Rowan Knitting & Crochet Magazine 54: A Review, Part 1

Rowan has published Rowan Knitting & Crochet Magazine 54, so let's have a look at the patterns in it. As always, I'll be reviewing half the designs today and the other half tomorrow, as there are always oh-so-many designs in Rowan's magazines. This, of course, is an accomplishment on Rowan's part and great for you the purchaser, but a little bit of a strain for a reviewer.

I initially thought the Crystal pattern was a shawl and was about to review it as a shawl when I realized that this design is a "wrap sweater" — the shawl is actually the collar of the sweater. And I'm not that enthusiastic about that idea. The sweater part looks a little on the shapeless side and the shawl collar is going to add bulk to a woman's front, and she doesn't have the option of just slipping it off, say at lunch, if she's too warm and/or doesn't want to risk spilling soup on it. But that's one gorgeous shade (I do love a soft gray blue) and Kidsilk Haze looks like a beautiful yarn.

The Shannon pattern doesn't even flatter this model and that means bad things for most of the rest of us. The cropped length is always a challenging one to begin with and that wide band of stitchwork through the midsection makes this an impossible item to pull off. If you like the rest of this sweater, lengthen it and perhaps just add a few rows of that textured stitchwork around the bottom or narrow band of it at the waistline.

Oversized collars can be dramatic, such as this one on the Stacy pattern, but oversizing at the hips is just unflattering and sloppy looking. If you want to make this item for yourself, make sure it isn't either too long for your body or too wide for your hips.

The Wendy Wrap looks like an afghan. A nice, textured afghan suitable for an understated comtemporary décor and for snuggling under while reading a book on a stormy afternoon, but an afghan nonetheless, and shawls and afghans should be two distinctly different entities.

The Melissa pattern is a basic but not bland pattern. It has an eye-catching texture and, although I'm not a fan of the cropped sleeve length, in this case it was the right choice because it gives this design the lift it needs. If a crew neck and cropped sleeve length suit you, this is a sweater that will serve you well.

I like the Laura pattern, which has a good shape to it and would be practical and comfortable to wear. Do be aware that given that this item is ribbed and knitted in an Aran weight it will have a bulky look.

The Mary didn't quite get to where it was going, so I'd suggest a couple of tweaks. I think a pattern this graphic doesn't really work in these subdued neutrals and I'd try something sharper and higher contrast. And I'm not crazy about the dropped shoulders on this pattern, but that's easily fixed.

Quite like the Christine pattern! The classic shape really sets off that amazingly well-rendered cheetah on the front. I love that it's in an interesting pose rather than just face to face with us. This is how you do an animal sweater for a grown up who wants to wear an animal sweater without feeling or looking five years old. If the cheetah were my totem animal (and I had enough neck for a turtleneck), I'd be all over this one.

The Sharon sweater isn't without a certain interest, but between the weight of the yarn, the bobbled texture, and the oversized shape, man is this sweater going to be bulky and unflattering. You could reshape it to a standard fit, but contrary to what Meatloaf told us, two out of three can still be pretty bad.

The Sherry design has its good points (the neckline, the crochet edgings, the lace panel in front), but putting those pleats in the front was intended to give the sweater some waist definition and style and succeeded just made the sweater look rucked up around the waist and no less bulky overall. The only way to eliminate bulk at the waistline is to get rid of the extra material at the waistline.

I like the Erin pattern from the front, but the description says there's a "split back opening" and I have no idea what I might be signing off on because there doesn't seem to be a back view photo available, either on this site or on Ravelry. So I'll just say cautiously that I like the front. You'll have the option of making the waistband narrower if you don't like emphasizing your waistline.

I like the Angela design. It's a sweater that will go anywhere and with anything that a standard turtleneck can, but will look like a more interesting choice.

The Holbein sweater reminds me of a sweater in one of my knitting fables posts, the one I made a varicose vein joke about. This one isn't quite so lurid, but I still don't think contrasting cables are a terribly good idea on a man's sweater. This might work if the whole sweater had been knitted in the same colour.

I quite like the Nepal Wrap. The stripe pattern and the colours look really good; they're eye-catching yet neutral at the same time. I am not sure how this wrap stays in place (do the tassels get tied together?) but however it's been put on it works.

The Anatolia design looks a little busy for my tastes. I think doing a Fair Isle with both atypical patterns and atypical colours put it slightly over the top and that perhaps dialing back the colourway while keeping the innovative patterns would make for a more attractive item.

The Ukraine pattern is a good one. It's cropped with a deep waistband, but both of those things can be easily changed to suit the wearer if needed.

I very much like the Armenia pattern, with its delicate floral pattern. But I would consider changing the colourway, specifically the oatmeal background colour, to give it a fresher and more uplifting look.

The Soumak Scarf Wrap is really very striking, if you're the type of person who can carry off a dramatic wrap like this (and can stand to do the constant adjustments). If you're not that person but love the design, buy twice as much yarn as specified in the pattern and make a beautiful afghan.

I think the Bodrum Mens pattern is successful as a design, but that colourway isn't doing it any favours. Warm and cool shades really shouldn't be mixed together. A different and better colourway would take this sweater those extra few miles to the finish line.

I wish I could see what's really going on with the Dhurrie design. It looks like it's essentially a cape with a matching scarf worn over top. I'm not crazy about that concept. Capes can be unflattering as it is; adding another bulky element to it is not going to improve matters. If you want to make this set for yourself, I'd suggest you wear them separately.

Look for part deux of the Rowan Knitting & Crochet Magazine 54 review tomorrow morning!

Jackets and Tams: a Selection of Knitting Patterns from 1910-1919

This is the second post in my series on twentieth century patterns (you can read the other existing posts here), and it will cover the years from 1910 to 1919. This post was, as I expected, far easier to write than the post on knitting patterns from the years 1900 to 1909. There were far more patterns available for the time period and they are far more wearable by today's standards. In the second decade of the twentieth century women began wearing sweaters instead of sacques and shawls, their hemlines rose from the ground, and their hats evolved from the bonnets and towering confections of the past decades into the simple shapes and tams that have never really been out of style since. I was still not able to find any menswear that I cared to include in this post. I did see lots of sweater men's patterns, but they were either really basic items that are readily available, or so very conservative and plain in style that I couldn't imagine any contemporary men wanting to wear them. I hope better things for my post on knitting patterns from the 1920s.

This quilt, or afghan as we'd call it now, is made of six-sided blocks with a raised leaf pattern. Each hexagon is knitted in the round from the outside in. No gauge is given, as is typical of antique patterns, but that hardly matters in an afghan as the pattern could be knitted in any yarn with appropriate-sized needles. This pattern was published in The Queenslander newspaper in Australia in 1910, and is available for free.

This women's jacket is actually crocheted, but I liked it so much I just had to include it. It appeared in Fleisher's Knitting and Crocheting Manual, Tenth Edition, published in 1912, and a reproduction of the book is available from Iva Rose Vintage Reproductions for $21.95. It's a 205-page book so you do get a lot of other patterns for that price, though you may find it a little difficult to stomach the, er, ethnic doll pattern pictures also included in the book. We've come a long way in the last 101 years, thankfully, and no longer include "black mammy" dolls in pattern books.

This is a child's sweater with a nice little shamrock motif. It was originally published in the Priscilla Wool Knitting Book in 1912. A reproduction of the book is available from Iva Rose Vintage Reproductions for $16.95.

This knitted drawstring bag would make a nice evening bag for today. It was originally published in The Mail in 1914, and is available for free.

I quite like this little girl's jacket. This pattern originally appeared in Leach's Child's Knitted Woollies Number, published in 1915, and available as a reproduction from Iva Rose Vintage Reproductions for $9.95. The pattern for the hat isn't included in the book, but it wouldn't be hard to whip up a matching tam.

This child's middy jumper pattern, size 24 months, was originally published in The Lion Yarn Book in 1916. Franklin Habit rewrote the pattern and wrote an accompanying article about the history of Lion Brand Yarns for Knitty, where you can find the pattern and article for free.

This knitted Norfolk Coat was originally published in the Priscilla Sweater Book: Including Hats, Caps, and Other Accessories with Directions for Working in 1917, and is available for free. I must say I like how they've posed the model against a mirror to give us the back as well as the front view of this sweater. Why don't more of today's knitting magazines use this trick?

This vest was published in Needlecraft Publishing Company's Handbook of Wool Knitting and Crochet in 1918, and the pattern is available for free.

This pattern is called a "serviceable sweater", and it is indeed. It's sensible, warm and guaranteed to never go out of style. Like the vest above, this design was published in Needlecraft Publishing Company's Handbook of Wool Knitting and Crochet in 1918 The pattern is available for free.

This tam was publishin in the Bear Brand Blue Book, Volume 18, in 1918. A reproduction of the book is available from Iva Rose Reproductions for $18.95, and I will say I quite like a number of the hat patterns in it as well.

Coming up: Look for the post on 1920s knitting patterns within the next two weeks, and look for part one of my review of Rowan Knitting & Crochet Magazine 54 tomorrow morning!

How to Change the Gauge of a Pattern

Adriene of Adriene's Couch has created this video which carefully explains how to reconfigure the stitch gauge on a knitting project when you're using a substitute yarn from the one recommended.

For my part, I almost always use substitute yarns, and rather than make a swatch (because I've, um, never made a swatch in my life), I just use the gauge and needle size provided on the skein band. Those "official" gauges have never let me down, though of course since it's taken over stockinette stitch it won't apply if the pattern is all cables or otherwise very textured. In those cases, though, I just make sure I buy the right weight of yarn. And I begin the project by knitting a sleeve. Since it's so small, it's not that big a deal to rip it out a cuff if it should turn out my gauge is off.

I also always make photocopies of my patterns to make them less cumbersome and to save my books and magazines the wear and tear. Those 8.5 x 11" sheets of paper, folded in four, are easily tucked into a shoulder bag or workbasket, and it won't matter if they get lost or torn or get something spilled on them. Another advantage of photocopies is that I can scribble notes and diagrams freely on them. I have all that nice blank space on the back of the sheet if I run out of room in the margins.

At any rate, I hope you find Adriene's video useful. Her cute dog makes a special guest appearance.

Bobbles Gone Wild and Other Knitting Fables

Sometimes the members of the Crazy Cosy Crochet Club liked to appear out in public in their club uniforms.

Sue had spent so much money on her riding lessons that she felt she couldn't afford to buy riding jodhpurs and a riding jacket, so she made them out of the orange shag carpet she'd secretly salvaged in the dead of the night from a house on her street that had been condemned. She was so proud of the outfit she thought she'd also have a go at making her husband's hockey equipment using the old gas pipes and lathe and other things she'd ripped out of that house.





Since discovering she was one-thirty-second Cree, Paula had been one to celebrate her Native American heritage at every available opportunity. Her latest creation was a cloak that doubled as a wigwam that she could sleep in at night.

Blair had grown up watching her mother tuck tissues up the sleeves of her sweaters, and decided to play with that concept. Fashion, after all, was all about ramping up basic notions until they made a bold statement.

Willa also believed in the go bold or go home theory of design, and she decided to play with the concept of cowls. If one was good, eight or nine would be even better right? But she'd make them into skinny cowls to keep the look subtle, and pair them with trousers made out of ruched garbage bags so she didn't look like the kind of designer who relied on a single gimmick.





Karen's latest creation was intended as a costume piece for the host of a new crochet reality show tentatively titled Bobbles Gone Wild.

Chet had had the kind of mother who sent him off to school every morning with the words, "You're better than all those little losers in your class. Go get 'em, tiger!" Now, as a designer, he'd created an outfit that manifested the kind of confidence that had always given him.

Chet had also created an outfit for his fall collection that he considered the perfect around the house outfit for his mother: the sweater was in his mother's favourite hot pink, had one extra long sleeve for dusting and a hat that could double as a floor mop, featured an eye that looked like that of his old one-eyed teddy bear his mother had always said watched him for her whenever she wasn't around, and had camouflage pants in tribute of the day he'd told his mom he wanted to join the army and she'd said he wouldn't last a day of basic training before crying to come back home to her.





Stephen and Sara held each other close for the little time that was theirs, hoping for a day when others would understand their rash-inducing full bodysuit love.





Knit something great, and the world knits with you. Knit something terrifyingly strange, and the world backs away, slowly, and leaves you knitting alone.

Creative Knitting Autumn 2013: A Review

Creative Knitting's Autumn 2013 issue on the stands. Let's have a look at the patterns in it.

Vogue Knitting had a collection of spencer sweaters in its Early Fall 2013 issue, for which I posted my review two days ago, and now Creative Knitting presents us with this little number, "Climbing Cables", an open-front spencer, which must be the most difficult possible spencer to carry off. And yes, it's an attractive design, but barely any women could successfully wear it. It's more of an exercise in knitting than a sweater.

Here we have "Dot & Dash", a cropped sweater with some texture. Cropped sweaters are difficult to wear successfully, though not so hard as an open-front spencer. Lengthen and shape this sweater if you like the look but can't pull off cropped tops.

This is the "Easy Cabled Cardi". The description says it has minimal finishing; I'd say it has subminimal finishing because it doesn't look quite done to me. Those edges just look raw and it detracts from the whole, which otherwise I think I might like.

This is the "Meriden Jacket" and I quite like it. It's so gracefully shaped, looks polished, and it would suit most women.

The lacing in this cowl make it look like a cowl the members of the Swiss Family Robinson would have worn if they'd had cowls on their island. I otherwise like this cowl, which has a great texture, but am not sure about the laces — I know I wouldn't like them dangling like that. I'd be inclined to fasten this cowl with interesting buttons instead.

This is the "Off-Kilter Cardi". I can't say I care for it, not only because it's asymmetrical which is a style not at all to my taste, but because it has a sloppy look. This isn't going to flatter many women.

This is the "On the Catwalk Cardigan". This is another look, that due to its length and oversized lines and open front, that will be difficult to be pull off. You'll probably need to be tall to wear it successfully, for one thing. And with all this talk about carrying or pulling things off, let's keep something in mind: clothes aren't supposed to be just something that don't look terrible on us. They should actively flatter us, because that is part of their job description.

The "Roxy Tank" is a tank top with side drapings. I've seen side draped designs in my reviews before, and I can only say... avoid this look unless you really think your hips could stand to look wider than they are.

The "Baby Love Capelet and Booties" is just what it says on the tin. It's not a bad concept and the execution isn't terrible, though I do wish it were a little more detailed and polished a design. Garter-stitched projects tend to look amateurish. I can't help wondering whether that capelet is going to stay in place on the baby though.

"Cia's Striped Vest", which the description declares perfect for layering over everything from jeans to a little black dress, kind of reminds me of an ubiquitous vest belonging to the principal of a school where my mother taught: the woman wore the same reversible quilted vest every day, all week, and every week, and would turn it inside out mid-week. That principal eventually got fired mid-school year. Probably not because of the vest, but I'm sure it didn't help either. This isn't a bad design, and I think there are other colourways that would do more for it, but it looks to me like a piece that will really only work over fairly casual clothes.

The "Dotted Eyelets" cardigan is another one of a certain kind of beginner project that Creative Knitting is prone to offering us. They want to give beginning knitters non-scarf projects to move on to, which is good, but to that end they offer us amateurish-looking garter stitch projects with rough shaping and design gimmicks, which is not good. This rough-looking sweater needs some finishing touches to work. As it is the ribbon looks out of placed and the eyelets just look like accidental holes.

The "From His Perspective" sweater isn't half bad. It's a little rough-looking in this yarn, but I think another colour or a variegated yarn would do a lot to help hide that. I do take exception to the title and the description, which assumes this sweater will be made by a woman for a man. Aim for gender inclusion, Creative Knitting, even if you won't quite get there (God knows I haven't), because a genuine level of effort in this area will show and be appreciated by the men who are joining the ranks of knitters.

I actually very much like the concept of the "Gone for the Weekend Tee", with its side-buttoned flap, yoke and cap sleeves. It has a very smart look. But the bottom and sleeve edges are a big let-down. The hem looks just terrible. This is a design that should have gotten the careful finishing touches that would have made it successful.

These are the "Sideways Slipper Socks", and their description suggests that the sideways construction makes them unusually comfortable. I can't assess them for comfort unworn, but they do look like they'd be interesting to make.

I quite like this "Weekender Cardigan". It's a basic yet polished piece that a woman can wear just about anywhere and over a number of her outfits.

I also very much like the look of this afghan (though would definitely use different colours for it) and the fact that it's described as "No Sew" is definitely a selling point. I'm a little alarmed by the use of "lapghan" in the description, though. Could we... please not go there?

This issue of Creative Knitting includes a how-to on knitting circles from "the inside out". Then you can use your new skill to knit coasters and trivets like this one in your favourite or décor colours.

The "Downward Spiral" beret is another use of the "circle knitting from the inside out" technique, and I quite like it. It's another "No Sew" item.

Very much like the classic "Lady in Lace" beret and scarf.

I also quite like the "Seeing Stripes Place Mats". If you have the kind of décor these go with, they'll be a nice added touch. Or you're really crazy about them you could redecorate your dining room to go with them, as I am planning an entire (and much-needed) kitchen reno around a pair of tea towels I found at the dollar store and loved on sight. True story.

I like the "Zig Zag" shawl as well. The lace pattern is really something different.

The "Bye-Bye Wintertime Blues" hat and drawstring bag set is kind of cute, and I like the colour combination in it. Peach and red actually work together when the right tones are used, though you seldom seem them combined. It has a playful, naive appeal that makes it more of a look for a young girl than one a grown woman, though.

One of the hazards of doing these reviews is that when I'm confronted over and over with examples of a trend that's either universally terrible or at least one that won't suit me personally, I start to get worn down. When I first started coming across legwarmer patterns at first all I could think is that I thought I'd left legwarmers behind in the eighties, along with acid wash and banana clips and anything day-glo and a legion of other bad sartorial ideas and it's a big HELL NO for me because I'm not some young girl who could look cute in them. Then after running across a number of legwarmer patterns, by the time I see these "Colorfully Comfy Leg Warmers", I start thinking these would look kind of cute over leggings and with flats and maybe I could... and then I beg my brain not to think such thoughts.

Quite like this "Coolest Kid on the Block" little girl's sweater and hat set. The yarn is self-striping so it isn't as much work as it looks. The off-centre front placket is a nice touch.

The "Evergreen Dream Hat & Sweater Set" is nice. Creative Knitting has styled it in a very 1930's fashion which is kind of fun to look at even if the colours are a little retina-burning and you wouldn't wear it quite this way yourself.

This "Feel-Good Cowl" looks a little afghan-y — both the open stitchwork and the variegated yarn are so in line with traditional choices for afghans. I'd consider doing it in a hand-painted yarn to bring the item more into accessory land.

I think I like the "Moret Pullover" design, but I find it hard to get past the ketchup and mustard colourway.

I absolutely love this "Nordica" pullover. The pattern and the colourway are both perfect. As a bonus, according to the description, this design is knit entirely in the round so there's no finishing required.

The "Prospect Park Capelet" is rather nice, very simple yet polished. I however do not think I will ever wear a capelet as it would make me feel, and very probably look, like a mushroom.

The "Sassy in Stripes Fingerless Mitts" aren't bad. A more subtle colourway would give them a slightly more sophisticated look for wearers over 20.

The "Tiffany" cowl has a very inventive and pretty effect. You'll only use two colours for this pattern — the second one being variegated.

Can't say I care for the "Turning Leaves Tunic". The stripes look random and the colourway is just dull.