearing about Wool and the Gang for years and always used to see their kits in John Lewis growing up, but had never taken the plunge before in using any of their yarns or patterns as they’re not the cheapest around. I'd read a lot of positive reviews regarding their kits, but as I’m still fairly new to reading crochet patterns myself, I wasn't ready to splurge on any kits just yet….. However, I saw they had a range of crochet and knitting patterns and thought it was a great opportunity to give Wooland the Gang a go!
Now I should start by saying that they also have a range of patterns that they sell alongside some free patterns, but for full transparency I've not tried any of the paid for patterns myself yet, i've only tackled a couple of free ones. Bevause they have both free patterns AND patterns that you can buy, I found the variety of patterns pretty decent ranging from simple, beginner friendly patterns to much more complex designs, so I certainly didn't find it hard finding patterns that I liked. Luckily for me also, the crochet patterns are written in US terminology. Although it can be fairly easy finding a UK-US conversation chart, it does make it a little trickier for any UK crocheters out there.
The first pattern I tried my hand at was their “Dot cotton sweater pattern" https://www.woolandthegang.com/en/products/dot-cotton-sweater-free-pattern?taxon_id=1524
- This was a simple one-size granny-square style jumper and I thought it looked like a great pattern to tackle as my first ever attempt at following a written crochet pattern. It's fair to say that I struggled initially with understanding the rows, however in hein-sight it was probably more so user error and not the fault of the pattern. What was most helpful though was that the pattern had video links and picture diagrams of every stitch type that was involved in the pattern along with other tips and tricks. So for any section that I got stuck on, I could revert back to their built-in tutorials. I also found that their timeframe estimation for the project was pretty accurate too and I do like when patterns include this so you know what you're potentially getting yourself into before starting.
The second pattern I tried of theirs was one their most popular patterns: “Groove Sweather Pattern:”
https://www.woolandthegang.com/en/products/groove-sweater-free-pattern?taxon_id=1524
This was the pattern that brought me to Wool and Gang in the first place years ago, and I'd added a kit to my basket a couple of times but could never decide on what colours I wanted to make it in and was never quite ready to actually hit the buy button. Fast forward to about a month ago and I'd got a box of cotton aran-weighted yarn in a ray of colours and I knew exactly the pattern I wanted to make. By this point, I'd made a couple other jumpers for myself and had gained a lot more confidence and experience with crochet so thought I was ready to tackle the groove sweater! My yarn differed slightly to the yarn they reccomended so I did do a tension square and had to manipulte the pattern slightly to ensure it would fit me as the pattern intended. I personally found that fairly easy to do, but equally I could've have avoided this step if I chose the correct yarn for the pattern rather than choosing the yarn first. I certainly struggled more with some of the wording of this pattern and found myself having to re-read parts multiple times before understanding what it was wanting me to do. At one point I did have to restart my first panel piece after a good 8 rows as I realised I'd read the start of the row wrong and needed to start all over. Once I got into the swing of things, the pattern repeat was pretty easy to memorise and follow along, so it was just the start and end of the rows that I think could've been written a little clearer.
On the whole, I did enjoy making both jumpers. And as an added bonus, I do always get complimented whenever I wear either of them out! Despite some of my struggles, I would still highly reccomend trying their patterns and am seriously considering getting one of their kits so I can try out their yarn range too! So watch this space, it may not be for a while but I will keep everyone posted with any updates :)
In the meantime, go and check out wool and the gang to see if they can inspire your next (or future) project
