I was looking for a really plain pattern for a basic, chunky jumper for my sons that would be easy to knit and that they would be guaranteed to wear - nothing fussy, nothing tight, and certainly nothing that looks like you’ve tried too hard. The other problem was that my sons are all at that age where they grow upwards but not outwards - they’re very tall and very skinny - and all of the men’s jumper patterns I found were far too wide for them. Hence the ‘Good Life’ jumper was born - named as such after I’d pasted a picture of son no. 2 wearing his onto Facebook, and my brother told me that it looked like something from ‘The Good Life’ (a BBC program from the 80s about a delightful couple who try to go self-sufficient in suburban London).

This is a very loose, unstructured and not terribly smart jumper, so perfect fit isn’t essential - as long as it’s warm and comfortable I don’t think they mind!