This weekend I was so excited because a couple of friends and I headed down to porter square in Cambridge for a book release party. I have been reading Amy Herzog’s blog for quite a while and I LOVED her fit to flatter series. Well, she has taken that series, along with the knowledge she gained from teaching workshops and classes and she has written a book with patterns included.
This book is WAY more than a pattern book and it’s not even an instructional knitting book. It takes tips on what you want your clothes to say, highlight and disguise and it walks you through how to incorporate adjustments into your handknitted garment. Before I talk about the event and how amazing it was I also want to mention that she has a craftsy class around these same principles and if you head over to stash and burn podcast you can even find a link to a discount for the class
Now the party was great, there were raffles and measurements being taken, a photo booth and sample sweaters. Unfortunately, due to a recent surgery measurements were not going to happen for me due to fear of pain and also some swelling. Thankfully, they gave out a pre-made card with measurements blank. The measurements were FULL measurements. Not just a bust measurement but a high and full bust measurement (just as an example) done by someone other than you so they are accurate. I'm planning to have a measuring party with some knitting pals at a later date so we can all have full measurements for ourselves
The sweater booth was awesome because I could try on sweaters from the book and absolutely rule out making a couple of them to start and decide to absolutely make one of them not just make it, but use the yarn and color in the sample.
The photo booth was done by a great photographer and she put the photos online so that you have a GOOD photo of you, a photo that looks like you and hopefully shows what makes you unique. That was a wonderful treat for those of us that are trying to allow ourselves to be photographed even though we don’t love our current body.
There are only two things that I don’t love from this weekend the first is only barely related to the event. There is a yarn store within a block of where the event took place and while I understand having consistent hours I think a smart move would have been to stay open a bit late for those attending and maybe even cosponsoring the event (maybe they tried I don’t know, but our experience of walking up the stairs as the store closed wasn’t the most positive one).
The second small complaint I have is really about the styling in the book. The book is FULL of amazing photos of women of all shapes and sizes! In the evaluation sections these people are all dressed in white cami/tanktops and jeans. It is very uniform and really helps you see what is going on. The outfits that these same people wear while showing off the sweaters are….. distracting. In some cases (though not all) I think they drown out all of the flattering/highlighting/etc that the sweater is designed to do. It isn’t that the outfits are bad, but they just don’t highlight the features that the sweaters are supposed to highlight.
With that said, I would and do still recommend you buy the book.
The price of the book is worth the two sweaters I’m going to make out of it alone plus I have an AMAZING reference about adjusting a sweater just for me. I’m super duper excited to get started using it first on a sweater from outside the book and then to make the two sweaters in the book that I am in love with.
A note about this review. Amy (and her publisher STC) doesn’t know me from adam though I did meet her at the event (which I only knew about b/c of her blog). I did not receive the book for free, I paid full price to the bookstore that hosted the event and I was happy to do so. I encourage you to find a bookstore that you like (online or brick and mortar) and buy the book as well. It is worth every single penny. Also, let me know what sweater you want to knit with all of the help from Amy's book
Tuesday, April 9, 2013
Monday, April 8, 2013
Sometimes it's unwearable
Beware, negativity ahead, come back tomorrow for some redemptive cheer.
So I don’t knit a lot of sweaters, nothing is every quite right when I make it and my most recent project was no exception. Up until my last sweater I would have never thought the designer/pattern writer was the problem, I needed to make adjustments and/or choose a better yarn for the projects, etc. Basically I don’t blame any of my previous sweater failures on the pattern or designer they are all basically my fault. That is until now.
I made a sweater that was the most poorly written pattern I have ever come across. Now, understand I don’t want to be a debbie downer so here is some further info. My two pals and I all knit the same sweater and two out of three of us ended up with a relatively wearable article of clothing. We chose the pattern because it was adorable and worked with the yarn we wanted to use. Basically, we went in excited, and while I won’t speak for the others, I don’t think any of us really found that the pattern met our expectations. That is not to say it was a complete failure for either of them (though it was for me), but I don’t think it was a huge resounding success either. This sounds harsh, but I’m not a super critic of patterns, I want the pattern to be relatively easy to read (even if it is complex) and I expect there to not be more than a couple of mistakes, and I expect that if I pay you for a pattern part of that money was originally invested in paying someone to tech-edit the pattern. This pattern did not meet any of those requirements
First, it was written in large font, in two columns so that even a row that required just a short line required 3+ lines of the page. This makes a pattern very difficult to follow. If this were the only problem, I wouldn’t complain about this pattern
Second, there was a mistake on the FIRST pattern row of my size, and this lack of attention to detail continued throughout the pattern for the size I made. It was clear the author just pasted the pattern from another size, but didn’t bother to go back and fix ALL the numbers and counts to match the instructions for the size. All of this showed a lack of a real tech editor.
Third, my sweater is unwearable. It turned out super low at the back neck and super wide at the top so there is no way to get the sweater to wear like a sweater. Now, normally I would say that it was my fault in some manner, but honestly I kept a ridiculously detailed account of where/when things were supposed to happen and I am confident there were either a) mistakes that I missed or b) no testing of this size or c) POOR adjustments made for the size I knit
Basically I wish I hadn’t knit the pattern and even more so I wish I hadn’t paid for the pattern. So after this disastrous project I decided to choose a redemptive sweater that has great examples on ravelry, has little extras included in the pattern (like a chart for increases) and I’m going to make adjustments. I’m going to put in tons of effort to make this sweater the opposite of the last one.
I’m starting with this pattern: Julissa I’m adding adjustments based on the knowledge I’ve gained in this book: Knit to Flatter
So far I’m knitting as written but stopping the front/back decreases early, adding the lace panel, while still continuing the arm increases per the size instructions. Come back tomorrow for an honest, complete review of the book I’m using for this adventure
So I don’t knit a lot of sweaters, nothing is every quite right when I make it and my most recent project was no exception. Up until my last sweater I would have never thought the designer/pattern writer was the problem, I needed to make adjustments and/or choose a better yarn for the projects, etc. Basically I don’t blame any of my previous sweater failures on the pattern or designer they are all basically my fault. That is until now.
I made a sweater that was the most poorly written pattern I have ever come across. Now, understand I don’t want to be a debbie downer so here is some further info. My two pals and I all knit the same sweater and two out of three of us ended up with a relatively wearable article of clothing. We chose the pattern because it was adorable and worked with the yarn we wanted to use. Basically, we went in excited, and while I won’t speak for the others, I don’t think any of us really found that the pattern met our expectations. That is not to say it was a complete failure for either of them (though it was for me), but I don’t think it was a huge resounding success either. This sounds harsh, but I’m not a super critic of patterns, I want the pattern to be relatively easy to read (even if it is complex) and I expect there to not be more than a couple of mistakes, and I expect that if I pay you for a pattern part of that money was originally invested in paying someone to tech-edit the pattern. This pattern did not meet any of those requirements
First, it was written in large font, in two columns so that even a row that required just a short line required 3+ lines of the page. This makes a pattern very difficult to follow. If this were the only problem, I wouldn’t complain about this pattern
Second, there was a mistake on the FIRST pattern row of my size, and this lack of attention to detail continued throughout the pattern for the size I made. It was clear the author just pasted the pattern from another size, but didn’t bother to go back and fix ALL the numbers and counts to match the instructions for the size. All of this showed a lack of a real tech editor.
Third, my sweater is unwearable. It turned out super low at the back neck and super wide at the top so there is no way to get the sweater to wear like a sweater. Now, normally I would say that it was my fault in some manner, but honestly I kept a ridiculously detailed account of where/when things were supposed to happen and I am confident there were either a) mistakes that I missed or b) no testing of this size or c) POOR adjustments made for the size I knit
Basically I wish I hadn’t knit the pattern and even more so I wish I hadn’t paid for the pattern. So after this disastrous project I decided to choose a redemptive sweater that has great examples on ravelry, has little extras included in the pattern (like a chart for increases) and I’m going to make adjustments. I’m going to put in tons of effort to make this sweater the opposite of the last one.
I’m starting with this pattern: Julissa I’m adding adjustments based on the knowledge I’ve gained in this book: Knit to Flatter
So far I’m knitting as written but stopping the front/back decreases early, adding the lace panel, while still continuing the arm increases per the size instructions. Come back tomorrow for an honest, complete review of the book I’m using for this adventure
Thursday, February 21, 2013
Christmas Knitting
Sure Christmas was two months ago, but I never really wrote about the awesomeness that was my Christmas knitting. My little sister (currently residing in So. Cal) pinned a blanket on pinterest. I knew the blanket would be easy, but very costly to recreate so we got chatting about some other options for her.
I had seen Umaro in person at Webs awhile back and recommended that along with a handful of other options. She thought umaro would be perfect and then we had to get into a very involved discussion revolving around yarn. Her specifications: Machine washable, natural colored and squishy. I immediately thought of a handful of wool yarns I have used in the past, but most of them weren't washable so were not an option. Then there were some really cheap options, lionbrand, red heart, vannas choice, etc. None of those highlighted the squishy-factor that she was looking for. In the end I went back to one of my very favorite blanket yarns: Berroco Comfort Chunky
This yarn is perfectly squishy and since I bought it at webs it wasn't hugely expensive, though it would have been cheaper had it been on sale. Also note, that while webs keeps their entire stock of yarn online, they no longer keep all of it at their store location so even if it says they have 30 skeins in the same dye lot you may only be able to find 6 in store. This is not a dig on webs, I love them and always recommend them as a yarn source, great prices and wonderful customer service.
So I started on 10.5, then went to 11s, then back to 10.5 because the yarn is slightly smaller than the one called for in the pattern. A couple restarts and all was well. 11 skeins later I got that sucker done! It was even off in the mail well before Christmas!
So it arrived before Christmas, and she really wanted to open it early, but she didn't (way more willpower than me). She even dragged the box all the way to AZ where she ended up spending Christmas at the last minute. So hilarious
Of course after binding off I found a zillion mistakes, but nothing catastrophic so I left them in and I don't think the recipient really minded
I had seen Umaro in person at Webs awhile back and recommended that along with a handful of other options. She thought umaro would be perfect and then we had to get into a very involved discussion revolving around yarn. Her specifications: Machine washable, natural colored and squishy. I immediately thought of a handful of wool yarns I have used in the past, but most of them weren't washable so were not an option. Then there were some really cheap options, lionbrand, red heart, vannas choice, etc. None of those highlighted the squishy-factor that she was looking for. In the end I went back to one of my very favorite blanket yarns: Berroco Comfort Chunky
This yarn is perfectly squishy and since I bought it at webs it wasn't hugely expensive, though it would have been cheaper had it been on sale. Also note, that while webs keeps their entire stock of yarn online, they no longer keep all of it at their store location so even if it says they have 30 skeins in the same dye lot you may only be able to find 6 in store. This is not a dig on webs, I love them and always recommend them as a yarn source, great prices and wonderful customer service.
So I started on 10.5, then went to 11s, then back to 10.5 because the yarn is slightly smaller than the one called for in the pattern. A couple restarts and all was well. 11 skeins later I got that sucker done! It was even off in the mail well before Christmas!
 |
| Color is WAY Off in this picture, but that's pretty much the whole thing |
 |
| Color is right here, and it looks perfect in use! |
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
Inheritance
Tradition: Inheritance
Story:
I don’t believe in inheritance. At least not in the way that many people do. I don’t believe my parents’ or grandparents’ money is mine, their house is mine or their other belongings are mine. I do believe I’ve inherited traits (good and bad), knowledge and ideals from them, but things are just things. While I would LOVE my mother’s fine china when she passes, I’m not fighting over it nor do I think I “deserve” it. If she decides to sell or give it away while she’s alive it’s not something I’ll worry about because it belongs to her. As I’ve experienced the loss of two grandparents my ideas on inheritance have been solidified and my thoughts that things should be used up or given up during life is still a basic stance in my personal religion (not to be confused with the religion I share with others). Even with planning, there are still sudden deaths, details missed and only so much you can do. I’m still sewing, and knitting so I don’t get rid of my stash, but I do try to use it and give away those things I no longer like/won’t be using, but if I die tomorrow there is plenty of decent yarn and fabric for people to deal with. So what do you do with items that you no longer have a use for? Well, there is always etsy, ebay and other selling websites where materials for crafting can be sold, or you can do as my grandma did and allow others to steal away with your half finished projects.
Last year when my mom was in UT to run a marathon and hangout with family I joined her. A few of my sisters were there too and we had an amazing time hanging out and watching our mom and cousin run the marathon. While we were there, my mom and I stole away to the basement to use my grandma’s sewing machine and look around her sewing room. My grandma was an amazingly organized sewer. She had a closet with little boxes that were labeled and everything was exactly where it should be. She also had a storage room with one wall stacked to the ceiling with brown file boxes. Some of these boxes were full of fabric, some with books, some with lace, buttons and other bits and bobs. There were also a couple of boxes filled to the brim with unfinished projects. This was like a gold-mine for me. My mom and I came upon hundreds of Dresden Circles (like Dresden plates, but without the points), some Sunbonnet Sues and some other random applique blocks. I asked my grandma to give me an idea of where they came from and what she was using them for, but all she could remember was that she was using up scraps. Knowing that grandma could no longer quilt, my mom and I asked if we could take some of the half-finished items. Grandma was happy to see them go somewhere they would be used. I came home with a suitcase full of things from grandma and a mind full of ideas of what to make!
The plan was to take some of the Dresden Circles and make them into items for my sisters and maybe my aunt/uncles if they wanted something, but I was in the middle of some projects of my own so that didn’t really happen. That is until November. In November, my sister got her mission call and I made plans to be in Oregon right before she left. All of my other sisters were going to be there too. Then the day after thanksgiving grandma passed away and I set to get the projects started and completed before I went home in January. I let my sisters and mom all choose their project and ended up needing the following: 1 Pillowcase, 2 throw pillow covers, 1 wall quilt and 1 quilt square. So I got started appliqueing (I had to learn first, thank you youtube) the Dresden Circles onto fabric and quilting up a storm. I finished a couple days before I needed to leave (thanks to a forced vacation from work). I took them with me out to Oregon and gave them away. It was a completely satisfying project which has, of course, spurred a couple more projects. 2 more pillow covers for my aunt and something for me. I learned that appliqueing onto an already created pillowcase is a pain, but the finished project is pretty amazing.
Story:
I don’t believe in inheritance. At least not in the way that many people do. I don’t believe my parents’ or grandparents’ money is mine, their house is mine or their other belongings are mine. I do believe I’ve inherited traits (good and bad), knowledge and ideals from them, but things are just things. While I would LOVE my mother’s fine china when she passes, I’m not fighting over it nor do I think I “deserve” it. If she decides to sell or give it away while she’s alive it’s not something I’ll worry about because it belongs to her. As I’ve experienced the loss of two grandparents my ideas on inheritance have been solidified and my thoughts that things should be used up or given up during life is still a basic stance in my personal religion (not to be confused with the religion I share with others). Even with planning, there are still sudden deaths, details missed and only so much you can do. I’m still sewing, and knitting so I don’t get rid of my stash, but I do try to use it and give away those things I no longer like/won’t be using, but if I die tomorrow there is plenty of decent yarn and fabric for people to deal with. So what do you do with items that you no longer have a use for? Well, there is always etsy, ebay and other selling websites where materials for crafting can be sold, or you can do as my grandma did and allow others to steal away with your half finished projects.
Last year when my mom was in UT to run a marathon and hangout with family I joined her. A few of my sisters were there too and we had an amazing time hanging out and watching our mom and cousin run the marathon. While we were there, my mom and I stole away to the basement to use my grandma’s sewing machine and look around her sewing room. My grandma was an amazingly organized sewer. She had a closet with little boxes that were labeled and everything was exactly where it should be. She also had a storage room with one wall stacked to the ceiling with brown file boxes. Some of these boxes were full of fabric, some with books, some with lace, buttons and other bits and bobs. There were also a couple of boxes filled to the brim with unfinished projects. This was like a gold-mine for me. My mom and I came upon hundreds of Dresden Circles (like Dresden plates, but without the points), some Sunbonnet Sues and some other random applique blocks. I asked my grandma to give me an idea of where they came from and what she was using them for, but all she could remember was that she was using up scraps. Knowing that grandma could no longer quilt, my mom and I asked if we could take some of the half-finished items. Grandma was happy to see them go somewhere they would be used. I came home with a suitcase full of things from grandma and a mind full of ideas of what to make!
The plan was to take some of the Dresden Circles and make them into items for my sisters and maybe my aunt/uncles if they wanted something, but I was in the middle of some projects of my own so that didn’t really happen. That is until November. In November, my sister got her mission call and I made plans to be in Oregon right before she left. All of my other sisters were going to be there too. Then the day after thanksgiving grandma passed away and I set to get the projects started and completed before I went home in January. I let my sisters and mom all choose their project and ended up needing the following: 1 Pillowcase, 2 throw pillow covers, 1 wall quilt and 1 quilt square. So I got started appliqueing (I had to learn first, thank you youtube) the Dresden Circles onto fabric and quilting up a storm. I finished a couple days before I needed to leave (thanks to a forced vacation from work). I took them with me out to Oregon and gave them away. It was a completely satisfying project which has, of course, spurred a couple more projects. 2 more pillow covers for my aunt and something for me. I learned that appliqueing onto an already created pillowcase is a pain, but the finished project is pretty amazing.
 |
| Finished items Pillow cover (back), wall hanging (right), plain square (mid-bottom), pillowcase(left) |
 |
| pillowcase with 1 applique piece completed, the other just laying on top |
 |
| This one turned out the best. I love the quilting in the center, it looks like a diamond and the quilting on the pieces is very flower/sun-esque |
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Finished
So my picture wall has been completed for ages, but I didn't have a good picture of it so I wasn't writing about it.
I am finally giving in and just writing it up with a horrible picture.
.JPG)
1. Collage of Jim/Jim's family
2. Bash Bish Falls with the phrase over top (phrase:The art of being happy lies in the power of extracting happiness from common things)
3. Collage of flowers from my gardens
4. Jim and his mom from when Jim was little
5. Jim being a goofball at the quarry
6. Collage of Norm
7. Turtle batik fabric with phrase over top (phrase: Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful)
8. Jim and Me up in VT phrase on two edges (phrase: I like who we are when we are with us)
9. Collage of my family
10. Collage of Sherm
11. Sherm in a vast sand pit when he was little
12. Jim and Me leaf peeping in NH
13. Macro pic of Sherm's shell
14. Picture of a Red Barchetta with phrase (phrase: this is a song about a car)
15. What does a nosey pepper do? Gets Jalepeno business with a picture of a jalepeno
16. Collage of our wedding photos
I am finally giving in and just writing it up with a horrible picture.
.JPG)
1. Collage of Jim/Jim's family
2. Bash Bish Falls with the phrase over top (phrase:The art of being happy lies in the power of extracting happiness from common things)
3. Collage of flowers from my gardens
4. Jim and his mom from when Jim was little
5. Jim being a goofball at the quarry
6. Collage of Norm
7. Turtle batik fabric with phrase over top (phrase: Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful)
8. Jim and Me up in VT phrase on two edges (phrase: I like who we are when we are with us)
9. Collage of my family
10. Collage of Sherm
11. Sherm in a vast sand pit when he was little
12. Jim and Me leaf peeping in NH
13. Macro pic of Sherm's shell
14. Picture of a Red Barchetta with phrase (phrase: this is a song about a car)
15. What does a nosey pepper do? Gets Jalepeno business with a picture of a jalepeno
16. Collage of our wedding photos
Thursday, October 18, 2012
Some things I love
Every now and then I feel the need to praise things (blame article of faith 13). So on the docket for today, things I am currently enjoying in no particular order:
PCHH (still)
Crystal Light Hard Candy
PB2 (in things, I don’t like it as peanut butter spread)
Soy Sauce, Mirin and Ginger
Hydrogen peroxide (mouth wash, cold sore killer and all around awesome)
Cloth napkins
Running with the Pack
My picture wall
Sherlock Holmes (still)
Asics Gel-1170
What are you enjoying right now?
PCHH (still)
Crystal Light Hard Candy
PB2 (in things, I don’t like it as peanut butter spread)
Soy Sauce, Mirin and Ginger
Hydrogen peroxide (mouth wash, cold sore killer and all around awesome)
Cloth napkins
Running with the Pack
My picture wall
Sherlock Holmes (still)
Asics Gel-1170
What are you enjoying right now?
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Making it Home-ish
I wrote in the past about my desire to have a picture wall in my house. Well, this weekend we were at Target looking for a wedding gift and happened by a clearance end cap with picture frames. We were able to buy a bunch and they all match!
I started immediately to choose pictures to fill the frames. Most of the 8x10 frames will have a collage of pictures, but a couple of them will just have 1 picture or a picture and a phrase. I looked back through pictures and found some fun, funny and sweet ones. Sent them to be printed and spent two football games sorting and selecting and cutting pictures and placing them in the frames. So far I have filled all except 3 of them. A couple of them still need a phrase put in them, but I’m almost done.
To choose the placement I traced the frames onto freezer paper and cut out templates. Then I spent a ridiculous amount of time trying to find the perfect layout. It may not be completely perfect yet, but I like it so far.
.JPG)
Now, off to finish filling the frames and paint the wall so I can get this done before my birthday!
I started immediately to choose pictures to fill the frames. Most of the 8x10 frames will have a collage of pictures, but a couple of them will just have 1 picture or a picture and a phrase. I looked back through pictures and found some fun, funny and sweet ones. Sent them to be printed and spent two football games sorting and selecting and cutting pictures and placing them in the frames. So far I have filled all except 3 of them. A couple of them still need a phrase put in them, but I’m almost done.
To choose the placement I traced the frames onto freezer paper and cut out templates. Then I spent a ridiculous amount of time trying to find the perfect layout. It may not be completely perfect yet, but I like it so far.
.JPG)
Now, off to finish filling the frames and paint the wall so I can get this done before my birthday!
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