Showing posts with label Knitty. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Knitty. Show all posts

Monday 21 March 2016

Knitty Spring/Summer 2016: A Review


Knitty has released its Spring/Summer 2016 issue. Let's have a look at it, shall we?





Liquid Honey. An attractive piece of work that can be worn either as a shawl or as a scarf.





Gocce Shawl. I'm quite taken with this piece, which is beautiful, original, and visually interesting.





Pinwheel Shawl/Vest. Quite like the lacework in this one, and the beautifully finished edges. The pattern also offers instructions for turning the shawl into a vest with the aid of a shawl pin.





Pincha Shawl. Very pretty! The yarn used here works incredibly well, evoking the veined look of real leaves.





Skyesong Shawl. This is nice enough, but a little too openwork for my tastes. I always imagine pieces like this catching on absolutely everything.





One Skein, One Stick. This is a woven piece, and although I know beans about weaving, I like it. The texture is great.





Inhabit Pullover. In the introduction to this pattern, the designer says she created this piece for those like herself who don't like figure-hugging, close-fitting garments, and that this sweater, which she is modelling herself in the photos, was designed to be lived in. Certainly there's nothing wrong with a loose-fitting garment, and this loose fit does look fine on her as it's not so loose as to be sloppy, but I can't help mentally tweaking it by raising the dropped shoulders.





Bay Laurel Pullover. This looks something that was randomly tacked and slapped together so as to have something, anything, ready for a deadline.





Dubrovnik Cardigan. This one has a nice simplicity and just the right amount of detail.





Mod Waterfall Vest. This piece, which has a crocheted back and a knitted front, is one of those unstructured pieces that I've tried to like but just can't. To me they usually look like something a ragged, slatternly Dickensian character would wear pinned around her while on her way to the work'us.





Stiorra Pullover. Love this one. The lace inset detailing on the back and sleeves is ever so pretty. The pattern is sized for eight years up through adult size 3X.





Mejram. When I first saw this I thought it looked silly, but the more I look at it, the more I think detachable sleeves are an idea that could work on any woman as long as they're on a sweater that otherwise suits her. After all, it has worked in the past. In the early nineteenth century dresses such as this one were often made with detachable sleeves to make it possible for the women they were made for to use them for both day/evening and winter/summer wear.





Eternal Spring Socks. Very pretty socks!





Feel Good Socks. I like these so much I might just have to make some myself, in white. I like perfect little cotten anklet socks like this and I can't seem to find them anymore.





Rectify. And another nicely detailed sock pattern to round out a trio of them.

Monday 28 December 2015

Knitty Winter 2015: A Review


Knitty has released their Winter 2015 issue. Let's have a look at it, shall we?





Tree cowl. This is a rather wearable and fun piece. It's an impressively clever rendering of a fir tree in yarn, without being so obviously a tree that it would make the wearer look silly.





Ribbon Candy scarf. This normally wouldn't be at all my type of thing, but it would be a fun accessory with the right outfit. I don't know quite how the photographer got the scarf to stand sideways on its own like Pippi Longstocking's braids for this photo, but rest assured it doesn't seem to do that of its own accord in real life.





Cache-cache cowl. What a lovely play of colour. This pattern really makes the most of a hand-painted sock yarn.





Willow cowl. Love this one. It reminds me of an Elizabethan neck ruff while being perfectly current and even innovative. It's reversible, will stay in place, and will look good worn either on its own over a simple top, or under a jacket.





Hexadot scarf. This designer accidentally discovered that linen stitch is capable of producing a polka dot design, and used the technique to make a "hexadot" scarf. The result is a good-looking scarf, and a technique I will be keeping in mind for the next time I want a polka dot effect.





Cervus cowl. Another pretty cowl with a lovely play of colour.





Cameo flower shawl. Beautiful.





Mishigos cowl. Not bad. I'm not finding that dirty yellow very attractive, but that's easily corrected, and this piece has texture and good shaping.





Electricity hat. Very pretty hat. This definitely seems to be an issue focused on patterns that are designed to make the most of a hand-painted yarn.





Bimitral hat. Very much like this one, which features bias stripes and can be knitted either as a slouchy tam or a slouchy cap, depending on your preferred degree of slouch.





Attention span hat. Cute and pretty.





Sidekick boot socks. Rather a nice-looking pair of warm winter socks. I appreciate the fact that the designer has reserved the bulky textural stitches for the ankle and kept the feet sleek. This will mean the wearer won't have to stuff her feet in her footwear.





Quinn socks. These socks combine knitted stockinette stitch and crocheted lace to good effect. They're pretty and have an interesting quaint look while being quite wearable.





Kastanienfeuer mittens. These will do, and they are certainly practical and comfortable, but I can't help but wish the designer had gone for fewer cables. This cable design is a little too crowded to be visually pleasing.





Zazie fingerless mitts. The designer of these mitts won nine little balls of yarn in a bingo game and came up with this design as a way to use them all up. This is a design in which the colourway will be important, as the design isn't all that striking. This is actually an alternate pair she made out of some odds and ends of yarn from her stash, and which I preferred to the pair made out of her bingo winnings.





Geldys pullover. This design of this sweater is as simple as it gets. You'll want to choose a really special yarn for this sweater, as a basic design like this depends on the yarn used for visual interest.





Elkko pullover. I think for this one I'd omit the lace work at the neckline, as the stripe pattern doesn't really work with it and is interesting enough on its own. The shaping is very good overall.





Helga pullover. Nicely textured pullover, though I would make it a little longer. This cropped length is a little awkward-looking.






Antipodal lopi pullover. A sweater so attractive it even looks good worn inside out.





Vintage memories pullover. This is a nice design that does have a vintage feel to it while being perfectly in keeping with modern styles. The shaping is good and the motifs are face framing. I'd go with a different colourway for it though, as this colourway is making me hear Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire" in my mind.

Friday 4 September 2015

Knitty Deep Fall 2015: A Review


Knitty has released its Deep Fall 2015 issue. Let's have a look at it, shall we?





Pierrot pullover. Simple but effective design. One could have some fun picking out the colourway for this one.





Sticky Note Pullover. Classic sweater with a bit of a twist. I'd totally make this for my man. If I had one, that is. Since I don't, I guess I'll just have to fall back on making more beautiful things for myself.





Autumn Rain Cardigan. Nicely detailed piece, though the too long and rolling button and button hole band is detracting from the overall look.





Rail Yard Cardigan. A classic and very wearable cardigan. Can't you just imagine how warm and comfortable this would be and how much you'd wear it over the years to come?





Cirriform cardigan. I'm a hard sell on this sort of draped style. It doesn't tend to present that well in real life unless you're in the habit of towing a wind machine around behind you, and it isn't all that flattering. But I must admit this is a good example of the kind. It's got great texture and the back looks very well.





Brick Wall Waterfall Pullover. I was on the fence about the centre cable on this one when I first saw it, but now I think I'm going to come down on the side of approval. This design works aesthetically and is also quite wearable.





Spaziergang mit Emil vest. A design can hardly get any simpler than this halter vest has, but the skillful shaping makes it work and lends it all the style it needs. I would want to go with a more attractive yarn choice, though.





Hopoholic sweater. This isn't appealing much. I can never get past the conviction that clothing ought to either lie smoothly or drape gracefully, rather than flapping and bulging and rucking up. I do quite like the yarn used here.





Caught in the Rigging cape and cowl. Rather a nice, polished pair of pieces, and the idea of making a matching cape and cowl set is really ingenious. The owner of two such pieces will get so much more mileage out of both of them when she has the option of wearing them separately.





Ghost Ranch Scarf. This scarf is woven. I don't weave and I don't know how many of you are weavers, but it is a very pleasing piece of work.





Tartessos shawl. Lovely bit of lacework.






Urban Tribe cowl. Oooh, this one's just plain cool. I love the concept of putting a different pattern on each side of the cowl, which will allow the wearer to change up the look of it. And the design is excellent on both sides.





Serendipia scarf or wrap. Very handsome stitchwork here.





Interlock sock. These are cute. They have a neat retro appeal, as though they are the reincarnation of a vintage sweater vest, and they'll be a great way to use up those odds and ends of fingering yarn.





Floki sock. I'm not liking these much. The texture in the leg is too afghan-like.





Penrose Toes Socks. Very nice! Loving the yarn used here.





Droste effect hat. Nice classic cabled cap. The interlaced horizontal cables are a nice touch.





Candy Kane gloves. Very much like these. They have great detailing and a vintage feel to them.





Resonator gauntlets. Classic cabled mitts.





Strong Arm cushion. In the accompanying description the designer writes that, lacking a boyfriend and with the weather getting colder, she designed and made this cushion so she could have a warm, strong arm around her. It would make me feel like I was in bed with a dismembered Popeye, but to each her own.