Knit n' Style Summer 2013: A Review

It's time once again to review Knit n' Style's latest issue. It's March, which in the Knit n' Style calendar means it's time for the summer issue, the April/Spring 2013 issue having come out in January. There's our time, and then there's Knit n' Style time.

With the whole synchronization of calendars thing gotten out of the way, shall we have a look at Knit n' Style's Summer 2013 issue?






A simple summer top. I have no particular fault to find with this one. The cut is good, the texture is interesting, if perhaps a little bulky for a summer top or for general flattery.





Here we have basically the same top, only crocheted. I actually like this one a little more, because the texture looks lighter, more summery and more flattering.





Knitted bags tend not to hold their shape without some kind of reinforcement. This bag obviously hasn't gotten the help it needs and so presents as a shapeless beginner project that will make you look like a country cousin. It's a shame the designer didn't take this project all the way to the finish line because I do quite like the yarn used here.





This isn't bad though that colourway does not say "summer" to me. Nor fall, winter, or spring for that matter.





Pretty summer top. It's simple and yet it has all the detail it needs: the lace eyelets around the neckline and a good shape. As you may be aware from reading this blog, I can get quite snippy (okay, vicious) about dropped shoulders, but I do like an extended shoulder on a fitted, sleeveless top. You get a cap sleeve without any seams, and it's clean-lined, flattering look.





Another pretty little lace shawl. Though I have never in my life seen a woman tie one on in this particular way. It might show off the texture of the shawl in a photo shoot but it's not going to stay put in real life.





Nice lace scarf. Which you will not want to combine with either this outfit or with these colours. Why on earth didn't the stylist put this scarf with a pretty summer dress that actually went with it?





I like everything about this top — the shaping, the yarn, the lace pattern — except for the front fastenings. This top is going to gape between every button, and that's never a good look.





Another pretty and oddly fastened lace shawl.





This isn't terrible, but it's not a great design either. The shaping is a little on the boxy side. It's going to be somewhat bulky, especially when you're always going to have to wear a top under that low neckline. And I don't know why the designer thought letting the ribbon ends hang down to the wearer's crotch was going to be a good idea.





I actually don't mind this lace tunic. I'm no fan of the single button fastening, but this design has enough shaping in front that it looks styled rather than too small. I don't think I can get on board with the lace scarf and tunic combo, though. It'll look too costume-y on most women. If you want to make them both, I recommend that you wear them separately.





Another design that, while it isn't terrible, lacks the hallmarks of really good design. The tied front is going to make many women feel as though their stomach is hanging out, the rolled edges just look unfinished rather than deliberate, and the colour combination is less than successful.





A basic top that you'll probably get lots of wear out of. I'd make the sleeves a few inches shorter to give this a bit more style.





You know how I complain a lot in reviews about shawls that look like afghans? In this case someone decided to avoid that pitfall by going with a bedskirt look.





This idea had potential but the designer didn't put enough effort into it. A knitted halter top shouldn't look like a scarf randomly sewn to a tube top. I'd have taken this design steps farther, such as crossing the halter in front, cutting away the bodice, adding a bit of detail or texture here and there, and probably either making the whole design in one colour or taking steps to pull the two colours together better.





Very pretty shawl (the tiered effect is both eye-catching and delicate), and it's actually worn in a realistic way.





Another very pretty and serviceable summer top.





Euh. I don't know about this one. That yarn is just so unappealing in a visceral way (like it was tie-dyed using vomit) that I can hardly look past it to the design. Usually a drape front shell is a classic, wearable piece, but I don't think this one is all that well designed. It sags rather than drapes in front and just looks badly made.





Knit n' Style, you're not going to convince me that an afghan is a shawl simply by making a matching hat for it. I didn't learn to knit yesterday. Cute hat, and nice afghan, but it belongs on a couch, not on a model.





Okay, now you're not even trying. This is totally an afghan.





This isn't bad, but I would shorten these sleeves a good three inches. As I said above, I do like a extended shoulder cap sleeve, but the length must be kept short or we get into the very unflattering and frumpy dropped shoulder territory.





Knit n' Style, a bunch of toilet paper cosies sewn together does not a scarf make.





A weirdly shaped shawl that will not stay in place. Notice how the model is having to clutch one corner of it. I'd like to see this reworked into a better shape, as the texture is interesting and the colours sharp. Not every shawl should be pastel lace.





Novelty yarns always look chintzy unless they're employed with real skill and care. That hasn't happened here. This design is imitating garments of the past that were trimmed with real fur and that looked expensive and luxurious, and it just looks like a cheap imitation of them.

Knit n' Style April 2013: A Review

It's January and Knit n' Style, which published their February 2013 issue in November 2012, has just come out with their April 2013 issue. Don't ask me. Maybe the whole issue post-dating thing is supposed to convince us that Knit n' Style is remarkably fashion forward.

But let's look at the patterns from the Knit n' Style April 2013 issue.

This is... okay. It's wearable but also leans a bit towards the shapeless, frumpy side. Putting more effort into shaping it would have upgraded it by making it more flattering and giving it some style.

Here we have the same sweater as above, only done in crochet. The same comments apply.

I actually quite like this scarf. It's one of those beginner projects that look designed and polished, probably because it used high quality yarn and a sophisticated colour combination.

This shawl is beautifully intricate.

This is shapeless, bulky and unflattering; the fastenings don't do anything for it; the open neckline won't work worn over any other top except those with a lower neckline and you wouldn't want to wear this jacket without a layer underneath, and the collar just looks chintzy. I'd love to see a fur-collared knitted jacket done right, but this one went wrong in just about every way it could. It's Murphy's jacket.

This looks like something you'd buy for $10 from that little shop at the subway because you convinced yourself it was fun and cute and it only cost $10. Then you got it home and tried it on and realized you had absolutely nothing to wear it with and that it looked like the tacky Christmas tree skirt that your mother had, and even she got rid of it a few years back. The shop doesn't take returns so you couldn't take it back, and there was nothing to do with it but give it to the Knit n' Style editors. Then they inexplicably put it on the cover of their next issue.

I like this one. It's simple yet sharp and a woman who had it would get a lot of wear out of it.

Another pretty lace shawl.

I actually don't mind this shrug, though I would have styled it in a completely different way, by putting it over a strapless or strappy little summer dress. Putting it over a woman's already fully clothed arms and shoulders looks a bit silly.

This one is another styling mishap. Strappy tanks don't look right over long-sleeve t-shirts and I don't care at all for the yarn. Horizontal stripes don't tend to look good on anyone and these mottled horizontal stripes are even more unattractive than usual.

I can't help liking this. It's not at all a style or colour I would ever wear, but it works in its own way. The prism effect is kept subtle and balanced by the gray, and the shape is graceful and dramatic but not overly so. A woman with a very modern style could carry this off.

This shawl isn't nearly as successful as the previous two — the design and the shape are not nearly so well done — but I suppose it's adequate if nothing special.

Rule number one of shawl-making: the end result should not look like you took an ugly old afghan off your couch and wrapped it around your shoulders. And no, adding buttons to the ugly old afghan will not turn it into a shawl, much less a nice shawl.

Nice little cotton pullover. I'd have gone with either full-length or short sleeves, though. This length lines up with the bottom hem, which just makes it look kind of awkward.

Another afghan masquerading as a shawl.

This time we have an afghan masquerading as a cardigan. I don't know why some designers keep trying to incorporate the granny square into clothing design. It never, ever, works.

I actually like this one. It looks like the perfect thing to wear on a day when you've got a touch of the flu and the furnace is acting up and you need comfort clothes to snuggle into. The yarn, Kollage Yarns' Whimsy, which is a mohair/wool blend with a little nylon thrown in, looks to be a very decent quality, the colour is subtle and appealing and the detail on the cowl and hem add just the right amount of interest and polish to a simple design. However, I would fix the dropped shoulders, make the sleeves full-length, and make the sweater just one size too large with some waist-shaping, as it is a little on the sloppy side as worn here.

This one will have everyone wondering why you stapled your scarf to the edges of your cardigan. It couldn't be in order to make the cardigan the right size, they will think, because it still isn't meeting in the front, and they'll end up concluding that it would be kindest not to ask.

Here we have another cardigan with a scarf sewed bizarrely to the front of it. I know how much you love working with novelty yarns, Knit n' Style, but novelty yarns are not an easy way to jazz things up. They are actually a challenge to work with because they tend to cheapen whatever items they're used in.

This item is described as a stole and worn rather awkwardly around the shoulders. I'd have described it as a scarf and worn it around the neck.

A classic Aran cardigan from Gayle Bunn, whom as you may remember did one of the better designs in the last issue of Knit n' Style. I suppose that for a good designer one of the advantages of slumming it in Knit n' Style is that your work looks even better than it is because of the contrast with some of the other offerings.

This one's inoffensive. The sleeve length looks a little awkward, but it would be easy to lengthen or shorten as you wish. One minor nitpick... the description calls it a shawl-collared sweater, and although I may be wrong about this because the model's hair hides the collar, that doesn't look like a shawl collar to me, but just a V-neck with a wide, flat neckband. Shawl collars fold back over themselves.

This is one of those "good with caveats" designs. The caveats being that I would not recommend that you make this top in a pastel as it makes it look a little too underwear-like, that you only make it if you are small or flat-breasted as it will make a large-breasted woman look dumpy, and that you only make it if you don't mind people being able to see your stomach through the top — notice how the model's white jeans show through very plainly?

Classic gansey.

Not a bad cowl. It lies gracefully, it looks nice in an understated way, and it'll keep your neck warm. Make this in a beautiful yarn and it will serve you well.

This "shawlette" looks rather pointless from a practical perspective but it's not unappealing aesthetically. It might not be a bad project if you just want to add a little colour to an outfit and need to quickly whip up something for the purpose.

Not a bad bag, but I don't know why it's been styled this way. It looks like a beach bag and the model has sleek hair and is wearing a suit. Perhaps she got invited to a business picnic at the waterfront and felt at a loss as to what one would wear for such an occasion. This isn't a bag you can wear with a suit, even if it were in a more classic colour.