Knit.Wear Spring 2013: A Review

Interweave's knit.wear Spring 2013 issue is out! Let's have a look at its patterns.





I very much like this tank. Great graphic pattern on this design.





Well, this back-buttoned sweater is something different. I like the texture and I can't say this design is unflattering from the front. The back view is perhaps a different story. It does put the butt on display, so you may want to give this design a pass if you don't want that.





With a thick waistband that will thicken your midsection, overfull, dowdy lines and a generally drab air, this is a skirt that can be said to do it all, because it will simultaneously bulk you up, frump you up, and depress you into finding solace in the nearest box of doughnuts. Not that I'm anti-doughnut.





This dress is really a remarkable design. It has good lines and the stretchy diamond stitch pattern is so fabulous I want to see it used throughout in an entire knitwear collection. If you wouldn't feel comfortable in something this snug and short, make it a little longer and looser.





This cardigan sits badly when the model is sitting and when she's standing, has a back that looks like it was pieced by a eight-year-old, and in general has all the style of a cleaning rag. Was this thing intended to go with the skirt and the accompanying doughnut binge above?





I must admit this "overlay vest" has a certain modern, minimalist appeal and isn't unflattering, but it looks for all the world like some kind of body bandage. You could probably save yourself the knitting time and just sew one out of surgical gauze from the drugstore.





I have a bias against asymmetrical styles that I'm trying to overcome, and I'm proud of myself for being able to honestly say that I think the right side of this sleeveless top looks good. It's the left side of the neckline that I have a problem with. Leaving that extra inch of the left side front unconnected to anything makes it look unfinished, or like it's coming apart. I'd shape the left front shoulder to match the corresponding back shoulder. Or more likely make a collar for it to match the one on the right. Oops, guess I'm not actually making all that much progress in setting aside my asymmetrical bias.





This oversized sweater isn't going to be the most flattering item, but it does drape well, and sometimes you do want to just throw something on and be comfortable. With its asymmetrical hem, side-to-side construction, and crocheted hem, it manages to achieve a certain interesting texture and polish. It looks pretty good when viewed straight on and with the model standing straight up, and that's a crucial test of clothing design.





This short-sleeved pullover will do nothing for the figures of most women.





This is the story of a tank top that wanted to grow up to be a dress, got stymied, and settled for an unhappy life as a tunic, with a sad-looking abbreviated skirt that hangs badly. The moral of the story is "knit another pattern".

I bet I was never Aesop in any of my former lives.





The blurb for this design says, "dropped stitches create striking details in this light cardigan." "Striking" in this context meaning "it's going to strike everyone that your sweater is coming apart/has been partially eaten by rats, and they'll be forever telling you so." And it's going to catch on everything constantly. I suppose this concept is post-modern and cutting edge and all that, but I can't stand to go about in a piece of clothing that needs even the tiniest repair job, and in the words of the totally not post-modern and unhip Hall & Oates....





I'm usually not a fan of the open front or partially buttoned cardigan, but I rather like this one. Maybe this issue of knit.wear is wearing me down and practically anything would look good at this point. No, I think I sincerely like this. It's a smart little cardigan. It hangs well, has waist shaping in the back, and has good, even crisp, lines. You won't be able to wear it open, but then... it is open. And I learned one advantage to this style from looking at Ravelry project pictures: this style can be good for maternity wear, because it lets your stomach do whatever it needs to do.





I can't be that worn down, because I don't like this top-buttoned cardigan. It's frumpy. If this sweater were buttoned all the way down, this model would look exactly like a painfully shy and awkward pre-makeover character in some eighties teen movie, and whose first act of rebellion against her fuddy-duddy, overprotective parents would be to pick out some wild, funky outfit in the nearest thrift shop, leaving her sweater wadded up on the change room floor. Omitting two-thirds of the buttons hasn't really changed that.






I wanted to like this vest. It looks pretty good on the cover, the lace is nice, and it offers the wearer a chance to show off a great shawl pin. I speak as someone who has a beautiful shawl pin languishing away in a drawer. But the vest hangs so badly in the back, as though it were both too big and too short, that it ruins the overall appeal for me. And even on the cover the one shoulder we can see isn't sitting right.





Pretty lace shawl.





If this skirt can bulk up this probably very slim model's waistline this much, just think what it can do for yours! A drawstring waistband wasn't a good idea here, and the overall shape isn't flattering either.





Not a bad cowl. It lies gracefully and the texture is interesting. I don't know who will wear cowls in the spring and summer, but hey, not here to judge. No, wait, I am here to judge.





Another lace shawl. The texture is pretty, but the length is maybe a little awkward. Shawls are actually a little tricky to wear — it can be difficult to get the proportions just right for the wearer.





Nice top. It's got clean, flattering lines, and it's striking yet something you'll be able to wear a lot. I don't like the brown and yellow colourway, but this could be done in any colours you want. Including brown and yellow if that's what you like.





Nice simple pullover. I like the concept of using three gradient shades of the same colour. It's an easy yet sophisticated colour scheme that anyone can put together in the wearer-to-be's favourite colour.





I'm trying to be open-minded about this "I-cord cowl". Yes, not everyone is as conservative as I am, yes, sometimes contemporary designs like this can totally work on the right person with the right outfit. But I still can't really fathom why anyone would want to go all to the trouble of making what is essentially a pile of rope for her to hang around her neck for an "of-the-moment" look when, with probably significantly less time investment, she could make a beautiful textured cowl that she could wear for years.





Sleek and striking tank that will knit up quickly and easily.





This striped top looks to me like the offspring of a marriage of convenience between a good concept and a mediocre execution. These stripes should look sharply graphic and visually effective instead of looking like they just don't match. The front doesn't hang all that well either.





Cute striped hat. Of course you can probably find a pattern almost exactly like this for free on Ravelry, or adapt a similar free pattern to make a hat exactly like this.





I quite like this little knitted t-shirt. Colourblocking is actually difficult to do properly, and using the existing the existing seams of a garment to define the colour fields is a good direction to go in. In this case the designer has not only used those seams but played with them by making the back extend to the front of the design in order to create both a sleeve and a colour block. It's really ingenious and effective. It's a hallmark of good design when a very simple design like this one looks so polished and striking.

Knit.Wear Fall 2012: A Review

As you can tell from the date of this issue, I am a little late getting to this review. Which would be because I didn't know about this magazine's existence until quite recently. But better late than never, I suppose.

Shall we have a look at Knit.Wear's Fall 2012 issue now, before it's superseded by the next issue?






I was about to write this cardigan off with a "generic cardigan, nothing special", when I saw the close up. The latticed texture is really lovely and striking, and I'm marvelling at the way the designer actually managed to shape the sleeve cuff without the decreases showing at all. This is a really well-designed and wearable sweater.






Another beautifully textured basic sweater.





I like the overall concept and level of detail on this sweater, and think it's quite wearable and will be flattering for most women, but there is one aspect of it I wish the designer had worked on some more, and that is the front closure, which looks just a little bit too rough and lumpy. This is probably a case where a zipper would be a good idea, or some other kind of closure that would look either invisible or more polished.





Hmm, rendering an argyle pattern in texture rather than in colour. Great concept, will knit up quickly, and the resulting throw has an understated, classic elegance.





This octogonal latticed pullover employs a beautiful yarn and is well-shaped and so isn't terrible from an aesthetic perspective. It will require wearing a top underneath and will likely catch on everything, but that's probably something you'll be willing to live with if you like the look. However, all I can think it how much better this would look if all those holes were filled in.





This lace cardigan has a lot going for it, but it didn't quite get to where the designer wanted to take it. I love the construction, the lines are good... but it looks too bulky in front when it's worn closed. I usually don't like open cardigans, but this is one you may want to wear just that way.





Honestly, this vest looks as though the person who made it got tired of the project and declared it finished. And saying a project you're tired of is finished doesn't make it so. (Believe me, I've tried.) This need some sort of front edging or closure or sleeves or something more to make it look like a finished garment.





Good concept on this top, but I would make this item standard-fitting rather than oversized. I mean, look at the side view. Is this top doing the model's silhouette or her butt any favours? And this is a professional model — she doesn't even need help like most of us do.





Hmm, a shaped cowl. That's a great idea, actually. My biggest complaint of some of the cowls I've seen is that some of them don't sit properly. Too many look like stiff tubes randomly paced around the wearer's neck. This one is guaranteed to sit well.





I've made a number of comments in past reviews about shawls that are really afghans with pretensions. This is the first shawl I've seen that looks as though it could do double duty successfully. Lovely texture and it doesn't look bad on the wearer. If it were mine, it would be spending its life on a couch, though.





Very nice gathered neckline pullover! It's simple, yet flattering, and its few details make it both fit better and look polished. I love the cable detail at the back waist and at the neckline and sleeves. Most women could wear the hell out of this gathered pullover. My one criticism is the sleeve length, which I find awkward (it lines up with the hem, which makes for one unflattering visual line), but of course that's so easily fixed.





I like the body of this smocked skirt, but good grief that is one unflattering waistband. It makes the model look pregnant, and I'll bet she has a stomach that is not only not housing a fetus but that is perfectly flat and very toned. If you want to make this skirt, make the waistband much narrower.





This cardigan is the cover pattern for this issue. And it looks great in the cropped shot on the cover because the neckline sits just right when buttoned and the fastenings look terrific, but when seen full-length it becomes apparent it's got some issues with bagging and sagging through the body. And you won't be able to wear it open at all.





Really lovely ballet neck pullover. I would knit this one exactly as the pattern directs, and I hardly ever do that.





Oh man. Do I really need to say it? Really? All right, this "boxed pullover" (yes, that's its name, seriously) will make you look as though you're all packed and ready for the filler foam peanuts and packing tape.





Lovely pullover, with details that work to both shape this sweater and make it eye-catching. I must say, if you're looking for a simple yet distinctive sweater that you can wear everywhere for years until it falls to pieces, this issue is for you.





Nice vest — love the ribbed shawl collar and like the shaped waist and general lines of it — but it does need front fastenings. Some Celtic metalwork clasps would be just right for this design.





This cardigan needs to go back to the drawing board, because it doesn't sit well at all. It looks awkward and appears to be doubling in on itself on the edges. The single button at the collar isn't doing it any favours — the sides are just going to splay outwards from it.





Serviceable little hat. You could probably find better free hat patterns on Ravelry, though.





The one sided lace panel on this hat just looks weirdly off-kilter. Again, there are much cuter and more interesting hat patterns on Ravelry.





Another lovely "basic" pullover. The beautifully finished pullovers in this issue are making me think of something someone told me about vanilla ice cream, which is that vanilla actually one of the most difficult flavours of ice cream to produce, because you can't masque any its shortcomings with extraneous ingredients. These sweaters are the vanilla ice cream of sweaters: they are beautifully made and beautifully finished, and this is so readily apparent that they don't need to be knitted in some busy novelty yarn or retina-blasting colour, nor does the model need to be styled to the nines or to stand on her head to try to make them look good.





I actually like this sweater, with some reservations. There's something very effective about that shoulder fastening, and it has flattering lines. However, as you can see from the second picture I've included here, you will not be able to wear this open, and I would also make the sleeves full-length and fit the cabled cuff neatly to the wrist, because this sleeve-length and bulky cabled detailing at the sleeve hems just looks awkward.





Speaking of things looking awkward, boy does this ever. It also looks tacked together and pointless.





The swing cut is very difficult to get right, and I don't think this designer managed it. As you can see from these pictures, unless you spend every moment you're wearing this swing jacket actually swinging, it is just going to bulk you up.






This pattern isn't technically among the patterns offered by Knit.Wear's Fall 2012 issue, being a preview pattern for a book called Finish-Free Knits, but it's available for free on Ravelry and I wanted to discuss it because it's rather interesting. The concept and overall look isn't bad, but I do keep thinking that this won't be the easiest look for many figures, because it's going to chop you up. Consider either extending the ribbed yoke pattern and dropping the cord and the design below it from the rib cage to your waist line or even a little lower, or alternatively raising the cord's level to above your bustline. That empire-waist visual line can be awkward on some women, especially if you're well-endowed.