Fair warning.
Posted on 29 July 2010 | 9 responses
You may be seeing a lot of Quince yarns around here this fall. I appear to have a bit of a problem.
(Chickadee in Pea Coat and Cypress.)
I’m going to try to get the next installment of fit to flatter, due Sunday, out on Saturday this weekend to better fit in with some other scheduling. The topic this time is custom sweater design. I’m both excited and sad to see the series coming to a close. (The last installment, Number 10, will be posted on Sunday, 15 August.) On one hand, I’m sad because this has been such an unexpectedly fantastic experience for me. I’m making connections with some lovely knitters and learning what’s important to me in my own design work in a way I wouldn’t have thought possible.
But on the other hand, new things! Including my very first Fit to Flatter class, on September 25th at the Purl Diva yarn shop in Brunswick, ME. Ellen has been supplying me with utterly fantastic yarn for years, and I’m very excited to work with her. Here’s the shop announcement:
CLASS: FIT TO FLATTER CLASS WITH DESIGNER AMY HERZOG
Designer Amy Herzog will be teaching the concepts of her Fit To Flatter series. In this class, Amy will:
- Cover the principles of dressing to flatter the shape *you* have, not the shape some other person has or the shape you *think* you should have, or the shape the model in the knitting pattern seems to have…
- Offer personalized shape analysis in a warm group setting
- Apply those principles to *your* own shape in the form of knitting patterns.
Prerequisites: None
Date: Saturday, September 25th, 2010
Time: 9:00 – 11:00 AM
Fee: $40
Class Size: Maximum of 6
Materials: Please come wearing (or willing to change into) well-fitted clothes because Amy will be taking pictures! Bring along a selection of patterns you love, feel unsure about, or want analyzed. If you’re willing to share them with others, please bring along a selection of your hand-knits, as well.
Exciting, eh? And I think it’s nearly sold out already, so if you’d like to join us be sure to give Ellen a call! I’m really looking forward to wherever this road takes me.
Welcoming the Diva(s)
Posted on 23 July 2010 | 10 responses
I tend to anthropomorphize my yarn. Some yarns are that solid, dependable friend that is always there, waiting, after you come back from the latest fad or hare-brained idea. Some are expensive, demanding, high-maintenance but worth it. Some are wallflowers, waiting their turn patiently until one day, suddenly, you see the beauty that’s been there all along.
And then some yarns march right up to the head of the line, sail past the security guard, sit right on your lap, and look you directly in the eye. “You cannot do anything else until you’ve worked with me,” they say, “because I really am all that.” I met some yarns like that this past weekend. I had wanted to meet Ms. Cleaver for some time, and it seemed like a good thing to combine with a visit to KnitWit to see the new Quince and Co. yarns. I did take some pictures while we were in the store, but as it turns out my kids had smeared their sunscreeny hands all over my lens cover, so everything I took looked pretty psychadelic.
But the company, the shop, and the yarns were all amazing. Someone actually recognized me, as I was browsing, which totally thrilled me after my initial disbelief. Anna, KnitWit’s owner, could not possibly have been more helpful or friendly. And the yarns… Well, let’s just say they back the diva attitude up with some real substance.
The colors are utterly phenomenal, first of all. They’re saturated, they’re rich, they’re completely solid and gorgeous. But the real story, I think, are the yarns themselves. They seem exceedingly hard-wearing and sturdy, but they have the feel of the most delicate merino. They’re utterly, utterly perfectly crafted. I chose both the Chickadee (NO surprise there)
and the Osprey (yes, even though it’s aran weight!)
because they felt like the right combination of softness and sproing for my taste. But I don’t see how you could go wrong with any of the yarns. The Chickadee is already whispering sweet nothings into my ear. I’m less sure what I’m going to do with the Osprey beyond a basic outline in my head. I hope to wear them both to Rhinebeck.
I’m sure the other yarns will forgive me, right? It’s not like I had any choice in the matter.
New FO/Pattern: Bryony
Posted on 19 July 2010 | 11 responses
Hot on the heels of the last Fit to Flatter installment, here’s a nice, portable summer tank pattern to keep you cool.
Sizes: XS (S, M, L, XL, 2XL, 3XL)
Final Measurements: Bust sizes measure: 32 (36, 38, 40, 42, 46, 50)”/ 81.5 (91.5, 96.5, 101.5, 106.5, 117, 127) cm
Length from hem to shoulder: 23 (23.5, 24.25, 24.5, 24.75, 25, 25)”/ 58.5 (59.5, 61.5, 62, 63, 63.5, 63.5) cm
Featured Materials: Schulana Sojabama (120 yds/110 m per 50g ball), shown in color 23 Dark Olive: 6 (7, 7, 8, 8, 9, 10) balls or approximately 671 (771, 840, 893, 950, 1048, 1139) yards / 614 (705, 769, 817, 869, 958, 1042) meters in an alternate yarn.
Gauge: 20 stitches and 36 rows = 4”/10 cm in stockinette stitch, blocked. Recommended needle size of US 6.
Pattern Notes:
Bryony is a fitted, drapey tank top for hot summer days, with an aran braid cable twining around the V-neck and down the back. It is knit in two pieces from the bottom up and then seamed together. An applied I-cord edging is worked to finish the armhole and neck edges. Vertical darts are used for shaping, and are placed to ensure that the cables on the front and back of the tank line up properly when seaming.
(All images in this page copyright splityarn. She’s awesome.)
Bryony offers a very balanced visual impression and can flatter a large variety of body types depending on where on the wearer’s body the hem falls. Proportional and top-heavy shapes should ensure that the tank ends at the widest point of their hips; bottom-heavy shapes should wear the tank slightly shorter to end an inch or two above their widest point. The V-neck slims and flatters a larger bust; smaller-busted knitters may want to bring the V-neck up a bit by working an extra inch before splitting the V.
Vertical darts allow for extremely flexible shaping, customized to fit your body. Should you desire less waist shaping than specified, you can omit or decrease the shaping rows entirely on the front of the tank. Bustier women can accommodate their needs by performing more increases on the front of the sweater, and not in the back. These extra stitches can be decreased into the cable on the neckline.
Applied i-cord is used on the unfinished edgings of the sweater and give an unobtrusive but neat, “finished” appearance to those edges. It also stabilizes the openings provides structure. I’m hoping to do a post on the edging later this week–I just adore the way it looks in the tank, and want to share before and after pictures of the armholes with you.
Schulana Sojabama is a glossy, incredibly soft bamboo/soy blend and I highly recommend it. I got mine from the ever-awesome Ellen (and she does mail order!), and it should be widely available around the country. If you’d like to use another yarn, be sure it works to a drapey but opaque fabric at 5 stitches to the inch.
Many thanks to the completely gorgeous Kellee for modeling the sweater. It was a struggle to get the tank back from her, and I hope you enjoy your tank as much as we enjoy this one!
Bryony may be purchased here or from my ravelry pattern store for US$6.00.
Fit to Flatter Installment 8: Shaping.
Posted on 18 July 2010 | 7 responses
Fit to flatter is a ten-part series of tutorials on choosing and modifying knitting patterns to flatter your shape. These tutorials will be released every two weeks both as blog posts (free) and as separate, professionally formatted PDF files for printing (nominal charge). Should you desire the PDFs, each installment can be purchased from the tutorial page as they are released, or via a “buy now” button at the end of the installment. Individual installments are US$2.00 and at the end of the tutorial series the whole series will be available for $US10.00. All text copyright Amy Herzog and all images copyright splityarn 2010, unless where otherwise noted. I hope you enjoy the series!
This ten-part series is not about making you feel badly about what you have already knit. It is not about making you feel badly about your shape, or about making you feel like you can only knit certain things, in certain yarns. In writing these tutorials, I want to help you learn basic principles for dressing the figure you have in the most flattering way possible.
Every person reading these words has both fabulous assets to show off and a thing or two that you wish would disappear forever (or, in some cases, appear forever). The fact is this: Though I won’t argue that we’d all be healthier if we exercised more, wearing flattering clothes will do much more to change the way you feel about your body than losing weight or gaining muscle will.
As knitters, we have the ultimate power of creating a piece of couture perfectly suited to our figures, every single time. Your hand-knits should make you look and feel like a million bucks, and not just because of the skill required to form the stitches. I want to help you get there.
Previous installments have focused on determining your own shape, principles for using clothing to flatter, and specific garment elements. In this installment, we cover your best weapon in the quest for flattery in extreme detail: Shaping. The final two installments will close out the series with implementation, advanced sweater modification, and custom sweater design. We’re almost there!
Nearing the end.
Posted on 10 July 2010 | 33 responses
As I near the end of the fit to flatter series (just one more week until the next installment!), I find myself thinking about where I want to go from here. Your response to the tutorials has been overwhelmingly positive and touching, and to my delight people actually seem interested in what I have to say. Sadly, it couldn’t possibly be viable to make the combination of designing and fit to flatter my career. Even as a ‘hobby’, though, there seem to be lots of possibilities. Book? Class? Workshops?
The idea percolating around the top of my head at the moment is a class. One of the best parts about doing these tutorials was the chance to get all of my best knitting buds in the same room and analyze one another, trying a ton of stuff on in the process. We all learned so much about our shapes that day, and I would love to try and capture parts of that experience in a class. While the class would need to cover the basic tutorial material, I really want to figure out a way to incorporate personal analysis into the experience too. I began with two ideas for how to carry this out, and put them to the wonderful people who have joined the fit-to-flatter ravelry group:
I also have a specific question. I can think of two ways to go through serious shape analysis for class participants. The first is to tack up big sheets of paper, have us stand against them, and trace outlines. The second is to bring a digital camera, laptop, and projector? And do the photos as specified in the tutorials (sans workout gear).
Am I missing an option? Which would you rather do, if you took such a class?
The group not only answered my original question, but gave me loads of great ideas for how to make such a class rewarding and fun for everyone. So, I wonder if I could pose a broader request for feedback to all of you? I would have three major goals with a “Fit to Flatter” class:
- First, cover the class material in a more hands-on, personal setting. I think it’s easier, sometimes, to really “get” something if you’re forced to practice it and talk it out (instead of just reading it on a screen).
- Personalized shape analysis for class members, in a friendly setting.
- Application of (1) to (2) in the form of popular or attendee-brought knitting patterns.
Without going into all the notes I’ve generated so far, would you be interested in such a class if it were offered near you? Would you like to walk away from the experience with photos and measurements as described in Installment 4?
Or, if you like, a broader question: What do you think I should do next with fit to flatter?
(And before I sneak back to writing the next installment, which is quite possibly my favorite of the series by the way, can I share a quick snapshot of a sock-in-progress?)
Thanks in advance for your responses!
Fit to Flatter Installment 7: Sweater Length.
Posted on 5 July 2010 | 4 responses
Fit to flatter is a ten-part series of tutorials on choosing and modifying knitting patterns to flatter your shape. These tutorials will be released every two weeks both as blog posts (free) and as separate, professionally formatted PDF files for printing (nominal charge). Should you desire the PDFs, each installment can be purchased from the tutorial page as they are released, or via a “buy now” button at the end of the installment. Individual installments are US$2.00 and at the end of the tutorial series the whole series will be available for $US10.00. All text copyright Amy Herzog and all images copyright splityarn 2010, unless where otherwise noted. I hope you enjoy the series!
This ten-part series is not about making you feel badly about what you have already knit. It is not about making you feel badly about your shape, or about making you feel like you can only knit certain things, in certain yarns. In writing these tutorials, I want to help you learn basic principles for dressing the figure you have in the most flattering way possible.
Every person reading these words has both fabulous assets to show off and a thing or two that you wish would disappear forever (or, in some cases, appear forever). The fact is this: Though I won’t argue that we’d all be healthier if we exercised more, wearing flattering clothes will do much more to change the way you feel about your body than losing weight or gaining muscle will.
As knitters, we have the ultimate power of creating a piece of couture perfectly suited to our figures, every single time. Your hand-knits should make you look and feel like a million bucks, and not just because of the skill required to form the stitches. I want to help you get there.
Previous installments have focused on determining your own shape, principles for using clothing to flatter, and specific garment elements. In this installment, the seventh out of ten, we wrap up the series of installments on specific garment elements by focusing on the hem of a sweater. The final three installments will cover waist shaping, implementation, and advanced topics. We’re almost there!
Advance notice: Slight Delay.
Posted on 3 July 2010 | 3 responses
Due to the holiday here in the U.S. the next installment of the Fit to Flatter series, which covers sweater length, will be posted on Monday July 5th instead of Sunday July 4th. For those U.S. visitors, happy 4th of July!
By way of apology for the delay, here’s a sneak peek of my next self-published pattern. It’s a lightweight summer tank in Schulana Sojabama, it’s called Bryony, and I’ll be sending the pattern to my tech editor shortly. (So if you wish, you will have plenty of time to whip one up before the dog days of summer are gone.)
Workspaces, Choices
Posted on 24 June 2010 | 17 responses
Thank you all very much for the warm reception for Lucette, for the comments on yarn color, for the response to the sleeves installment, and for being just a fantastic group of readers. Yay for you!
We’ve been on “staycation” the past week, and decided to make a much-needed change in our furniture layout since we were home anyway. The computer is now part of our main living space, which is a good thing, and my knitting stuff has taken over the guest room–also a good thing. I had some help:
And after not too long, I had this shiny new workspace!
I’m madly in love with it. It has a place for all of my swatches to live (man, were they ever outgrowing their binder)…
…it has an incredibly inspiring sock yarn bin…
…and best of all, it has a glorious desk. GLORIOUS, I tell you.
Having a great workspace led to a really productive week. I’m chugging along on the tank and already thinking about what I’ll do for early fall. The problem is, I have a lot of ideas.
Anyone want to pick a favorite yarn in there? What should I do next?
Fit to Flatter Installment 6: Sleeves.
Posted on 20 June 2010 | 8 responses
Fit to flatter is a ten-part series of tutorials on choosing and modifying knitting patterns to flatter your shape. These tutorials will be released every two weeks both as blog posts (free) and as separate, professionally formatted PDF files for printing (nominal charge). Should you desire the PDFs, each installment can be purchased from the tutorial page as they are released, or via a “buy now” button at the end of the installment. Individual installments are US$2.00 and at the end of the tutorial series the whole series will be available for $US10.00. All text copyright Amy Herzog and all images copyright splityarn 2010, unless where otherwise noted. I hope you enjoy the series!
This ten-part series is not about making you feel badly about what you have already knit. It is not about making you feel badly about your shape, or about making you feel like you can only knit certain things, in certain yarns. In writing these tutorials, I want to help you learn basic principles for dressing the figure you have in the most flattering way possible.
Every person reading these words has both fabulous assets to show off and a thing or two that you wish would disappear forever (or, in some cases, appear forever). The fact is this: Though I won’t argue that we’d all be healthier if we exercised more, wearing flattering clothes will do much more to change the way you feel about your body than losing weight or gaining muscle will.
As knitters, we have the ultimate power of creating a piece of couture perfectly suited to our figures, every single time. Your hand-knits should make you look and feel like a million bucks, and not just because of the skill required to form the stitches. I want to help you get there.
Previous installments have covered all the generalities of determining your own shape and what sorts of sweaters flatter it. Now we’re tackling individual garment elements that are easy to modify and have a big impact on flattery. In the previous installment, we dissected necklines. In this installment we’ll focus exclusively on sleeves. Future installments will cover other garment elements, advanced sweater modification, and custom sweater design.
Procrastinating again (naturally).
Posted on 18 June 2010 | 20 responses
What should I be doing?
…writing the next installment of Fit to Flatter (up Sunday night!), so that I can get to putting together my exciting new furniture from Ikea. I’m finally going to have a real craft space and desk.
What am I doing instead?
Taking pictures of part of my next design.
And maybe thinking about what to do with one of these beauties. Which color do you like best?
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