Sunday, April 19, 2009

winter approaches, out come the needles

I've just recently finished the Hey, Teach! cardi for myself, and I am really pleased with it. I think I could go for this short sleeve with long sleeve T underneath look.I mostly lack the confidence to knit myself garments beyond hats and scarves, since they so often fit poorly or look wrong in some way or another. It is such a huge investment of time and money I tend to play it safe. But this one has really shifted my attitude.

In part I think it has come from a better range of pattern options out there. As a knitting teenager anything plus size was generally from a men's pattern, with drop shoulders and too long arms. I'm much more skilled at altering patterns now, but so many more patterns come up to an over the 50" bust mark. And more of them have shaping and detailing that makes it a really worthy project.

At the moment I am really interested in lace detailing as a feature and also in 'top down' construction because altering shaping is so easy and with no bulky stiff seams you get a much more flattering fit, plus there's no sewing and pieces to fit together. This free pattern looks good, and quite a few of the projects in Custom Knits really appeal (though the styling with so many photos of slim chicks in undies is a bit off putting).

Have you got a knit garment pattern to recommend? I'd love to get a little list together of great plus size patterns...

5 comments:

Mary B said...

That looks fabulous on you! Now I'm tempted to make it.

Anonymous said...

I came across this pattern on Knitpicks a few days ago, and it seems like it would work perfectly for a busty plus-size woman. I've got it queued for myself, though I'll probably wait until next spring to do it because my knitting queue, not to mention my life, are way overbooked at the moment.

Sherril said...

What a great cardi. It's nice plus size women can knit for themselves now days.

Katheen said...

Wow - just beautiful!

Deborah-lee said...

Perfect job.

The colour is perfect and the style looks great on you!