Vogue Knitting Holiday 2008

The new Vogue Knitting arrived last weekend and I have been looking through it daily, reading it a little here and there, looking at the pictures and patterns, perusing the ads (I always love studying the ads) and just generally entertaining myself.  

I find that I am getting much more focused in terms of my pattern choices. And these "arm cozies" or fingerless mitts immediately caught my eye.  

Just days before the magazine arrived I had purchased some Plymouth Baby Alpaca DK in color 1300, which is a light bright yellow green with the intention of knitting a scarf and some gloves or mitts as a gift.  The timing was perfect, and I started a swatch almost immediately.  It took me a week to actually get started simply due to gauge issues.  It seems I did not own any size 3 double point needles.  I started with size 2, since I am usually such a loosey-goosey knitter that I have to go down a size.  The swatch was too small, way to small.  So I tried the size 4's in my stash.  Too large.   After a run to the store I finally got a working swatch and cast on yesterday.  These will be worked alternately with the Gedifra vest, because the smaller needles are much easier on my hands.

The second sweater that really leapt out at me, and the one that I think is my hands-down favorite sweater in this issue is Laura Bryant's opera coat. There is a part of me that just wants to stop everything and get that yarn. But I know it would take  a while and I can't imagine knitting the sweater in some  other yarn.  That is not surprising considering how much I love Prism yarns and just ooh and ahh over Laura Bryant's colors.  But it will have to wait.  There is no Laura Bryant opera coat in my immediate future, except in the land of dreams.  But have not doubts that the opportunity will arise and I will make it someday.

So what are the more practical options?

I love both of these sweaters.  Tanis Gray's sweater with the swallows would look fabulous on me now, but as I am actively working on loosing weight I am not sure if it would be the right size or look as good on me then.  I don't mind knitting for the current me, but I don't want to start something that may be questionable by the time I finish.  This sweater would have looked good on the younger thinner me, but one thing I have learned is that the new thinner post-menopausal me, is not necessarily going to be arranged the same as my youthful predecessor.  So on this one I will wait.  

 Shiri Mor's fabulous cabled loopy cardigan is something that I truly adore and it reminds me of a sweater I once had.  At this point in my weight loss, this is not my best sweater choice, but it is possible that it will look good after a few more pounds.  It is certainly worth saving for inspiration and encouragement.

This stunning fair isle with the bell sleeves and the peplum is something that will look good on me now and will probably look good in the future too.   I think I keep saying that I need sweaters in variations on this shape and this one is certainly worthy of adding to the queue.  

Did you think I didn't notice the Brandon Mably? Shame on you.  I love this sweater, and it has shaping.  It would look good on me now.  It would have looked good on my pre-weight gain, pre-menopausal self.  I don't yet know if it will look good on my post-weight-loss-post-menopausal self, primarily because I have come to terms with the fact that the new me is simply going to be bustier than the old me, no matter what happens to my weight (well perhaps not if I became truly scrawny, but I enjoy cooking and eating too much for that to ever happen).  So again this is a pattern worth waiting for.   And I love the idea that Vogue put of a photo showing alternate colorways, as that is always the kind of thing that I spend hours and hours mulling over.  

I love the photo of the different colorways as well and find them very inspiring.  At the moment I am drawn to the magenta version but it would have to be worn with just the right thing, and the turquoise is also thrilling.    I wish I was able to find that information about the colorways and additional commentary by Mably that Vogue says can be found on the website, but I just can't find it.  I don't really need to find the exact colors anyway, I just love the picture because it inspires me to think of colors I might not have chosen previously.

In the end, if I knit a sweater for myself from this issue, and I probably will eventually, the most likely candidate is one that I actually passed over in my first perusal of the magazine.  It was so simple, versatile, and wearable that it just disappeared behind all the more dramatic styles.

This little scooped neck, ribbed top is just fabulous.  It is the kind of think that I would, and do, wear all the time, but also the kind of thing I just rarely think of knitting.  I am always drawn to the fun patterns, not necessarily to the practical patterns.  I should knit it.  I think I will knit it.  I increasingly love my own knits more than anything I can buy, so it seems obvious that I should knit the kind of things that I love to wear.  

It is simple enough to knit that it should go rather  quickly.   I will have to lengthen it, but that does not take any particularly difficult math.   And it will always look good.   A woman needs a few basic sweaters that will always look good after all.

Comments

[Kathy]

Hi Mardel,

I love Shiri Mors sweater too but was concerned the loops would catch on things and was trying to think of an alternate finish for the cuffs and the bottom of the sweater that would be attractive...any ideas?