To knit
Friday, 10 April, 2009
I'm currently stuck in this knitting project I don't like. But it's got a firm deadline because it's for someone else, so while I'm slogging my way through it, I keep thinking about what I'd like to knit next. I was thinking I'd like to knit myself some clothes for this winter—in particular, jumpers. I've got a bunch of cheap jumpers I bought from Target, but they're cheap acrylic things and they're not very flattering. So the other night, I was having a look at jumper/cardigan (or “sweater” as they'd say in the US) patterns online. There are a number I quite liked (Ysolda has some particularly beautiful patterns), but the ones I'm attracted to don't always suit my body type (following the rules of Trinny and Susannah). These are the ones that I think will:
- Ivy: wrap sweater
- Arisaig: wrap lace cardigan
- Oblique: long loose lace cardigan
- Serrano: lace cardigan
- Starsky: belted sweater with cables
- Twist and shout: cabled jacket
- Belle epoque: Edwardian tea gown pullover
- Cherie amour: low v-neck sweater
- Vivian: cabled jacket ($7.00 US)
- Pinwheel sweater: knitted in a round—a giant circle with sleeves
- Lara pinwheel sweater with crocheted edges: similar to the above pattern
- Ballet wrap sweater.
(What do you think, Elsie? Bec? George? Anybody?)
Of course, jumpers take time, so I need to prioritise. I was thinking I'd start with Cherie amour, and I've been daydreaming about what to knit it with. I have to get something “Bulky” (according to Ravelry's standard yarn weights, that's 12 ply—thanks, Di, for putting me onto them!) I love that Ravelry has links to other people's attempts and the different yarns they've used to do it.
But first, I have to finish the project I'm working on ...
Current:
Bible: Isaiah (ESV) 28/09/2010
seen: Tropic Thunder 26/09/2010
seen: The Life of Mammals 24/09/2010
seen: What a Girl Wants 19/09/2010
seen: Jerry Maguire 19/09/2010
seen: The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 06/09/2010
seen: Tomorrow Never Dies 05/09/2010
seen: Nanny McPhee 28/08/2010
read: Mercury (Hope Larson) 27/08/2010
read: Spellcheckers Vol 1 (Jamie S Rich, Nicolas Hitori de, Joelle Jones) 16/08/2010
read: Solipsistic Pop Vol 2 (Solipsistic Pop) 16/08/2010
read: Chiggers (Hope Larson) 15/08/2010
seen: Josie and the Pussycats 14/08/2010
seen: Mr & Mrs Smith 14/08/2010
seen: Step Up 2 13/08/2010
Blinks:
How to recalibrate the home button on your iPhone.
Unsolicited manuscripts accepted by Pan Macmillan with certain conditions.
Thought Balloon is a group blog in which the writers tackle a new theme every week? month? with one-page scripts. This URL is for their Phonogram ones.
How to sew a zipper on a knitted garment.
Issues organised by tale.
Online magazine that publishes fairy tales that are not reworkings of old tales.
Journal that publishes fairy tale writing.
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Disqus comments
Other comments
I think my favs in order are belle epoque, vivian, starsky and cherie amour.
But that’s just my opinion.
(Am really hoping to wear the dress you gave me to a party tomorrow, will let you know how it goes!)
Ooh…thanks for wanting my opinion. Some of the models haven’t done too well in modelling the sweater.
Ivy looks good.
Would Arisaig be too short?
Oblique looks bulky and shapeless (but that could be because of the way the model poses).
I can see you in a Serrano.
Starsky is badly modelled, so no opinion there.
I don’t like the looks of Twist & Shout, and I’m surprised the author (?) said “Half the members of my knitting circle tried it on – women of very different shapes and sizes – and each one looked better than the last.” It just doesn’t look that great on the model, but perhaps its a bad angle.
Belle epoque could work well or it could make you look pregnant. It might give you monoboob as well.
Maybe Vivian.
Ballet wrap sweater looks alright except for the sleeves - arms look really chunky and you might want to check the length according to Trinny & Susannah (can’t remember what they said about short or long sweaters for your body shape).
Pinwheel - hard to say because you can’t see the front.
Lara pinwheel sweater with crocheted edges - looks like you’re wearing a giant doily, so no.
Funnily enough, the pinwheel was as I imagined, so you did a better job of describing it that we had thought!
You’re so lucky you can knit your own sweaters!
I tried posting a comment but I couldn’t for some reason. I got an error
page each time saying I wasn’t authorized to perform this action.
I thought you might like these:
What about Stardust with longer arms?
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/stardust-2
Or this one:
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/mrs-darcy-cardigan
I’ve heard good
things about this:
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/february-lady-sweater
Sorry, Di! It’s my spam filter kicking in; it doesn’t like more than two URLs in any one comment. I’ve now added a note to my comment form.
I did like Stardust when I was trawling through Knitty, but I guess I’m not heaps confident in my ability to create longer arms when they aren’t specified in the pattern. It probably isn’t that hard, is it ...?
Elsie, did you scroll down and look at the other photos for the patterns? The Knitty patterns all have multiple shots so you can see it from behind, etc. I think the front of Oblique hands rather nicely when she does up the top button. There are photos of the Pinwheel sweater and the front of it on Ravelry, but I guess you need an account to access them. And yes, the arms are the worst thing about that ballet wrap sweather; I just like the lace pattern. (I’m a sucker for lace ...)
Love the Trinny and Susannah site btw, hadn’t seen it before. So much good advice!
Cherie Amour - love it, though perhaps with a slightly less chunky yarn? (looks good at the top but doesn’t seem to sit too well at the bottom)
Belle Epoque - meh, could be pretty, really don’t like the trim they’ve used - badly placed rosettes IMHO.
Ivy - nice all-rounder, but reckon it would look better a bit longer.
Arisaig - would not look good on those of us who are generous of boob. The place it does up makes it look like the girl got dressed in the dark and put her top on backwards.
Oblique - looks comfy, but you’d lose your waist in it. Good over pants in a chilly office!
Serrano - lovely - now that’s you!
Starsky - actually I’d go with this for a comfy one over Oblique. Looks a little more classy.
Twist and shout - I like it, but again, where it does up wouldn’t be too flattering on a larger bust.
Vivian - love this. (Could see it on Jess Green too)
Pinwheel - cute on the bub…maybe a little dated looking on an adult?
Lara Pinwheel - much more elegant, better with the finer yarn and the lacey detail
Ballet wrap sweater - that’s sweet and I reckon you’d get a lot of wear out of it.
There you go! Don’t know if that helped, but I’m keen to see what you come up with once the CFH has been banished!
Hey Karen,
I live Ivy, Serrano, Belle Opque, Cherie Amour, and the Ballet sweater. Can’t stand any of the others. They’re too bulky, or too chunky, or too something.
You’ve got a pretty awesome figure, so I think showing it off with nice wrap arounds works for you.
But then again, any of them is better than CFH.
Beware of any garment which is shown only from one viewpoint, particularly the pinwheel sweater. It looks great on small children, picture in right sidebar of my blog show it on my granddaughter, then four. On an adult it is dated and bulky at the front. Ysolda’s patterns are not free but are very well written with a range of sizes and variations on a theme. Her Liesl jacket is better than the February Lady Sweater. Everything is well explained and even in the largest sizes there are under 160 stitches in a row. FLS has several hundred and the whole thing is very bulky and hard to handle. I would buy more from her and I normally prefer free.
The top down idea is brilliant so long as you do the sleeves when you come to them. Otherwise there is a lot of knitting to move around as sleeve i knitted. Just a few ends to weave in and possibly a button or two at the end and it’s done.
Current Interweave knits has quite a few different styles. Have a look in the newsagents. I’ve generally found their patterns well presented.
Here’s my 60 cents:
Ivy: I like it, you could make it longer, but I notice the neck is really wide and deep, I have a top with a neck like that and I find it hard to layer it over other necklines.
Arisaig: same problems, overall not as good. Pick Ivy out of these two.
Oblique: I like it. Even though it is double breasted it looks soft and wrappy.
Serrano: I’m not a fan of the front fastening. I think it might look better in black though.
Starsky: Cool! If you like it, make it.
Twist&Shout;: nah. too weird.
Belle ep: I agree with all the other comments re the bust and the trim, plus it is very straight and plain - I would feel exposed. Much as I love empire waists in theory.
Cherie am: this could work. It looks cute on the XS model but it should translate OK. I’m not against the chunky wool.
Vivian: It’s a great fitted hoody, but I think I like the wrappy front look for you, Karen, not so much the practical zipper front.
Pinwheel and Lara pinwheel: I want one! They’re all retro cool!
Ballet wrap: not such a pretty pattern as Ivy and Arisaig, also the length of body and sleeves are too short or too long.
Bonus 5 cents: I am wearing a cardigan that I bought even after collecting mixed opinions and even though it breaks the T&S;rules for length and waist definition. I over-ruled the rules because I like it, and there is something to be said for pleasing yourself!
Thanks everyone! This is like the virtual version of trying stuff on in the change room, then coming out and getting my girlfriends’ opinions!