Sew Distracted

I'm knitting as fast as I can

And it still isn't fast enough.

I continue to be overwhelmed with the number of sweater patterns showing up this fall that I want to knit.  I honestly don't know if there are actually more patterns that I like than usual, or if I am just more receptive to wishful thinking and dreaming.    I can't even index things fast enough.  Of course part of that is a time problem as well.  Still I am constantly revising my lists of what I want to knit this fall.  What I really should do is stop dreaming about future projects and just knit.

The new online magazine Twist Collective debuted this month and was really lovely and interesting.  There were quite a few patterns I found intersting given my general weakness for patterns.  Just call me a pattern slut.  Anyway, these are the ones that have most caught my eye (at the moment anyway):

Only the last two are a definite yes for me at the moment.  Both of them use stash yarn (yeah!) and both of them have been added to the queue. Actually I was kind of wavering on that last, a-line sweater, until I turned around and noticed that I happened to have just enough Classic Elite Waterlily in the perfect deep maroon shade.....

Well, obviously it was meant to be.

Actually, I am torn between Jaali (the orange sweater) and Bonnie (the green one).  You get better pictures of the detail of Jaali in the magazine, Bonnie also intrigues and would just be perfect for tramping around the woods and farms.  At the moment I am leaning more toward the former than the latter, but no commitments have been made.

Actually in the interest of full disclosure, I should have just written about all the patterns I like in the Vogue Knitting because already I am changing my mind.  I am falling in love with tons of long cardigans this season and it looks like the long cardigans I posted in my previous post will not be high on the list for this fall.

Although the cabled hoodie in chunky yarn remains near the top of my list, I am also reconsidering the beautiful cabled square wrap cardigan by Angela Hahn.   Angela's blog is one of my favorites but I was a little behind on blog reading.  When I looked at the photos of this sweater on her blog I knew I had to knit it, the photo in the magazine really does not begin to show the beauty of this sweater.  Angela also answered some of my questions about fit/alterations by giving more information and some corrections to  the pattern as written in Vogue.

And so here are the other patterns in the fall Vogue that I am still intrigued by.  Obviously I am incapable of deciding which sweaters I am actually going to knit when I read the magazine, so I might as well just list them all.

Fall Rowan and Vogue

Perhaps it is that I love clothes too much.  Or perhaps it is that I suffer from a lack of discrimination (better that than a lack of taste).  Either way, I know that I am finding tons of inspiration and interesting patterns in the new batch of pattern books and magazines.  I believe I see more than I want to knit than I have in any one year for quite some time.  I see so much that I am feeling somewhat overwhelmed by the sheer abundance.

Take the fall Rowan, book #44.  

This issue is filled with inspiration.  I could knit from this book alone for years.

Most of the patterns here are things that I can easily see myself making and/or wearing at some point or another.  Many can be adapted to work very well, many others are just perfect as inspiration sweaters even if I never make them.

This book is so chock-full of good things that I am having trouble making up my mind.  Even though there are a few things that stand out, I am not yet decided.  Perhaps it is because there is so much.  Perhaps it is because I tend to dress in outfits and I am trying to pay more mind to matching my knitting to other garments in wardrobe (and at this point I have no idea what my fall wardrobe will contain).  Luckily it is easier to sew something to go with a sweater than the other way around, although I have been known to do both.  I feel I should keep this book by my sewing table as it is so perfectly suited to rounding out several different outfits.  At any rate, I know that I can imagine myself making most of the sweaters in this book, or at least some variation on most of the sweaters.   This is a 30th anniversary issue that I could probably use for the next 30 years.

 Vogue knitting seems to blow hot and cold.  The big anniversary issue (last year) left me completely cold.  This issue however has quite a few things that have tickled my fancy.  Most of them aren't really practical for me -- and there are quite a few in which I like the idea  more than the I like the problem of altering extensive cabling or color work for length issues.

I am thrilled that there are many long sweaters and especially thrilled that there are some long cardigans.  Even though I will not get to all of these this winter, long cardigans remain my favorites and there are many seasons worth of new sweaters here.

These three cardigans in particular are nice, although I can't really decide which one, if any, I will make:

The first two, with the cables along the front bands, feature more prominently in my thoughts at the moment, but this could change.  Any decision will probably depend on the choices of yarn and yarn color as well as whether the fall and winter wardrobe presents itself with specific gaps that need to be filled.

Then there are the sweaters that really fill my imagination at the moment:

I love this cabled sweater.  The color work at the top which draws the eye upward, the lengthening cables, the A-line shape:  These are all pluses in my book.  This is a sweater that will make me look long and lean, or at least feel like I look long and lean.

No small part of the fascination is the A-line shape, which is good for me and which seems to be an obsession at the moment.  I am collecting a-line and fitted and flared sweater patterns at a truly amazing rate. 

The next sweater on my list also includes a little more color work.  This one is not long, but I love the way the color work bodice is done, working from center back to cuffs.   The shorter sleeves make the dolman look much less overwhelming and the broken rib lower body and wide front bands are an elegant touch.

Last but by no means least on my list is this long cabled pullover.  Admittedly I am mostly fascinated by the cables.  But the length is good for me and the style is one that I would wear frequently throughout the winter. 

This sweater is the highest on the list of "must makes" from this issue.  I am already thinking of yarns and colors, although nothing is quite decided as fall yarns are just starting to show up in the LYS.  The only rush is to be sure that I get just what I want.  There is no rush to begin knitting this.  It is, after all, still mostly hot and humid here, and the thought of sitting with mounds of heavily cabled bulky wool is not enticing.

I've Got Mail

And it looks like something to savor slowly:

Ooh la la! Fall fashion magazines.  The dresses on the cover of both the Vogue and the Town and Country are fabulous.  I haven't really looked at the fall fashion shows yet, not even the couture.  And if these dresses are any indication of what I will find I should start looking.

The Vogue patterns magazine also came filled with ideas for fall sewing.  It also reminds me that I haven't looked at the newest batch of patterns on the website.

I will take a look at those this weekend.  It will be weeks yet before they wend their way into the pattern drawers at my local Joann Fabrics.

Not that I am really ready for fall sewing yet.  I do still want to work on that taupe collection that did not materialize as a June capsule.  There is still lots of time to wear it.  And I am woefully behind on my coat(s) as well.

A new Patrones also arrived and I was very disappointed to see that it is soaking wet and the pages are sticking together.  It was, as usual, wrapped in a plastic bag.  The bag was dry on the outside and wet on the inside.  I wonder what happened.  The pattern looks OK but the line drawing pages are a mess.  I need to look more closely and trace off anything I might want before it becomes completely illegible. Luckily, at first glance, there is really not that much in this issue I am interested in -- all summer things, and I have many far more interesting summer things filling my dreams.

So there is lots of fodder for dreams and wishes and even some creative pursuits here.  But I have no trouble storing up dreams.  There are so many inspiring ideas.  And already I am looking at some fabrics that are on the shelf and looking at them in a different way.  Dreams and wishes. You will be reading more about them soon.

Yipee Ki Yo!!

When Marji  told me that the May Knipmode had the pattern for a particular Bottega Veneta dress I knew I had to get a copy.

It arrived today and I am thrilled.  I can't wait to make the dress.  And there are couple of other things I like as well -- a Valentino suit perhaps? A blouse with a fabulous ruffled neckline? 

So now I am officially overwhelmed with ideas of things I want to sew.  Just think a year ago I thought I had lost my style and I found just getting dressed to be stressful, now I want the world to go away and let me sew, sew, sew.  Well, I also want time to go out and wear all these new creations once I have made them.

I know I also promised to post pictures of the fabrics purchased at Fishman's.  Those have arrived too, I just need to get them photographed.

Vogue Knitting Winter 2008

The new Vogue Knitting arrived in my mailbox today.  I was rather sad to see that it was, overall, fairly disappointing.  I have been buying Vogue Knitting since they reintroduced it in 1982 even though I did not know how to knit at that time. I had faith that I would learn.  Since I did not knit I did miss a few issues, but not many, only 2 or 3 issues are missing from my collection. 

I can honestly say however, that never, in all that time, have I been as completely uninspired by any issue as I am by this one. The cover looks promising,  the colors are thrilling, but the patterns themselves do not encourage me to whip out the needles and rifle through the stash, much less fire up the mouse and start seeking out new yarn.

Perhaps it is just me. 

Even the story line entitled "Oh Cables" did not brighten my spirits although I seem to have been tempted by cabled sweaters elsewhere:

Look at this wonderful cabled sweater currently on sale at Net-A-Porter. . Here is something I am inspired to knock-off, although I would change the length a bit to fit me and perhaps change the shape a little bit as well. 

Here is a detail photo of the cables:

The combination of the jacket shape and the hood and the cable pattern makes me itch to find some yarn and needles, although if it continues warm I probably won't need it this year and I already have a generous supply of sweaters that are too warm to wear.

I can't even say that I am attracted only to high-end designer knitwear.  I am also thinking about this cabled sweater from Moda Dea, a branch of Coats and Clarks.  The tie front isn't really for me but that is easily adapted to a simple narrow belt. and I just love the combination of pattern and the lines of this jacket. 

Both of these are styles that I would find fun to knit and would love to wear for a long time. 

The designs in the Vogue just don't pass that test for me.  Some of them are moderately interesting.  And I am not one to shy away from fashionable or trendy designs, but the Vogue patterns don't seem to have either enough spark or enough versatility to capture my attention.

Or perhaps it is just that I have too many one-outfit sweaters and am looking for something a little more basic.

Sew Stylish Dreams

¿ ¿Sewing time, what's that.??  Just finding time to write seems to be a struggle this week.

Thursday night I met a friend at the local Barnes and Noble for what was billed as an evening of knitting but actually ended up being an evening of browsing through knitting and sewing books, drinking coffee, and talking up a storm.  Not a bad way to spend an evening at all.

When I walked in to the store, I saw the new Sew Stylish magazine and quickly grabbed it before heading up the escalator.  After that, I kind of flipped through it here and there between fits of talking and giggling, put it down on a shelf while I looked at crochet books and proceeded to forget all about it until I was leaving the store.  Then I had to go back in and buy a copy.  Of course I am glad I did because I have been hauling it around with me ever since, flipping through the pages, looking at the articles and the ideas and just generally getting a major sewing inspiration hit.

Generally I have been very interested in this magazine even though I did not subscribe to it, although I would have eventually.  I cannot be convinced that my failure to subscribe has lead to its demise, barely before it got started, because I have been down this road too many times with magazines from Taunton Press.  I have been charter subscribers to most of their new magazines, loved them, and have been sorely disappointed when they cease publication and my subscription is applied to one of my other Taunton subscriptions (like Threads, my subscription to which I believe is due to expire in something like 2011). 

But enough grousing...back to the magazine.  There are a lot of good tips and ideas in this magazine and more than just a compendium of ideas and tips, I like the way they have tied all this information together by building a collection of garments based on one pattern; Simplicity 3631:

I am actually rather impressed with the things they have turned out of this with this pattern, and if you haven't looked at this magazine, I think you should.  I would have loved something like this when I was learning to sew because it ties ideas for actual garments that I could sew now in with all kinds of useful information that I would otherwise have to search for in a bunch of different books without much confidence if I was doing the right thing when applying it to the garment I was trying to make.

This pattern is on my "to buy" list, even though I was not particularly thrilled with it when I first saw it on the website.  There was a pretty interesting discussion about it over at Stitcher's Guild but I wasn't really convinced about it until I started looking at some fall inspiration garments and thinking about a few things I wanted to make, including my plans for making something inspired by that Anthropologie embroidered baby-doll top that will be neither baby-doll nor a top by the time I am done with it.  Unfortunately this pattern was not yet in stock last time I was in my local JoAnn Fabrics before I left for Knoxville.  I continue to hope that the pattern drawers will be restocked soon.