Rowan Knitting and Crochet Magazine 52: A Review, Part 2

Here's the second half of the patterns from Rowan's issue 52. I posted part 1 of the review yesterday.

This pullover isn't bad. It's not going to be the most flattering item, but it looks warm and cozy and has a very attractive, interesting texture.

I'm loving the scalloped textural effect and the contrasting linear texture of the cuffs and hem. I am not loving the exaggerated neck, which most women can't wear (even the model doesn't have quite enough neck for it), or the dropped shoulders, which don't flatter anyone. But if your skills are up to the task of knitting this sweater, they're up to the task of fixing both those things.

The description for this pullover mentions that it has a "cropped front". That and the way the front hem is curved down towards the side seams leaves me fearful that there's a much longer back hem involved. I suppose the designer thought there had to be something innovative about a pattern with a look that's been standard since at least the 1950s in order for it to sell, but I don't know why this particular innovation had to be the one chosen.

I think this scarf might be the only beginner-level project I've seen among the Rowan issue 52 patterns thus far — most are for the intermediate or the experienced. And the scarf is okay, but do be sure you're prepared to wear an enormous, bulky scarf before you commit to this project.

This cardigan design comes across as less than successful, but I'm not sure why. I think it's that the stripes should really have a sharp, graphic look, but just look rather muddled. The shawl collar doesn't sit well, either.

This pullover is one of those sweater patterns that you think you've seen a number of times before, in knitting pattern booklets dating back as far as the 1950s, but then you remember that there's a reason sweaters like this have been worn by so many women for so long.

I just don't understand how anyone could think the dropped shoulders work on this pullover. It drags the eye downwards and makes the arms look stumpy. If I were making this sweater, which is otherwise quite attractive with its bobbles and contrasting bands of colour that work well together, I would make it with standard fitting shoulders and also use a different colour on the neckline, cuffs and hem. That's a dreary-looking yarn to use on a combination that otherwise pops. That is, for a Rowan sweater the colour combination pops. Rowan seems to be all about muted, understated shades and after reviewing forty or so patterns in grays, blues, lavenders and taupes, I'm getting a little starved for the sight of something brighter.

This sweater is the male version of one shown earlier in this post. I liked the woman's version and I like the man's, although.... again with the dropped shoulders. I know men like to look like they have big shoulders, but this sweater would look so much neater and more polished with a standard-fitting shoulder.

It's a relief to me, after nit-picking my way through nearly forty patterns so far, to be able to say I quite like this pullover. Most men would happily wear this sweater.

A... tartan cape. I don't hate it, probably because I have a weakness for tartan, but I don't know too many women who would actually want to wear it either. It looks like the kind of apparel that belongs on a woman "of a certain age" who takes her little dog with her everywhere she goes, wears several pounds of elaborate silver and semi-precious jewelry, knows a lot about poetry and the Elizabethan drama, just got back from a marvellous trip to Monterrey, and has a tendency to declaim rather than speak.

This vest is easily my favourite out of the patterns in this issue, probably because of the colour scheme. I'm always a sucker for fair isle, and I love seeing it done in non-traditional colours. I'm not sure I'd pair it with tartan velvet hotpants, though.

This is one of those patterns that had me squinting at the picturing and saying, out loud, "What the hell?!" These felted slippers are described as fair isle in the pattern description, but you'd never know it. I'm not sure I see the value of going to all the effort of knitting these in a fair isle pattern if you're going to felt them (or maybe just plan to use a fuzzy yarn? they may not be all felted), because the pattern just winds up blurred. And I don't really see any appeal in these slippers, except that they're probably warm and hard-wearing.

These socks are quite nice, or maybe they just seem so in comparison to the slippers just upthread. They're subtly patterned, which is nice if, like me, you don't care for loud socks.

This throw is nice, if a little busy. Just remember it won't be a reversible throw and will have to be kept right side up.

I like this men's vest. It's something quite different, but in such a subtle way that doesn't look at all odd.

I like this fair isle cardigan overall, but man, the way the front openings are sitting are really detracting. I hope this isn't one of those cardigan sweaters that have left the top and bottom segments without fastenings.

Oooh, pretty! I like this embroidered fair isle cardigan nearly as much as the fair isle vest. I'll even give it a pass for the angled, buttonless bottom front, because this sweater is so waistcoat-y it works on this item.

A beautiful pullover. Why did Rowan save all the best patterns for one streak near the end?

I want to like this pullover, which is interesting and distinctive and well-constructed (all the Rowan patterns in this issue are, except that one beginner project), but something about it isn't quite working. Maybe it's just the colour combination.

Not crazy about this man's tartan pullover. Both the colourway and the pattern are going to be too bold to suit most men. Dial one of them back and it would probably work.

Nice classic bobbled cardigan. I can't help but get unduly excited that the buttons go all the way to the bottom hem. I've definitely seen my fill of that trend of leaving the bottom four inches buttonless.

Oooh, I like this men's pullover. It's classic Celtic knot, but strikingly graphic at the same time.

I like this wrap, but only theoretically. The theory being that it would only be worn while sitting on a couch and when feeling chilly.

This one is really something quite different: intarsia Celtic medallions scattered over a subtle stripe. I don't know why the designer chose this colourway, though. It's so dreary, and this is a design that would really stand out if done in colours with a little more vigor. I'm not talking shocking pink and orange here, people, but even... navy, gray and white. Or anything but mustard and whatever those other colours are.

Rowan Knitting and Crochet Magazine 52: A Review, Part 1

Rowan publishes a magazine twice a year, and each magazine has over 50 patterns in it. I don't think many people who are reading this blog will want to read a post containing over fifty pattern reviews in one sitting, and God knows I don't want to write one. This means I'll be splitting my Rowan pattern reviews into at least two parts.

So let's have a look at the first half of Rowan's Issue No. 52. Amazingly, a number of these patterns are available as a free download to registered users of Rowan's website.

I know I've complained before about the lack of imagination in men's knitwear, but I'm not sure we need to change that by coming up with the kind of thing Cliff Huxtable would wear to teach his kids Important Life Lessons in some highly contrived way. If you want to make this argyle and fair isle cardigan for a man (and you aren't the man), make sure you get his approval before you get started.

This cabled pullover is a classic, but make sure you're prepared to live with the way it will bulk you up. This model is probably very tall and slim, and it's doing her no favours. Also make sure you get the sleeves the right length.

This appears to be the female version of the argyle and fair isle cardigan that appears above. It is working better in terms of visual pattern than the man's version, probably because it's far less busy, and I like the touch of an extra colour at wrist and hem. However, the shape of this sweater is terribly unflattering, even on a professional model. If you like the concept of this sweater, I'd recommend that you take the colourwork and recreate it in a standard-fitting cardigan.

I know the use of a different cable pattern and a wide ribbed band used on the one side of this cardigan are supposed to look designed and edgy, but they just look mismatched. Also, the early nineties-like boxy, cropped shape of this cardigan is not going to flatter many women. There's a reason that shape hasn't been back in since the nineties.

And speaking of trends that shouldn't come back, here's a pair of fair isle legwarmers. My advice concerning these is that you don't knit them in this colour scheme (did the sample knitter make them in the dark?), and that you only wear them for occasions on which you actually need to keep your legs warm, such as when cross-country skiing.

I feel like I need more information before I can pass judgment on this sweater, such what it looks like when it isn't bunched up in front, or whether it will button up properly in front when it isn't too small. There doesn't appear to be any buttons on the cardigan fronts at the bottom. I've seen this style on sweaters lately, where the bottom three inches or so of the cardigan fronts shear away from each other at the bottom instead of continuing to button all the way down, and it's not a design touch that works all that well. It just makes the cardigan look like it's too small to button properly.

This felted bag is nice looking, though I think I'd find the shape a little bulgy and awkward. This may just be personal preference though; lots of women do carry this style of bag.

This is another item I'm going to have to classify as "not going to be flattering". You're going to have to keep this sweater belted or it's going to sag open in a very unattractive way. And Rowan, what's with the dropped shoulders? I'm five women's sweater patterns into this issue, and this is the fourth with dropped shoulders. It's just not a flattering look on any woman, and it tends to look sloppy.

I'm just not crazy about the colour-blocking detail on this otherwise nice sweater at all. It looks too much like a bib. I'd extend the colour blocked section all the way down the front, and keep the difference between the two yarns subtle.

I genuinely like both the colour and the style of this fair isle cardigan. It's certainly nothing new, but it's the kind of sweater almost any traditional/preppy-type man could wear if it was done in a well-chosen blend of his favourite colours.

This pullover is, of course, a Kaffe Fassett. I think I'd know a Kaffe Fassett design if I met it in the dark. The umpteen colours are the first giveaway of course, and the painterly rather than graphic feel to the design. The interwoven ribbons at the bottom and above the cuff are a recurring motif of Fassett's. That said, I've made his designs a few times and I always end up simplifying them to preserve my sanity and save money on the project. In this one I'd skip the interwoven ribbons and just use the flag motif, and just use maybe four or five colours in the flag pattern instead of however many he has used here.

This throw is another Kaffe Fassett design, and looking at it I find myself thinking that, as varied as his sweater patterns are, perhaps he has been restraining himself in terms of his sweater designs after all. I'd love to know how many times this pattern gets made — my guess is, "not many". Besides the fact that it would take you a year or more to knit, it's so busy and modern a piece that you'd need one of those spare, modern-style décors to put it in, and people who decorate that way don't tend to knit much.

I'm not liking this short-sleeved pullover. It's too eighties in a way that just looks dated to me, and I don't care for the colour scheme. Making this sweater in harmonizing shades of the same colour would improve it a lot.

I thought I was going to like this tank top, and then I got a closer look. I think it's the colour scheme that's so unappealing, because that tan and gray are a dreary combination. Otherwise it's not a bad design at all, and likely to be a useful, flattering piece for many women.

The description for this shawl says it's a beginner pattern. It certainly is. It looks for all the world like a nondescript piece of first knitting stapled together and thrown over the model's head. If you're a beginner knitter, take a pass on this pattern and keep looking for piece you can really be proud of when you've put all that work into it. Astoundingly, this was NOT one of the free download patterns while the Kaffe Fassett patterns were. Don't ask me — I just post about the things that knitting magazines do.

The colour block design on this sweater is beautifully done (this is one of those sweaters that many knitters who make it won't want to use any other yarn or shades but the ones specified by the designer), but dislike the fit. Sloppy, oversized sweaters just don't flatter anyone. I'm not sure that the longer back hem adds anything at all. If you want to make this sweater, make it in a easy and loose but not sloppy fit, without the dropped shoulders and longer back hem. It'll do a lot more for the woman who wears it.

I wouldn't normally have included a sweater as generic as this, but I did want to point out the things that set this sweater apart: the texture, raglan sleeves, funnel neck, and easy but not sloppy fit. The care that's been taken in construction gives this basic design a very finished look. Knit this sweater in your favourite colour and you'll get more wear and real pleasure out of it than three or four intricately patterned and eye-catching sweaters.

This little cardigan is one of those sweaters that look so cute on the model that many women would be enticed into making it for themselves. And it is a cute pattern with a well-designed collar and interesting texture, but beware. This cardigan is a cropped, boxy shape, which is not going to be flattering on most women, and the elbow-length sleeves will draw the eye to the wearer's midsection — do you want people looking at your midsection? If you want to make this pattern, you may want to make it in a longer, slightly more fitted, shaped style, and to choose a different sleeve-length.

Really cute popcorn mini-cardigan. Mini-cardigans are not for everyone, but then no design is.

I actually quite like this dress. When considering whether to make it, do keep in mind that the length of your neck and the sweater's neck must correlate (so shorten it if your neck is short). Also this mesh pattern will make it necessary for you to wear something under this dress — see how the model's skin is showing at her shoulders? If the idea of wearing a second layer under a wool dress makes you want to faint, just substitute the mesh for another, more opaque stitch.

Hooo boy. A boxy mini-cardigan that's going to make your arms look they're encased in upholstered Slinkys. It's fun in its way, but it's not going to becoming to most women. Notice how this model is having to adopt a rather tortured pose to make the sweater hang in a way that's at all attractive.

Another nice if rather generic turtleneck sweater. I don't know why Rowan's designers are throwing principles of fit and flattery to the wind when it comes to the more innovative patterns.

I don't think I need to warn you about what this sweater will do to your figure given what it's doing to this poor model's.

Nice detail on this cardigan, and I like it that the designer tried to do something different with the neckline, but I have serious reservations about how this going to work on most women's figures, i.e., anyone without very small and widely spaced breasts. Because you know, most of us sport some curves on our chests that these sweater fronts are going to detour around and it's not going to be pretty. This model is either flat or small-breasted as most models are, and underneath her sweater her upper body appears to be upholstered in such a way to suppress what she does have. Rowan, show me this cardigan working on a woman, B-cup or larger, who's just wearing a t-shirt underneath this sweater, and I might be able to give it a more enthusiastic appraisal.

There's a sweater further up in this post that looks a good bit like this one: a textured turtleneck in two shades of gray with colour blocking detail. Rowan really should have gone with two different colourways to make them look more distinctive. But about this sweater. This colour blocking may not look so much like a bib, which is an improvement, but it still isn't quite working. Colour blocking should look intentional and not like you ran short of yarn in the right colour. I'd have thrown in some more colour blocking, such as doing the cuffs in the darker gray, or maybe doing bands on the sleeves or something.

I like this pullover on the whole (and especially love the lattice pattern), though I do have my concerns about the neck. It appears to be stuffed full of a scarf, which makes me suspicious of how it sits when there's just a man's neck in it. My guess is "limply".

Why does Rowan have such a fetish for longer back hems? Is it supposed to echo the too long sleeves or something? I can't see the attraction at all. It just looks stretched out. If you want to make this pullover (which has some good points, such as the overall texture and raglan stockinette stitch detailing), I recommend you make it with a straight hem, and sleeves that fit.

Nice socks. Though I wish I could see what the feet look like.

The random colour blocking common in the men's patterns has now popped up in the women's sweaters. It's not working here either. It just looks too random to start knitting with another colour in the middle of a cable pattern. If you want to make this pattern, I'd skip the colour block detail and also fix the dropped shoulders.

Quite nice. Lots of men would quite happily wear this sweater.


Look for part two of the Rowan's Issue 52 pattern review tomorrow.

Update: You can see part two of this review here.

Knitting in the New Year

Have you found yourself making any knitting-related New Year's resolutions this evening? I have, of sorts. I wrote a list of the knitting projects I want to do in my snazzy new leather-covered planner. I won't share it here, but I must say it's daunting, especially when I've got a few stained glass projects, one needlepoint project, and never mind how many sewing projects also listed on the same page.

Making New Year's resolutions and planning knitting projects are two activities with certain commonalities. They're both an act of faith, of optimism, of expectations that the future will be better than today, because if you can bring them to pass, your life will be improved by some small but measurable degree: you'll have quit smoking, trained yourself to run continuously for half an hour, founded a savings account or a small business, finally begun or finally finished your university degree, begun to learn Spanish, or adopted a pet. Or you'll have a beautiful new sweater to wear. In a world where horrific things happen every day and more disasters are lurking in the shadows of next week, resolutions and knitting project plans promise us some small sense of mastery over ourselves and our own little corner of the world, that at this time next year though we're one year closer to the end of our lives, we'll have a sense of progression rather than one of stagnation or decline.

Making resolutions and plans and dreaming of the day they'll be realized is such an intoxicating feeling that one often gets carried with the easy, early stages: buying exercise machines or budgeting apps or bags of beautiful yarn or Beginner Spanish books that then... just sit there, insistent reminders of our lack of self-discipline or realism.

So while I think it's important to make resolutions and plan knitting projects that excite and inspire us, it's also important to add some ballast to them and to keep them grounded in reality. When writing out my knitting project list tonight I made myself add the two projects that are sitting in my work basket right now and that I am very tired of working on, but that must be finished before I can start anything else. I made myself leave off a couple of items that I'd love to make but just won't get to this year, as there's no point setting myself up for the frustration of a list doomed to incompletion. I let myself add just one project that will require the purchase of more yarn — all the rest of the projects will be made out of yarn I've already got on hand.

I've been finding as I get older that all my plans and to do lists are changing in similar ways, that they're being stripped of some of the frills, fancies and extravagances, and becoming leaner, more prosaic, and.... more likely to happen. And I have no real regrets about this seismic shift. Dreaming of learning a foreign language or of getting a black belt might have made for exciting daydreams, but buckling down to getting my novel done at last, getting an hour's brisk hike in every day, and working hard enough at my freelance editing business to earn the money to pay off my mortgage, get a new furnace, kitchen and rooftop deck, and maybe take a trip for the first time in five years will make for a more satisfying reality. After all, one gets more real satisfaction and wear out of a plain but well-shaped and flattering pullover in one's favourite colour than the most intricate lace shawl ever made.

Happy New Year, everyone.

Some Baggage is Good Baggage

I'm not generally a fan of knitted bags. This may just be a matter of personal preference. I like smart and polished-looking bags with a good, definite shape that close securely and are easy and comfortable to carry, and few knitted bag patterns meet that criteria. They tend to look lumpy and shapeless and awkward, to be Boho in style with flowers and stripes, to call for the use of tacky novelty yarns, and to gape at the top, which leaves my stuff falling out or my wallet at risk for being stolen.

But there are some out there that I like. Tonight I did a search and found two (yes, just two) that I like enough to consider making for myself. The one above is a free Berroco pattern, and it's also on Ravelry.

This bag is actually commercially made, and priced at $200, but it's so cute I decided to seek out a pattern for something similar.

I almost immediately found this bag, which is pretty damn close to the one above. It's a free Michaels' pattern. It also has its own page on Ravelry. And you can probably make it for under $40.

But those are just my favourites. Feel free to leave links to bags that you like in the comments!

Ravelry's Top Five Knitting Patterns

Ravelry, a community website for knitters and crocheters, has among its countless wonderful features ways search among and to filter its pattern database. A member can look at patterns rated according to which is "most popular" or which has or is being used for the "most projects" among Ravelry members. Ravelry seems to determine a project's "popularity" according to the total of how many projects, blog posts, forum posts, and comments it has.

I'd say the number of projects a pattern is used for is a better indicator of its real popularity than the amount of buzz there is about it. It's easy to admire a pattern, and to post or comment about it, but the real test of how much you love a pattern is whether you're willing to commit to the time and effort and cost of making it. Ravelry's "most popular" pattern has been used for, as of this writing, 8,047 projects among Ravelry members, while Ravelry's pattern that is most used for projects has 19,986 project pages listed, so you can see there is a divide between the two metrics.

Let's have a look at the current top five most-used knitting patterns on Ravelry.

Clapotis, a scarf pattern, is the knitting pattern that is in the most projects on Ravelry, 19,986 to be exact. I can see why. It is a nice piece. But I think equal weight should be given to the fact that a) it's a Knitty pattern and therefore free, and b) it's quick and easy to knit up, given that it uses an Aran yarn. Most of the most-used patterns on Ravelry are smaller items such as accessories and baby clothes. When one filters the patterns by "most projects", there's only one adult-sized sweater among the 36 items on the first page of results.

This is the second most-used pattern on Ravelry, with 19,241 projects, and it's... a pair of fingerless gloves, entitled Fetching. Well, someone had to be making them, given how often fingerless glove patterns appear in knitting magazines. I must admit they are rather cute, even, well, fetching. They are another Knitty pattern, and a big part of their appeal is that they can be made from a single ball of yarn.

The third most-used pattern, with 18,822 projects, is this Baby Surprise Jacket, which is an Elizabeth Zimmermann design. When I look at the pictures of it, I think I might have guessed who the designer was without being told. Zimmermann could design a piece using nothing but the garter stitch and make it look like a design rather than a beginner project. This is not something I see often.

The fourth-most knitted pattern on Ravelry is this sock pattern, entitled Monkey, with 16,139 projects. I'm not sure I understand why. This is not to say I don't like the pattern, because it is perfectly attractive and well-designed, but I've got another sock pattern among my Ravelry favourites that I like just as well, and it only has 13 projects. Perhaps this sock pattern just got better distribution and publicity. It's appeared in Knit. Sock. Love., appeared on Knitting Daily TV, and is a Knitty pattern. Oh, and it's free, whereas the sock pattern in my favourites is not.

This headband pattern, called Calorimetry, is the fifth-most knitted pattern on Ravelry, with 15,313 projects. At first glance I was going to be rather negative about it, but the more I looked at it, the more good points I saw in it. It's a simple-looking piece, but a lot of care and thought has gone into the design. Unlike pretty much every other headband I've ever seen, it's shaped to cover the top of the head and the ears where warmth is needed, and yet go under a woman's ponytail, bun, or fall of hair. It seems to be reasonably flattering. It is a Knitty pattern and therefore free, and can be made with one ball of yarn. One caveat, though. I'd knit it in a yarn that is varied in colour rather than a solid tone, as that will help hide the shaping, which as you can see from the third picture can look a little rough.

Hobby Lobby's Misconceptions

Hobby Lobby, a chain of U.S. craft supply stores, has announced that it will "defy a federal mandate requiring it to offer employees health coverage that includes access to the morning-after pill, despite risking potential fines of up to $1.3 million per day".

Hobby Lobby claims "the mandate violates the religious beliefs of their owners. They say the morning-after pill is tantamount to abortion because it can prevent a fertilized egg from becoming implanted in a woman's womb".

Leaving aside the whole abortion morality debate for a moment, let's make something clear here. Emergency contraceptives like the morning-after pill are not abortifacients. They do not prevent a fertilized egg from implanting itself in a woman's womb; they prevent the egg and sperm from ever meeting in the first place. You can verify this fact on Wikipedia if you wish. Hobby Lobby is illegally denying its employees coverage for contraceptives based on their religious principles, which in turn are based what I can only call willful ignorance of the facts, since surely someone has at least tried to explain the family that owns Hobby Lobby that "emergency contraceptives" are called "emergency contraceptives" for a reason.

I first read about this issue on Metafilter.com, and as always MeFites brought their considerable collective intelligence and snark to the debate. It makes for entertaining and thought-provoking reading if you're looking for a more in-depth discussion than you'll find in this post.

It'll be interesting to see if Hobby Lobby actually carries out its threat, however, or how many days they'll be willing to pay that $1.3 million fine. As has been remarked in the Metafilter thread, although Hobby Lobby prides themselves on closing their stores on Sunday in accordance with the fourth of the ten commandments, the fact is that a number of their employees are still required to come to work on Sunday to do inventory behind those closed doors.

But assuming that Hobby Lobby does defy the mandate and incur those massive fines for any significant length of time, if you're an American knitter who's inclined to dismiss this issue because you believe employers should have a right to decide what benefits or because you think this issue isn't important, and intend to go shopping at the Hobby Lobby in the near future anyway, please take a minute to think through the ramifications.

If employers can decide what benefits to give their employees according to their religious principles, your Jewish employer will have the right to deny you your statutory holidays at Christmas and Easter. Your Jehovah's Witness employer will have the right to deny you medical coverage for an operation because it requires a blood transfusion. Your Christian Science employer will have the right to deny you any medication or psychiatric treatment benefits at all. Your fundamentalist Christian employer will have the right to deny any coverage to your common-law or gay or lesbian partner, or perhaps even your second spouse if you divorced the first one. Are you comfortable going down that road, or do you wish to help uphold the U.S. law, which says that no employer has the right to deny employees legally mandated benefits and insurance coverage for legally available medical services on religious grounds?

If you think the Hobby Lobby employees can simply pay for their own emergency contraception because it won't cost much or be needed often, take a minute to think about what it would be like to be a young woman who's already having trouble making ends meet on Hobby Lobby's average hourly wage of no more than $14 an hour, who maybe is trying to put herself through school, or who perhaps already has a child or two to support, and who needs the morning after pill because a condom broke, or because she's been raped. Are you comfortable supporting an organization that is breaking the law by refusing to give her the benefits she's legally entitled to and helping to make her life that much harder? Or would you rather buy your yarn somewhere else until Hobby Lobby is willing to abide by U.S. law?

The final decision of whether to support a boycott always has to rest with each consumer, of course, but I would like all those who shop at Hobby Lobby to know and consider the facts of this situation. I'm not asking anyone to rely on my presentation of the matter. Please read the accompanying links and google the issue to learn more.

And I bet you never expected the act of buying yarn for your new fingerless gloves project to become a political statement. I know when I started writing a knitting blog I never expected to find myself doing socio-political posts — and I've already done several in the 49 days of this blog's existence. But then it's not so surprising, really. Knitting takes resources (time, money, and materials), and the allocation of resources is always political.

Not that I regret my politicized posts. My only regret is that, as a Canadian, the only political statement I can make on the Hobby Lobby issue is here on this blog. We do not have Hobby Lobby stores in Canada and so I can't make a point of not shopping at them. However, I can continue to happily shop at the closest Canadian equivalent of Hobby Lobby, which is probably Mary Maxim, bless its Canadian and secular little heart. And, for any U.S. knitters who are looking for alternatives to Hobby Lobby, I note for your benefit that Mary Maxim also does business in the U.S.