Real stories · The jumper whose sleeves mind their own business

I shove my jumper sleeves up forty times a day — this one finally ended the argument

The jumper whose sleeves mind their own business — that's the only way to put it. I'm 67, and nobody warns you that half of wearing a jumper is managing its sleeves. Shove them up to wash your hands; they slide down. Push them back for cooking; they creep into the gravy. By evening I've performed the sleeve-shove roughly forty times, and every cuff I own is bagged out of shape from the struggle.

What I wanted was a warm jumper that simply kept its sleeves to itself.

Then I found the Roundelle from a British label called York Boutique — a knitted jumper with three-quarter sleeves, and I chose the yellow, because if a jumper is going to solve a problem it may as well be cheerful about it.

The fix is almost embarrassingly simple. The sleeves are cut to stop just past the elbow, which is why there's nothing to trail in the sink, drag through the flour or catch on door handles — your forearms are simply free, all day, with no shoving and no sliding. The ribbed cuffs sit gently where they end and stay put, the wide rounded neckline is soft about the face and takes a scarf beautifully when you head out, and the knit itself is a soft, breathable blend — proper jumper warmth on your body, none of the flapping fabric where you actually work.

The sleeves stop just past the elbow with a ribbed cuff that stays where it's put — so nothing trails in the washing-up, nothing drags through the flour, and nothing needs shoving up. Ever.

It was £29.95 in the sale, half the usual £60 — and with a fortnight to send it back and free delivery, there was nothing to lose but the sleeve-shove.

Since it arrived it has washed up, baked with my granddaughter, walked Winnie under a coat and done a coffee morning — and not once have I touched a sleeve. Malcolm hasn't noticed anything, which for a jumper that's quietly fixed my whole day is exactly as it should be.

If you also perform the sleeve-shove forty times a day, do have a look. The Roundelle is rated 4.6 out of 5 by more than 250 women, it comes in eight colours from yellow to beige to navy, in UK sizes 8/10 all the way to 36/38 — and at half price the cheerful colours go first.