IK Summer 2009 Pattern Review
I just got the new IK and I have to say this is one of the best summer issues of a knitting magazine I've seen in a LONG time, perhaps ever! Every turn of the page brought a nice new pattern or design idea, and there are lots of patterns in this issue that I not only may make, but that I would have designed, too!
My favorite has to be this seemingly-impractical tank:
This is the Spidery Tank by Nichola Thompson and it immediately caught my eye. Worn layered like it's shown here, I am sure to get tons of wear out of it! I can also see this worn as a vest over a buttondown shirt during the winter, although I'm not sure how the racerback would look over a shirt, might make me look too much like a linebacker. I lvoe the details in this design thought, the edges look so finished and the straps are grafted together so there's no seam! What a great idea, wish I'd thought of it!
Also on the potentially-going-to-make-it list is the Trellis and Keyhole Tank by Connie Chang Chincio:
This is an awful image, but the top is really cute and has just enough interest to make it worth knitting. I especially like the small stitch pattern and the short keyhole opening. Usually I hate keyhole openings because they can quickly get very skanky if you have a large bust, but this one is understated and should look very appropriate even on me. I can see wearing this little tank with one of the patterned flouncy skirts that's all over for Spring! I think it would also work especially well knit in wool as a vest, I may just make this one twice!
My other favorite pattern in this issue is this skirt:
This is the Luminarie Skirt by Annie Modesitt, and it's really stunning. This pattern is probably better categorized in the "love it but I'll never make it" category, but you never know, stranger things have happened! What's particularly intriguing about this pattern is also what will probably make it hellish to knit -- it's got short row shaping AND entrelac AND lace at the same time! Definitely signature Annie, no doubt about it!
This is the best picture of this skirt, the standing-up shot made the skirt look very unflatering and bunchy in the waist . . . were I to make it (what is this, am I already considering making it!?!) I definitely would not use the silk that is called for in the pattern, I would use something lighter-in-pounds than silk to prevent it from stretching too much. Maybe one of the many cotton/acrylic blends? I might also change the waistline from the drawstring waist to some sort of ribbing while starting the lace a little further down. And I definitely would not make it mid-calf length, that is very unflattering on me!
The last pattern I have to mention about this issue is another Annie Modesitt pattern:
This one's called the Laura Cardigan and uses Annie's should-be-pattented plaid technique, which is really quite stunning. I've seen her use it before and always admired it, it's one of those knitting techniques that really is worth all the effort. That said, this cardigan is suffering from a fit problem -- Annie mentioned on her blog that she tried "something different" based on 1530's shaping and I, for one, really dislike it. If I were to make this cardigan, which I think is very cute and a great idea, I would completely redo the shoulders and armholes. The shoulders are much too wide and I don't know what's going on with the armhole but I definitely do not like what it does in this picture. I also dislike the tiny collar that only goes half-way around and would definitely take that off as well . . .
Hum, come to think of it, I think this would look adorable completely redone, taking the color and stripe/plaid but leaving the shaping completely behind. At the moment, I'm thinking boatneck shell . . . but we'll see!
On a housekeeping note:
You may have noticed lots of stuff moving around again, and if you were here at around 11am EST today, you probably thought I'd dissapeared into the ether -- I completely broke my website! It took me 40 minutes to get everything going again, and believe me, it was quite the stressful 40 minutes! Luckily I had backed up my site only an hour before the bone-headed move, so I was able to restore everything, or it would have been a much bigger problem!
I've also changed my feed formatting (yes, again!), you'll notice you're only seeing part of the feed again. But now you'll get more than just the "teaser" I used to offer before I went to full-content, and you can click the "read more" link to get the rest. You no longer have to look at the Google ads though, I've taken those off because they made them significantly bigger with no way to shrink them back down! Hope this change is OK with you guys . . . let me know what you think!
