Let’s Talk About…

…Winter Knitty, 2009, shall we? How about the Woo!  The Meh!  and The Bleh!?

Oh but first I just gotta say…LOVE the cover-art.  OMG, is that model breathtaking or what?  She and Ysolda have got to be 2 of the most stunning women in knitdom.  I betcha they’re both really sweet, too.  I love how Knitty’s becoming quite international, and that can only mean new and exciting things.

Without further ado, I give you…

The Woo!

There were only 2 patterns I queue up right away (as opposed to last issue, where I think I queued 5 or 6):

Plaited Points These socks have all the elements I love:  toe-up, cabled in a knot work pattern that has a definite beginning point that speaks not only to  my sense of symmetry, but my sense of closure.  It’s like when you’re playing with your cat with a laser pointer, and he’s chasing it across the floors and up the walls like crazy.  Now, you can’t just turn it off, otherwise, he’ll be looking for that point of light the rest of the night, right?  You have to “tuck it away” so you trail it under the couch, or behind a bookcase before you shut it off, to reduce confusion and give your kitty closure.  You know what I’m talking about right?  RIGHT???

Well, it’s the same thing with cables and knotwork.  I love it the best when there’s are definite termination points…when they ends have been neatly tucked away.And on the back of the leg, there’s a small flirty little complimentary knot which is an added bit of win!

And then there are these, which almost killed me with their cuteness.  I have to make pairs for every single baby in the world.  They must all have a pair.  They must!!!!

Then there are the designs that I liked and may knit still.

Amused may still make it into my queue.  Right now I have to focus on my yarn and my designs, so it’s difficult for me to consider taking on a full sweater right now.  I do like the lines of this sweater, and I think it’d actually look flattering on me with a couple of simple modifications.

Surface, the sweater itself has nice clean lines, and the texture at the collar and the ends of the sleeve is very reminiscent of days gone by, which I’m really into right now. I’m not sure what I think about the wrap, though.  I definitely like the look of the sweater without it.

I wish that there were more shawls in this issue.  The one that they do have, Maja is quite interesting and compelling.  It looks like a perfect marriage of yarn and design, done in a technique I’m not very familiar with, nor have I seen very often.  Quite inventive!

There were a still others that, though I don’t plan on knitting them, still deserve to be placed in the WOO! category:

Everbody Knows might be row upon row of endless, mindless garter stitch, but it’s the tailored look that caught my eye.  What a fabulous way to introduce a less-experienced knitter to shape!

The name alone got me tee-heeing the designer’s cleverness, the gorgeous colorwork, and center-out square construction got me to stay.  I may not make this for my non-cushion sitting dogs, but I may make smaller versions and use them as accent pillows and such.

The colorwork in the Latvian Vest is quite amazing, thought I’m not sure I’m liking the shape.  I wish I knew someone who I could knit it for…but I don’t.

To be honest with you, on first glance, Fishy just left me cold.  But now I’m blaming a craptastic mood due to lingering illness and a lack of vision.  Now that I’m feeling much better, I find these almost as much fun as the boxing nun mittens I linked earlier, and a great bit of whimsey.  And just think, you can go around singing, Fish Heads and drive all your nephews crazy.

The Meh

And I’m sure that there are plenty of you out there who will disagree with me, some of the designs in this issue, for whatever reason, didn’t arouse any strong feelings one way or the other.  Here are just a couple…

Fern Glade, and probably because I’m really not a beret kinda gal.  Many of the elements I like are there…pretty lace, and symmetrical shaping, in 2 colors I love, but still, I wasn’t particularly moved.  I’m blaming my lack of beret love on this one.

Yet another issue with a billionty and three sock patterns.  And Blackrose was another that didn’t really ring my bell, but I can’t quite put my finger on why.  Maybe because I’m not a spinner, maybe because I’m not a huge fan of lace going down the foot.  It’s a perfectly pretty sock, and I’m sure it’s a great excercise in using YOUR-SPUN yarn.  It just didn’t move me like Pointed Plaits did.

Lastly, Therapi would not be flattering on me at all.  On someone more slender and shapely, yes.  But, I really don’t think I need to put a box around my marshmallow-shaped body, do you?

The Bleh!

Now, I know it’s been quite a while since a good old-fashioned blog drama and smackdown have occurred in Blogistan.  Sorry to disappoint, but hopefully, you’re not gonna get it here.  You will have to content yourselves with no direct links, but with allusions and hints.  Suffice it to say that appeal is subjective, and there were a couple of designs this issue that did not appeal to me at all.

The first one reminded me of a National Geographic special…

And now I know what the “F” in the cobbled name of the second one REALLY stands for…and we’ll leave it at that.