Thoughts on new Knitty

Well, the new Knitty came out last week... I have read some scathingly negative reviews, and I've read some "EEEEEEEE!!!!! EVERYTHING IS BEEEEYOOOUTIFUL!!!!" reviews. I think it's somewhere in between: there were high points, and there were low points.

For starters, I'm a bit grossed out that they gave the featured spot to Suss Cousins for a basic, no-shaping, v-neck sweater. Read the sweater description; most of it has nothing to do with the sweater, but is instead about how you absolutely MUST try this fantastic yarn... which is also by Suss Cousins. It feels more like a sales pitch than a sweater pattern. I'd also like to point out the strategically placed copy of Hollywood Knits in the background of the lower two pictures. Ugh. I don't know about you, but I don't go to Knitty expecting to be accosted by Suss Cousins telling me how much I need her yarn.

About the Intolerable Cruelty skirt... Here's the thing. I know it's frustrating for larger knitters to see a sweater pattern they like and then see that the largest size it's written for is 40". I have to deal with the opposite of that; lots of times I'll see a pattern, and the sizing starts at 36", which is too big for me. Thus, if I see something that's designed for smaller people, I'll generally try to make it. Intolerable Cruelty is one of those. It quite obviously adds a few pounds in the rump area, so it's designed for people who don't have a lot of junk in the trunk, as they say. However, knitted skirts are almost always a remarkably bad idea. This particular one also features one of the cardinal signs that the design may have serious flaws: the model is slightly contorted in all of the pictures. There's not even a front view, just three shots from behind where one of her feet is propped up on something. So, while I will most likely NOT make this, there is a part of me that's incredibly curious about what it actually looks like.

The good: I love Serrano, and it's definitely something I'll make. I also figure that I'll make one or more of the sock patterns. I like Ivy, but I can't tell what's going on with the fit problems in the pictures (there's some odd fabric bunching). Lucie is very cute. I love the cables on Sherwood, and am already trying to plot out an adult sweater with a similar pattern. (Of course, I have enough cabled sweater patterns in the "want to make" list to last me for years, plus a book of Celtic knotwork construction that's full of designs that could all be converted into spiffy cables...)