Showing posts with label Knit.Wear. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Knit.Wear. Show all posts

Friday 21 March 2014

Knit.Wear Spring/Summer 2014: A Review


The Spring/Summer 2014 issue of knit.wear is out. Let's have a look at it, shall we?





The Folded Lace Tank. I like the ingenuity shown here with the use of pleats and lace, but A-line tops can be unflattering on many women, so proceed with caution. I'm also not crazy about the way the trousers and brassiere this model is wearing is showing so plainly through the top that it almost appears to be knitted in gradient sections.





The Box Pleat Scoopneck. This isn't bad. It's well shaped and the pleats at the neckline are an interesting, modern touch.





Front Pleat Dolman. This one is going to be wildly unflattering on most women, making them look six months pregnant at best. Notice how this model is having to raise an arm over her head to give it any semblance of style?





The Pleated Elliptical Cardigan has good points. I love the lace yoke, and the back looks good. But that front doesn't appear to sit well. One of the front view photos show the model holding it closed with her hand, the other with with her arm. I suspect it will flop open unattractively when it's not held closed.





The One-Sided Raglan. I rather like this one, which has a stripped-down modern vibe. The cropped length and side cut-outs aren't for everyone, but are also easily remedied.





Can't say I care for the Gusset Tunic. That side tail looks just pointless. Or more accurately, it has a point, but it's not a point worth taking.





I like the detail on the XOX Tee. I'm not crazy about the shape of it, but it looks loose fitting without looking at all sloppy and you can always neaten up the fit a bit if you like.





The Funnel Collar Pullover. I actually quite like this one. Yes, that collar looks more than a little like a braided rug with a hole in the middle, but it sits well and isn't unflattering, and the rest of the sweater is so well shaped that it balances the collar.





The Fitted Turtleneck Tee is a great little piece; very flattering and with a little texture and interesting detail in the line of contrast colour around the neck and sleeves.





The Six Point Tee. Another good piece. It's wearable, it's going to flatter most women, and it has a certain simple deconstructed charm. Make this in a beautiful yarn in your favourite colour and it'll serve you well as the perfect thing to throw on with jeans when you want to look casual yet put together.





The Ruched Yoke Sweater. I like this one a lot until we get down to the A-line lower half. That excess width isn't doing anything for this model and isn't likely to do anything for the rest of us.





The Diamond Funnelneck. I like the texture here, and the funnel neck, but some shaping through the body would have done wonders for the item as a whole.





The Cameo Caftan. I love the stitchwork used here, but I can't sign off on the caftan construction, and that "cameo" looks for all the world like a camouflaged tarantula biding its time.





The Bohemian Tee. I like this one. It's pretty and feminine and interesting and could function as an extra layer over your dress or tank top when you don't want to be bothered with a shawl.





The Circular Tunic. I'm gathering that knit.wear seems determined that we knitters shall swamp ourselves in excess knitted materials this summer, but I for one am not going down without a fight. This design looks like two tablecloths stitched together. Pretty tablecloths, but tablecloths nonetheless.





The V-Line Tee. I like this one, which has an elegantly relaxed outline.





The Painted Mesh Pullover. I rather like this one, which should be a comfortable and useful second layer for cool summer weather. I'm not a fan of that longer back hem, but if you feel the same way, it's easily fixed.






The Botanic Pullover. Hmm, there's much to like here. The leaf pattern is beautiful, and the attention to detail shown in the leaf motif continuing up the side hem and the garter stitch hems make this look like a certified design rather than something that's just been slapped together. And I can totally see a few friends of mine who have a modern dress sense rocking this. So yes, I like this piece on the whole, though I think of it as a "shawl to 'pull over' one's outfit" rather than a "'pullover' sweater".





The Naiad Tank. Those mesh ruffles look like they were attached by a drunken designer with a glue gun, and that is one ugly yarn.





The Zigzag Mesh Pullover. Very much like this attractively textured little sweater. I would stitch up those ribbed hems though.





This Ruched Cowl is really rather cool. I can see it working in a number of colourways and with a variety of wardrobes, though as a fall/winter item rather than a spring/summer one.





The Bold Stripes Wrap is very smart and wearable.





The Chevron Mesh Scarf. Not a fan of this one. I think it's the combination of the stitch and the colours used, which make it look like a strip from an afghan. Doing it in a single solid or variegated yarn would remove the ripple effect that's so afghan-esque.





Quite like the Bolt Tee, which is both well shaped and has an interesting and effective graphic design.





The Short-Row Vest. This is one of those patterns that at first glance seem to me to warrant a negative review, but that I come to like after more careful appraisal. This piece is has a striking graphic design and an interesting construction that sits well. It won't work on every figure or for everyone's taste, but then few knitwear designs do. On the right person with the right outfit this could be an original and eye-catching piece.

Wednesday 25 September 2013

Knit.Wear Fall/Winter 2013: A Review

Knit.wear has released their Fall/Winter 2013 issue. Let's have a look at it, shall we?





This is the Metallic Chevron Pullover. I hemmed and hawed over this one. Was it too afghan-like, as chevron pattern stuff has a tendency to be, or was it not? I think I'm going to come down on the "not too afghan-like" side. The cream sleeves and ribbing help to tone down the chevrons, as does choosing a sophisticated colourway.





The Drawstring Pullover. I like this one. It's simple yet with distinguishing touches in the cowl and the sleeves, and it helps that it's made in a yarn that looks ever so soft and luxurious.





Can't say I care for the Eyelet Raglan. Those eyelet chains are supposed to look like a design feature but instead look like inreases and decreases that shouldn't be showing.




The Textured Shawl is elegantly understated, and this shawl looks good worn several ways.





The Tucked Pullover works because the designer didn't stop with the tucking detail but also carefully shaped the sweater to make it flattering.





I am really not liking the big floppy scarf that is a titular part of the Attached Scarf Cardigan. This is no way to treat a perfectly nice cardigan.





I very much liked the Envelope Hat, until I saw how it morphs into a Bag Hat at the back.





Not a fan of the Asymmetrical Collar Jacket. I do have a definite anti-asymmetry bias, but it can work when the asymmetry is more accomplished than this. These collars just look askew rather than as though they were taking the eye in an unexpected direction.





I love the Askew Vest until I look down at the bottom. I've honestly tried to like the bottom ribbing, and I can't. The narrow ribbing between the askew wider ribbing looks for all the world like those extra teeth that sometimes appear in people's gums above their adult teeth. The back looks great, the collar is nice, I love the diagonal cable, and I'd be finishing off the bottom of the vest with a plain band of cable just like the back.





The Bias Lace Tank is really pretty. It's a piece that would give a lot of interest to a very basic outfit consisting of a plain shirt and trousers or pencil skirt.





I love the Swaying Cables Scarf, which is only garter stitch and cables and yet somehow manages to be a statement piece, look good any way it's wrapped, and also look incredibly warm. You can't ask more than that of a scarf.





The Twelve Cables Pullover is such a terrific piece I just had to include all three photos of it. It's Aran weight but so beautifully shaped it will be reasonably easy to carry off. Those face framing cables are just jaw-dropping.





The Horizontal Cowl Pullover looks pretty good from the front but the back view leaves much to be desired.





The Pocket Hem Pullover just looks like it's on inside out.





The Kite Cardigan looks roughly made and sloppy. Even this professional model hasn't been able to lend it any grace.





I was going to say I wished the Double Knit Scarf had a better-finished edge, but the more I look at it the more I realize that any finishing technique I can think of would ruin its look. It's a conceptual yet minimalist piece, and it is just what it's supposed to be.





I quite like the Ring Collar Pullover, though I'm not thrilled with the way the cream "ring around the collar" is pulling away from the others and showing the underside. If I made this one I'd look for a way to fashion those rings so they'd lie firmly in place.





I like the Lace Insert Pullover except for one thing: the way the collar sags in front. I'd be inclined to put some other kind of collar on this one.





This is the Double Puff Dolman, and my goodness is it unflattering. It manages to look okay on the cover, but just look what will happen when you move your arms. Telling you how to fix it would involve my creating a whole new design, so I suggest you just knit something else.





I think I'd like the modern Shaped-Intarsia Tunic much better if it were in more attractive colours — gray, brown and mustard aren't exactly a colourway made in heaven.





There are several things about Dressmaker Jacket I like: the shaping, the colourway, the silver clasps. But I never can get behind cardigans that don't quite meet in the front. They always look like they are too small, though it's working better in this instance than it usually does. If you feel the same way, you can these jacket fronts wide enough in front to fit, and add in a welt on one side to cover any gaping.





I just love the High-Collar Wrap Cardigan, with its amazing front shaping and exquisite back details, except for one thing, and you can probably guess what that is: that awful pucker where there's probably an inside button. The eye just zeroes in on it. I'm trying to figure out a way to get rid of that. It would be a challenge, unless you want to use double-sided tape or something, and who wants to do that. I'm coming up with sewing a mock button on top of it (though then you'll have to add two or four more buttons down below to balance out the top ones).





Hmm. As you may already know from past reviews, I'm not one to give dropped sleeves and oversized cuts a pass. I'm inclined to let it go in the case of the Turtleneck Jacket, though. The slim sleeves keep the silhouette from looking sloppy, and the back does look so good. I think this is a piece that can work over a fitted outfit. It's the 2013 version of the swing coat.





And we end well with the Cabled Bands Pullover, which I quite like. Though I do think the cuffs need detail, but to be fair it's difficult to say what. Cables like those around the bottom and neck would be too heavy. Bands of the reversed stockinette that is used at the seams might work.