05 March 2010
Free Pattern Friday: Deirdre
I knew when I saw this one in the new patterns on Ravelry earlier this week that it would be today's FPF. Deirdre is another one of those great little sock yarn shawlettes - this one from Linden Heflin. Much as a love complicated lace, sometimes something a little sparer works too. Check your sock yarn stash! [Ravelry link / Blog link]
04 March 2010
Knits in Action: The Sartorialist
Just had to share this snap I saw yesterday on The Sartorialist's blog. Is that an Einstein Jacket, perhaps? It's nice to see knits appreciated in the wild.
02 March 2010
Knitting Magazines (print)
I've been trying to write this post in my head for weeks now and keep getting stuck, largely because it feels like I'd just be ragging on the knitting magazines without offering a constructive alternative. I should also state that style is, to some extent, subjective ("Everyone thinks they have good taste and a sense of humor but they couldn't possibly all have good taste." Name that movie!*) So, here goes...
For most knitters there are two print magazines offering creative patterns and informative articles: Interweave Knits and Vogue Knitting. They each offer (or offered**) "sister" magazines that are billed as more progressive/modern - Knitscene and Knit.1, respectively. Yes, there are other knitting magazines out there, but these two are the biggies in my experience. (And I'll get to the online publications another day.)
There is a lot to like about both of these magazines. For one thing, they're both still publishing! These days every other mag seems to have decided to throw in the towel rather than figure out ways to weather the recession storm. I know it's often better to bow out while you're ahead of the game, but that has left many of us Domino- and Blueprint-less, to name two of my favorite, now-defunct mags. And since many knitters are ... well, I'd rather not use the word hoarders ... let's say "stashers", most of us love having the actual printed magazines in our hot little hands or tucked away for safekeeping and future use. I know there have been plenty of patterns that I've flipped right by only to come back to later with a passion thanks to seeing purty FOs on Ravelry and "the blogs" or just to a change in personal style. Or a technique that you get interested in as you become a more proficient knitter -- for me it's lace, which I was intimidated by when I first started knitting and buying knitting magazines, but now I want to know everything!
For another thing they are both making efforts to have useful online presences, offering patterns for sale online*** [Interweave Knits Pattern Store / Vogue Knitting Pattern Store], making sure pattern previews make it to Ravelry [Interweave Knits / Vogue Knitting] and/or Facebook [Vogue Knitting - doing a great job of getting their FB fans involved with sneak peeks, polls, relevant news items, etc.], and offering added value online: VK360 is a cool tool that allows you to examine the knitted projects from all angles, though I, personally, could do without the music, but I'm a web curmudgeon, preferring words and images to video and audio. And Knitting Daily from IK is busy with forums, blogs, and the Knitting Daily Galleries showing different IK staffers wearing the same garment and getting their feedback, so you can get an idea of what a project might look like on your body type.
But I feel that for all their plusses -- and let's not forget about Clara Parkes's reviews, Meg Swansen's articles from the EZ "vaults", contributions from TechKnitter, BrooklynTweed, and many more, collaborations with Project Runway participants (though not always my style), ANTM models, etc. -- both magazines don't always keep up with the times, style-wise.
I find IK's styling a little on the crunchy-no-makeup side. Yet they're the ones who published the Cocktail Capelet (six to eight skeins of $18/skein pure cashmere?!). While VK's models seem overly-made-up to me, the stories are often shot in spaces with lots of stuff, and the models have lots of clothes and jewelry adding to the visual "noise", so it's difficult to tell necessarily if you want to knit the pattern. Yet when they departed from that for the cover story in the last winter issue with the model in front of some grey photographer's paper, it kind of got weird. And there are issues with VK's sizing standards -- some garments are only offered in one or two sizes. Oddly, IK's aforementioned Cocktail Capelet came in three sizes.
Now, I know you can't please everyone all the time. And post-EZ, we are liberated knitters who can adjust patterns to work for us, so not every pattern needs to be offered in fifteen graded sizes. And different people have different budgets, so yarn substitutions can make a good pattern in a magazine a great one for you. But ...
I guess I just feel like there isn't really a knitting magazine out there for me. Even though I wear jeans and a t-shirt/sweater most every day, I follow the collections, watch the "stylish" reality shows (OK, I watched Jersey Shore, too, but Project Runway wasn't on), and had a favorite supermodel back when there were only a handful of them (Christy Turlington, if you must know) rather than the hordes of them running around today with such titles -- there I go being curmudgeonly again. And, yes, I am a medium, so sizing usually isn't an issue.
Funnily, I saw some comments on FB about the new VK issue that the scarves were craziness given that this is the Spring/Summer issue. Ladies complained about hot flashes making such items unnecessary. Yet, you would be hard-pressed to walk around NYC, even on the hottest day of the year, and not see pretty young things with scarves wrapped around their necks like the pretty young things in the Neck and Next story. But the styling on that story did not work for me, though at least the backgrounds were less distracting so I could focus on the knitted projects.
As knitters I think we sometimes forget about style when faced with a gorgeous yarn (beautiful in the skein doesn't always make for a pretty knitted fabric) or cool technique (entrelac, I'm looking at you). Knitters sometimes complain about or look sheepish when knitting stockinette, but my favorite sweaters are often the simplest (OK, that is my style -- see jeans and t-shirt, above). Just because you can do a triple-flip (cables! and lace! in variegated yarn!), doesn't mean you always should.
A little design note from the unemployed art director: I do not like that IK moved the patterns to the back of the book, separating them from their "big" pictures, but I do like their new page at the very back with small pictures of all the projects in the issue -- something I think every knitwear publication should do somewhere. VK has always had their patterns at the back of the book without any images, so that's their thing, even if I prefer otherwise, but the problem for me is the numbering system, which is not so memorable, especially when they don't include thumbnail images of projects with the patterns. Things can get confusing: you could start the instructions for #12 and then accidentally turn two pages and find yourself knitting project #23.
And I wish they would publish their charts in the magazine. I know that may add two pages to the book and it's difficult to fit everything and have enough ad pages to support your editorial content, but what if I've taken my magazine, yarn, needles, and stitch markers on vacation to get away from it all, only to discover that I can't do more than cast on because the charts have to be downloaded, but it's Sunday and the nearest computer is at the island library an hour away on foot and only open Fridays from 9-noon anyway. So much for that vacation knitting! Yes, we should all check our patterns for everything before we head off, but still.
So, I've thought about giving up on knitting magazines. But there are those technique articles, and even if I don't like projects now, I may later, though I am working on designing my own projects rather than knitting other people's patterns. And I think we should support those publications that are bringing new designers to public attention and putting stuff out there and making an effort. These days that is a brave thing to do, when everyone (including me) is a critic
Maybe I'll start posting more "style" research as I come across it, not just highlighting knits in the collections, but applying new styles from the collections (those I like, anyway) to knitting.
What do you think? Are you happy with the two big knitting magazines? Is there another "book" I don't know about? Are you a pattern follower, an adventurous knitter, someone who just likes yarn, or ???
*When Harry Met Sally
**Knit.1's last published issue was Spring/Summer 2009.
***There has been controversy over VK taking pattern sales online, and I'd love to know if things have changed for the better. Anyone?
For most knitters there are two print magazines offering creative patterns and informative articles: Interweave Knits and Vogue Knitting. They each offer (or offered**) "sister" magazines that are billed as more progressive/modern - Knitscene and Knit.1, respectively. Yes, there are other knitting magazines out there, but these two are the biggies in my experience. (And I'll get to the online publications another day.)
There is a lot to like about both of these magazines. For one thing, they're both still publishing! These days every other mag seems to have decided to throw in the towel rather than figure out ways to weather the recession storm. I know it's often better to bow out while you're ahead of the game, but that has left many of us Domino- and Blueprint-less, to name two of my favorite, now-defunct mags. And since many knitters are ... well, I'd rather not use the word hoarders ... let's say "stashers", most of us love having the actual printed magazines in our hot little hands or tucked away for safekeeping and future use. I know there have been plenty of patterns that I've flipped right by only to come back to later with a passion thanks to seeing purty FOs on Ravelry and "the blogs" or just to a change in personal style. Or a technique that you get interested in as you become a more proficient knitter -- for me it's lace, which I was intimidated by when I first started knitting and buying knitting magazines, but now I want to know everything!
For another thing they are both making efforts to have useful online presences, offering patterns for sale online*** [Interweave Knits Pattern Store / Vogue Knitting Pattern Store], making sure pattern previews make it to Ravelry [Interweave Knits / Vogue Knitting] and/or Facebook [Vogue Knitting - doing a great job of getting their FB fans involved with sneak peeks, polls, relevant news items, etc.], and offering added value online: VK360 is a cool tool that allows you to examine the knitted projects from all angles, though I, personally, could do without the music, but I'm a web curmudgeon, preferring words and images to video and audio. And Knitting Daily from IK is busy with forums, blogs, and the Knitting Daily Galleries showing different IK staffers wearing the same garment and getting their feedback, so you can get an idea of what a project might look like on your body type.
But I feel that for all their plusses -- and let's not forget about Clara Parkes's reviews, Meg Swansen's articles from the EZ "vaults", contributions from TechKnitter, BrooklynTweed, and many more, collaborations with Project Runway participants (though not always my style), ANTM models, etc. -- both magazines don't always keep up with the times, style-wise.
I find IK's styling a little on the crunchy-no-makeup side. Yet they're the ones who published the Cocktail Capelet (six to eight skeins of $18/skein pure cashmere?!). While VK's models seem overly-made-up to me, the stories are often shot in spaces with lots of stuff, and the models have lots of clothes and jewelry adding to the visual "noise", so it's difficult to tell necessarily if you want to knit the pattern. Yet when they departed from that for the cover story in the last winter issue with the model in front of some grey photographer's paper, it kind of got weird. And there are issues with VK's sizing standards -- some garments are only offered in one or two sizes. Oddly, IK's aforementioned Cocktail Capelet came in three sizes.
Now, I know you can't please everyone all the time. And post-EZ, we are liberated knitters who can adjust patterns to work for us, so not every pattern needs to be offered in fifteen graded sizes. And different people have different budgets, so yarn substitutions can make a good pattern in a magazine a great one for you. But ...
I guess I just feel like there isn't really a knitting magazine out there for me. Even though I wear jeans and a t-shirt/sweater most every day, I follow the collections, watch the "stylish" reality shows (OK, I watched Jersey Shore, too, but Project Runway wasn't on), and had a favorite supermodel back when there were only a handful of them (Christy Turlington, if you must know) rather than the hordes of them running around today with such titles -- there I go being curmudgeonly again. And, yes, I am a medium, so sizing usually isn't an issue.
Funnily, I saw some comments on FB about the new VK issue that the scarves were craziness given that this is the Spring/Summer issue. Ladies complained about hot flashes making such items unnecessary. Yet, you would be hard-pressed to walk around NYC, even on the hottest day of the year, and not see pretty young things with scarves wrapped around their necks like the pretty young things in the Neck and Next story. But the styling on that story did not work for me, though at least the backgrounds were less distracting so I could focus on the knitted projects.
As knitters I think we sometimes forget about style when faced with a gorgeous yarn (beautiful in the skein doesn't always make for a pretty knitted fabric) or cool technique (entrelac, I'm looking at you). Knitters sometimes complain about or look sheepish when knitting stockinette, but my favorite sweaters are often the simplest (OK, that is my style -- see jeans and t-shirt, above). Just because you can do a triple-flip (cables! and lace! in variegated yarn!), doesn't mean you always should.
A little design note from the unemployed art director: I do not like that IK moved the patterns to the back of the book, separating them from their "big" pictures, but I do like their new page at the very back with small pictures of all the projects in the issue -- something I think every knitwear publication should do somewhere. VK has always had their patterns at the back of the book without any images, so that's their thing, even if I prefer otherwise, but the problem for me is the numbering system, which is not so memorable, especially when they don't include thumbnail images of projects with the patterns. Things can get confusing: you could start the instructions for #12 and then accidentally turn two pages and find yourself knitting project #23.
And I wish they would publish their charts in the magazine. I know that may add two pages to the book and it's difficult to fit everything and have enough ad pages to support your editorial content, but what if I've taken my magazine, yarn, needles, and stitch markers on vacation to get away from it all, only to discover that I can't do more than cast on because the charts have to be downloaded, but it's Sunday and the nearest computer is at the island library an hour away on foot and only open Fridays from 9-noon anyway. So much for that vacation knitting! Yes, we should all check our patterns for everything before we head off, but still.
So, I've thought about giving up on knitting magazines. But there are those technique articles, and even if I don't like projects now, I may later, though I am working on designing my own projects rather than knitting other people's patterns. And I think we should support those publications that are bringing new designers to public attention and putting stuff out there and making an effort. These days that is a brave thing to do, when everyone (including me) is a critic
Maybe I'll start posting more "style" research as I come across it, not just highlighting knits in the collections, but applying new styles from the collections (those I like, anyway) to knitting.
What do you think? Are you happy with the two big knitting magazines? Is there another "book" I don't know about? Are you a pattern follower, an adventurous knitter, someone who just likes yarn, or ???
*When Harry Met Sally
**Knit.1's last published issue was Spring/Summer 2009.
***There has been controversy over VK taking pattern sales online, and I'd love to know if things have changed for the better. Anyone?
28 February 2010
Free Pattern Friday: Bome (Spring)
Despite 20" of snowfall here in the city, which closed the schools on Friday (hence, the belatedness of this post), I'm ready for Spring. Or perhaps it's because of all that snow. Anyway, this pretty fairisle cardigan is so springy with its colors and knitted-in message (Bome means Spring in Korean), as well as the pretty neckline, 3/4-length sleeves, and lacy edging. I'm pretty sure I couldn't whip this up in time for Spring, especially since I still live a steek-free existence, but a girl can dream!
[Ravelry link / Pattern link]
[Ravelry link / Pattern link]
21 February 2010
King Charles Brocade
The project I was working on before the Olympics started is a pullover for me in Swan's Island Organic Fingering yarn (Robin's Egg blue) in King Charles Brocade. It's on hold until my Games project is complete. But imagine my surprise when I saw these images [color photo / ultraviolet photo] yesterday of the original vest King Charles wore on the day of his execution. Apparently, they are going to use some high-tech tests to determine if the stains on the pullover are the king's blood. Ah, the times we live in. How crazy that the color is so close to my sweater's!
20 February 2010
Free Pattern Friday: Vinterblomster
Yes, it is Saturday, but I was working on something else (freelance projects, teething 18-month-old, world's greatest knitting book idea), so you had to wait until this morning. I know you've been waiting...
And I'm waiting for Spring, so these pretty Vinterblomster mittens seem perfect. Heidi Mork came up with a lovely, modern, stranded knitting pattern that will have you raiding your fingering-weight yarn stash for pretty Spring colors or whatever else strikes your fancy (lots of color combos on Ravelry, if you're looking for inspiration). I love the almost hand-drawn feeling of the flowers. Go on, you know we have more winter to wade through, and if you have a pair of Vinterblomsters, you'll look forward to the next snow storm. [Ravelry link / Heidi Mork's blog link / PDF link]
And I'm waiting for Spring, so these pretty Vinterblomster mittens seem perfect. Heidi Mork came up with a lovely, modern, stranded knitting pattern that will have you raiding your fingering-weight yarn stash for pretty Spring colors or whatever else strikes your fancy (lots of color combos on Ravelry, if you're looking for inspiration). I love the almost hand-drawn feeling of the flowers. Go on, you know we have more winter to wade through, and if you have a pair of Vinterblomsters, you'll look forward to the next snow storm. [Ravelry link / Heidi Mork's blog link / PDF link]
12 February 2010
Free Pattern Friday: Tempest (and Knitting Olympics insanity)
If you haven't knit a Tempest yet, what are you waiting for? I mean, you have delectable sock yarn that you're "saving" for the right project, right? This is it! A lightweight cardi knit out of two skeins (well, four if you're using Koigu or Claudia Handpaint's or something that is, like, one skein per sock) of sock yarn. I lovelovelove my Tempest. And since it's written by Ann Weaver and published by the lovely Knitty people, you know it's a good one. And you work it on larger-than-usual-for-sock-yarn needles, so it does not drag on forever. Wait, did I tell you that I love mine? I'm wearing it tomorrow. [Pattern link / Ravelry link]
The other reason I'm recommending Tempest this week is because I'm insane. I've decided to enter the Knitting Olympics to knit up a sweater of my own design in the next 17 days in Madeline Tosh merino light, a lovely fingering-weight single (that's a skinny sock yarn with only one ply for you non-knitters reading this on Facebook - I know who you are, people!), so I've been checking out other fingering-weight sweater patterns on Ravelry. I have various plans, and I have swatched this yarn (on US5s, so it's not complete insanity, not like deciding to do a Bohus for the Olympics or something, so this should be a doable but challenging challenge, which is the point of the Knitting Olympics. Wish me luck. I so want that medal!
And I forgot to mention in my last post that I also knit up a pair of Amy March's Slippers in my little fit of knitting little things, since the pair I worked for myself some time ago resides in Maine, while I'm in New York in a blizzard. My feet are much happier now, though I may re-knit them, double-stranding the yarn. I used Sheep Shop Sheep 1 in a pale blue (shocker, I know), which is an aran weight yarn, and it's a little thin (the pattern calls for bulky). Yes, as I'm typing this I'm realizing that I really should reknit, holding the yarn double, to make them perfect.
Apologies for the lateness of this post, but I've been working my derriere off on a work project. Working from home is amazing, but I am a tough lady to work for! My standards are very high, and I've been slacking off for too long, so I have to whip myself back into shape. InDesign4 is a whole different kettle of fish from my "old" days at Course Technology.
The other reason I'm recommending Tempest this week is because I'm insane. I've decided to enter the Knitting Olympics to knit up a sweater of my own design in the next 17 days in Madeline Tosh merino light, a lovely fingering-weight single (that's a skinny sock yarn with only one ply for you non-knitters reading this on Facebook - I know who you are, people!), so I've been checking out other fingering-weight sweater patterns on Ravelry. I have various plans, and I have swatched this yarn (on US5s, so it's not complete insanity, not like deciding to do a Bohus for the Olympics or something, so this should be a doable but challenging challenge, which is the point of the Knitting Olympics. Wish me luck. I so want that medal!
And I forgot to mention in my last post that I also knit up a pair of Amy March's Slippers in my little fit of knitting little things, since the pair I worked for myself some time ago resides in Maine, while I'm in New York in a blizzard. My feet are much happier now, though I may re-knit them, double-stranding the yarn. I used Sheep Shop Sheep 1 in a pale blue (shocker, I know), which is an aran weight yarn, and it's a little thin (the pattern calls for bulky). Yes, as I'm typing this I'm realizing that I really should reknit, holding the yarn double, to make them perfect.
Apologies for the lateness of this post, but I've been working my derriere off on a work project. Working from home is amazing, but I am a tough lady to work for! My standards are very high, and I've been slacking off for too long, so I have to whip myself back into shape. InDesign4 is a whole different kettle of fish from my "old" days at Course Technology.
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