1: Choosing Patterns,
Yarns & Size
Choose a knitting pattern and yarn carefully! You are making
something personal and unique, and because you will be spending
hours of precious time on this project, you deserve a wonderful
result.---
What should I knit?
The inspiration to knit is usually triggered by a photograph. Look
at a beautiful sweater, and then imagine how it will look on the
person who will wear it. At this stage of choosing, it’s all visual,
and you have to consider proportion and balance. Not every shape
suits or fits all, and it’s a shame to put your hopes into knitting
a garment that may be never be worn. Everyone, just everyone, wants
a garment that will flatter them!
Here are a few points to remember when you are gazing at an
appealing photograph:
• Look at all the details of the photograph. Check that you can see
enough of the garment to be sure that it is exactly what you are
hoping for. If a part of the garment is elaborately hidden, or some
section is extremely gathered, or the model is in an odd pose, that
can mean that the whole thing doesn’t fit or hang properly.
• If you have big hips, don’t choose a pattern for a garment with a
tight or an elaborate hem band.
• Avoid stripes, bright colour areas or lumpy pattern stitches
across any area you don’t care to emphasise. Think about where the
eye will be directed by a stripe.
• Don’t choose to knit a huge, wide sweater if you are a tiny size.
You will look like a famous doll.
• If you are big, choose a pattern for a garment with bright colours
or details near your face. Keep the rest of the garment mysterious,
maybe in a dark colour.
• Tight sleeves won’t look good on big arms, and cuffs should be
wide enough to balance any width at the top of the arm, but be
careful and don’t go too far the other way. Remember that low
armholes or dolman sleeves will add kilos at a glance.
• Avoid making a garment from very fluffy yarns unless you are tiny.
Just use these yarns as a trim if you don’t want to look like a
bear.
---
Will I be ashamed of my knitting?
The competence shown in the actual knitting isn’t really crucial. I
don’t believe that a knitter will choose a design or pattern, buy
the yarn, find the needles and then decide to knit badly. Why bother
to knit, and even complete, something that is awful? I think that
every knitted garment is a good try and the knitter does the best he
or she can. Often, the effect is not even the result of “good” or
“bad” (competent or incompetent) knitting. Some yarns look very
smooth and perfect when knitted and others result in a deliberately
lumpy texture. The variations are part of the charm of a
hand-knitted garment.
---
Can I knit this?
Read the pattern carefully to make sure that you understand all the
directions. Most pattern writers write very clear instructions, but
sometimes the meaning is a bit obscure and this can be very
discouraging. Puzzling a way through a pattern makes a knitter feel
as if it is all too hard. If you can’t work out how to continue the
project, it will end up as that bag of wool and needles hiding in a
cupboard!
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