Fallin' for Sweaters

Now that school is almost over, and my sweaters are almost done, I finally have time for some fresh pattern ideas. Last weekend I treated myself and picked up the fall issues of Knitscene, Vogue Knitting, and Interweave Knits. (Sidenote: McKey, winner of ANTM is on the cover of Vogue Knitting for fall, random) And being one of the those people that can't commit to starting new projects without ending some of the current ones, it just makes me want to plow on through even more.

Surprisingly, it was Knitscene, who I am not the biggest fan of, that yielded the most patterns. There are 4 or 5 sweaters that I just can't wait to knit. Here are some of the them:


I love the earth tones that they chose for these knits, and can see myself doing a few in rich, jewel tones as well (like plum or burgundy). Perfect for fall. Most of these appear like relaxing, mindless knitting, which seems appealing right about now. I'm also all about little details in simple garments, I think they really make a piece special. These patterns do a really good job of that here with things like an off set collar, buttoned and cropped sleeve, or really interesting cables. They all seem really wearable and easy to construct.

But the first thing that I want to make (and hopefully can get yarn for in the next day or two) is from Vogue Knitting. I really love the cropped gold jacket (second in from the left), but will probably look to make it in a warm brown color. It seems like it has sturdy construction, and I love the double breasted look (usually VERY flattering). Plus it gives me the opportunity to find some cute hand made buttons off of etsy (like these).


Sadly, there is almost nothing that I want to make out of Interweave Knits this fall. The problem is (and this is not just this fall or this magazine) is the majority of the fall patterns are meant to be warm, and thus, look really bulky. While they may look good on a model that is 5'9 and 110lbs, the same pattern would make me look just fat. So, I usually look for patterns that have some fit to them, especially under the bust/along the rib cage, otherwise I'm just asking to be mistaken for a pregnant woman. The exception is, and this is where something like the cropped jacket above would fall, is if the piece has structure or a stiffness to it. Floppy, bulky knitted things just won't due. And so, even if I like the pattern or look, like this following picture, I know I could never wear it.

The other issue is, and this is a problem for MANY patterns, the sweater ends at an awkward length for my torso. I naturally have a short waist, and I'm pretty short statured too, so I need the bottom seam to fall at my hips or past my natural waist. Interweave tend to have a lot of cute sweaters that fall right at the waist though, and I can't bring myself to spend time knitting them only to be disappointed about how they look on me. Like this:

So cute...but not on me.

Anyway, it is apparent by now that I have a lot of motivation to finish my current projects and move on to some wonderful fall sweaters.

On the brink

After being "almost done" with 3 different sweaters for about a month and a half, I'm really actually almost done.

My February Lady sweater needs only a few buttons sewn on to be called done. I'm feel pretty motivated, so this shouldn't be a problem to get done tonight.

I also have a little baby sweater in progress, but no rush on that. It still needs a hood and a crocheted edge, but again, I'll wait on this piece a little longer.

Lastly, the Checkered Rib sweater that I started for my sister is almost complete...well, the knitting portion is almost done. I have to finish about an inch or two on the second sleeve, plus the button band and the neck line. None of that really worries me, and I'm fully ready to plow right through. However, I didn't listen to my gut on this piece when I first started and pretty much followed the pattern verbatim. I should have made the piece in the round and saved myself a bunch of tedious hand sewing, but I didn't. So, even though the knitting is almost done, I still a little while left on the thing. The seam on the underside of the sleeve has to be done, and then the sleeves have to be sewn to the body. Ugh, hate hand sewing.

Back to work now.