Knitters present, and a word about the past

The spring Vogue Knitting and Knitters arrived on the same
day last week, in fact the same day as the April Vogue and Bazaar as well. Given the cornucopia of browsing materials
and the craziness of my current schedule, I managed to hide the two knitting magazines
for a couple of days before settling down to peruse the offerings.

Aside from always reading Perri Klass’s article, the
Knitters really did not have much to offer. I have decided that I do not need to save all my back issues of Knitters
and they have been removed from the sewing/fiber room and set aside to be
either weeded of patterns and discarded, sold, or given away. It was a hard decision but I have been faced
with too many things in my room and they have become a yoke around my
neck. It is not that there are not
sweaters I would knit, more that I am feeling oppressed by the amount of STUFF
I have accumulated over the years, and I need to reduce the clutter down to
that which I truly love. Knitters did
not make the cut even though I was rather fond of the magazine during the 5 or
so years that Nancy Thomas was the editor. I think it has become much less interesting under its new editorship. The one good thing is that I have noticed
very few drop shoulder sweaters since Rick Mondragon became editor, which
doesn’t surprise me having taken a class he taught many years ago about how to
convert any sweater pattern to a set in sleeve, or at least modified drop
shoulder, and the less than flattering comments he made about the ubiquity of drop-shouldered sweaters.

There were some nice basic sweaters in the mix, many
knittable, wearable, perfectly nice sweaters. There were a couple of sweaters that I liked except that the big ugly
three letter word cropped up; you know the one, BUT… Do I need to elucidate
further? I like the sweater but I think
the yarn is crap and the sweater is designed for this multi-colored yarn and
doing it in something else will require calculation and math. I like another sweater but the neckline is
too wide and the collar is too floppy, the sweater needs more shaping too,
especially in a cotton yarn. .. I could go on but will refrain.

Still, there were a couple of sweaters that I would knit,
including this one:

Cross Country is a nice basic casual shape that I would wear
a lot. It has set in sleeves and some
shaping. I like the nice wide ribbing
and the zipper front. I like the slight shaping at the waist. I also admit that part of what attracts me to the sweater is the color
combination in which it shown. I really
like these colors; the body in a color I love and can wear next to my face
combined with colors that I also love but which are not really so flattering
for me. I am always looking for way to
combine colors in ways that make favorite unwearable colors fit into the
wardrobe. I have a fair number of basic garments in these ginger and paprika
colors that I am always blending in with my lavenders, violets, and blues.

This cable and lace hoodie from Elizabeth Lavold has also
caught my interest, although not as strongly as the cardigan (but what can say
that is at least partly a color thing).  This is a drop shoulder sweater,
not my usual favorite but there are some designs for which it is entirely
appropriate. Looking at the positioning
of the cables however, I could probably adapt this for a little more shaping
through the armscye, which I might like even better, although looking at the
schematic, this does not look particularly broad through the shoulders, so it
might work just fine as it is. One thing
I do like about Elizabeth Lavold’s patterns, at least the ones I have made, is
that they are usually fairly narrow through the neck opening, something I
prefer, as far too many knitting patterns are too wide through the neck for
me. Even as her sizes go up, the neck
stays pretty close fitting and small. 

The cardigan is a wear everywhere kind of garment and the
hoodie, for me at least, is the kind of sweater I would wear to snuggle up on
the deck, by the pool, in the yard, or on the beach on a slightly coolish day. I see myself in the early morning traipsing
around the garden looking at my flowers, cup of coffee in hand in this sweater.
Gee, that image alone is enough to get me to knit this sweater.