Torn

Many weeks back, Amy Herzog published a pattern called Afterlight, and I was instantly smitten. It’s one of those sweaters I like so much, ones that are garments, things you’ll wear by themselves as a top, rather than over another top. I know the distinction is likely silly to most of you, but there you have it.  I decided to make it, but it’s an investment.  The sweater is finely knit, with fingering weight yarn on small needles, and the yarn, while not ridiculously expensive for what it is, was going to make a considerable dent in a few months of the yarn budget.  I decided that I would go ahead, but wait until Amy’s book came out first.  If I was going to make this thing, I was going to make it perfect.  Knit to Flatter arrived in the mail, I read it (you should too, it’s quite good) and then set about altering the pattern to make it smashing. One of the things I’ve learned from Amy, is that it makes no sense to make a sweater bigger all over if you’re really only bigger in one area, something I’ve been guilty of over the years.  I’m not a big woman, not really. My chest measures 37 1/2 inches, and that’s the size sweater I’ve been knitting for years – with some disappointing results.  It took Amy to teach me that the issue is that I’m big in the front.  I’ve been choosing sweater sizes like my chest is that of a woman who’s almost 38" around, and I’m not. 

What I am is a woman who would be a size 34 if you saw me from the back, and a 38 if you saw me from the front, and thanks to Amy and her book, I’ve realized that I should think of myself as two sizes. Petite in the back, and er… not, in the front.  Yes, I need some extra fabric to get around my assets, but my breasts are located on the front of my body, and that is where the extra fabric to cover them should go… not all over.  Following her instructions, I’m making one size for the front, another for the back, altering the length to recognize the fact that I’m short all over, and dropping the vee in the front of the sweater a little deeper to try and balance my broad, square shoulders.  I’m really happy with my plan, and over the last few days I’ve been knitting away. (For the record, making those changes and combining the pattern pieces turns out to be easy.)

I’m almost at the armhole shaping of the back, and I love the sweater, love the yarn, and have high hopes for its eventual greatness.  I even swore a vow of monogamy to it – but then, oh then I went to Yarnover, and there was this booth (it was Angora Gardens – thanks for the detective work, my friends) and in the booth was this little baby sweater that I can’t stop thinking of.  The sweater was just a little garter stitch bit of business, but it was knit out of a wool/angora combo that was almost perfect to me, but for two things.  First, the yarn had a little more angora in it than I would choose – which is not to say that it had too much angora – it just had more than is to my taste, precisely, and second, it wasn’t free.  It was reasonably priced – but there’s no reasonable price for yarn if you’ve just blown your budget on some snazzy Ultra MCN for a sweater.  I left without it, but I just can’t stop thinking about it. 

I can’t stop talking about it either, and so yesterday when I was waxing poetic about it to a knitting friend, she said it was too bad that I didn’t have any angora – because if I did, I could fix both the proportion of wool to angora – and the cost by spinning my own. Lo, the heavens opened, a bit of angora rabbit has been fetched from the stash, I’m hunting up a bit of something good to blend it with, the drum carder is getting dusted off and…

I swear I’m going to finish the sweater too.

59 thoughts on “Torn

  1. I totally get the difference between wanting something that you can wear on its own vs something that goes over another shirt. I feel like I’ve been much more productive when I can wear it on its own. Real clothing, instead of yet another sweater, which I don’t need many of.
    Thank you for the lead on the book. My husband keeps telling me I need to alter patterns to fit him better, but he’s scared to have me alter anything, because I’ve screwed it up a few times.

  2. i want very much to see the finished sweater (not on you looking smashing but rather laying there on the table or chesterfield or something) to get more of a visual of how those alterations will make a difference in a completed object. You almost have me won over with your assurances that it wasn’t too difficult. please remember the pix when you can!!! thanks.

  3. Oh, the allure of those baby sweaters! I hope you’ll tell us all about the spinning of the angora; is it slippery and difficult to manage? Won’t it give a baby a case of the sneezes? Can’t wait to see it, as well as the baby it’s destined for. And forget about being a monogamous knitter–there’s no virtue in it.

  4. Always check the stash(es) to see if something you have will work for a pattern before buying something new. (Although you do have to buy things to get a stash).
    Love your blog.

  5. When I came to fetch my angora from the stash it had felted itself into a brick which defeated the whole point of having a stash because I still had to wait for the postie to bring more. Yours is not at all brick like so I’m happy for you but pouting a little anyway.

  6. You can totally do it.
    Baby sweater + angora = completely irresistible. I admire your restraint.
    Also, heh heh, you said breast. I’m gonna go ahead and say nipple too, to help out with search hits. You’re welcome.

  7. Laughed out loud. I bought pounds of angora roving for–are you ready for this–$8/lb years ago that Robin and Russ was closing out. One daughter turned out to get hives in reaction to angora and I gave it all away to a very grateful recipient.
    When my closet took a major flooding hit from a burst hot water heater, we found I still had a small bag of it tucked in back. I shouldn’t have been delighted–but I confess I very much was.
    Enjoy your spinning!

  8. Don’t get too distracted by the angora baby sweater. I, too, just got my copy of Amy’s book and am anxious to see how your “Knit to Flatter” adventure ends up. I hope to start my own Afterlight in a few days.

  9. I think you can manage to do both, but the sweater would be nice to see for Squam. You have an entire month, which is probably plenty of time!

  10. Both projects sound great and you can so do both at once. Looking forward to seeing both as finished projects.
    20% angora/80% wool is my favorite, all purpose bunny blend…enough to see/feel the bunny, but not so much that it’s not wearable by everyone.

  11. Kudos to you for deciding to make a fitted sweater! It’s going to look great on you. But, um, how should I put this? You need to prepare yourself for the fact you won’t be wearing a drape over your figure, you’ll be wearing something tailored. You’re going to look great wearing a fabulous sweater, but it will feel uncomfortable to you. How do I know you’re going to feel akward? Recall this post: http://www.yarnharlot.ca/blog/archives/2012/08/15/does_this_yarn_make_my_bust_look_big.html So, please get yourself ready emotionally! No, I’m not your mother (or your daughter), just another feminist size DD who loves her shape and wants you to love yours. You’re fabulous, lady, and your sweater is going to be GREAT.

  12. I love the feel of a nice angora blend, but unfortunately, it’s way too hot in Texas to wear very much. Even the rabbits don’t want it! Most of the time I make silk blends, which is a very useful combo for warmer weather. The shirt looks cute for girls with, well, “girls”. Ha!

  13. So…the picture of Afterlight (and I haven’t read all of the comments thus far) I notice some white “Dash” yarn running up the work. Is this your row counting system or is there another reason for the carrying of the contrast yarn?
    I’m sure that spinning and baby sweater is going to be a wonderful project; you get to use stash and we get to enjoy the ride! It’s a win-win!

  14. Oh, Stephanie. I definitely thought that the sweater story was going to go downhill. I’m so glad that it didn’t!! I’ve read Amy’s Fit to Flatter series on her website and I thought it was wonderful! I really need to stop admiring that someone can do that and be the someone that does it! Hmm… maybe a nice, light spring sweater should materialize from my needles soon… 🙂

  15. Yay! Good luck, my dear. I’m just venturing into the world of sweater and cardigans and trying to get my proper sizing all figured out, too.
    I hope things go well for you!
    And that the baby sweater turns out to be as soft and adorable as you want.
    Katie =^..^=

  16. I hate shirts that MUST be worn over another shirt – it’s a shirt, it should be its own thing! That has stopped many a lacy top or sweater with a stunning lace panel or yoke from entering my queue. You are not alone!

  17. I’ve had exactly the same revelation with Amy’s book! Always wondered why my ‘read view’ on Rav made me look like a weight lifter.
    I’m putting the theory in to practice with Holloway, my first bust darts. So proud.

  18. The heavens have opened indeed. I have never thought of making a baby sweater with an angora blend, but I can only imagine how soft and floofy and angelic it would be.. especially in a little fuzzy set, with bootees and hat..
    NOT that I’m suggesting such a thing, indeed 😉

  19. I’m definitely going to get Amy’s book-the wheel has been invented! Half-way through your body description I started laughing…we appear to be opposites. Chest measures 39.5″. I have a broad back/shoulders w/modest assets in front. height- 5’7″, with a very short-waist…long legs & arms. I’ve compensated by buying XL & not knitting for myself. I no longer believe that a “nice drape” is flattering. The 2nd isn’t a solution at all. I had already determined to make myself a sweater (that fits) this year…as soon as I finish these baby sweaters.

  20. I think Amy Herzog is my new favorite designer. Everything I’ve seen from her has just been swoonworthy. Plus, I need her book, if she will tell me how to join a size 2X front to a size L back…

  21. monogamy? in knitting?
    I only have one wip at the moment,and it’s boring. Not only because it’s a plain vanilla sock, but because there’s nothing else to knit!
    No shortage of yarn in the house, and the lys is still open and selling lots of pretties, but nothing on the needles, and the yarn I have is being stubborn and won’t tell me what it wants to be.

  22. I love to see that you are learning something new. I always thought that since you have been knitting your whole life and have written countless (OK, they can be counted I’m just too lazy to do that right now) knitting books that there could not possibly be anything you didn’t know about knitting. It makes me feel like maybe my lack of complete knitting knowledge doesn’t make me an unexperienced knitter. Thank you.

  23. I never thought to knit two different sizes for the front and back of sweaters. That’s just amazing and I love the idea.
    I might even have to try it.

  24. It is none of my business But….who was that friend who suggested that you spin your own yarn? And was she just ever so slightly pointed in her comment?

  25. Is angora ok for babies? I was told once (a long time ago) that there’s a danger of them inhaling shed fibers.

  26. My yarn for this just came in today! It was on backorder for several weeks. I’m so excited to work on it, but have to wait until I do a few deadline projects first.

  27. Monogamy with knitting is highly overrated, but I’m checking out Amy’s book. Thanks for the pro tip!

  28. If i have to choose between sizes, i would choose the smaller; hoping the front would stretch over the front or leave the cardigan unbuttoned. Thank you YN for sharing one-size bigger front while keeping shoulder, armhole & side seam balanced.
    What say you to a few additional stitches on back shoulders to accommodate broader shoulders or ease a couple of wrap&turn rows at side seams to fit bust/back elbow ? It may break the symmetry of knitted garments. Perfect fit (for me) is a bit of a hit-and-run, luck or simply ripping it all out & starting on another size. Tks for great tips.

  29. I’m with Joanna 7:27. No angora for babies for so many reasons not the least was the one she gave. Cotton is my go to for the wee ones.

  30. Why do I have this funny feeling you or Amy might get a call from a Ms. Parton for some kniwear advice? Seriously, the sweater looks great so far and I knew it had to be for you when you first posted a photo of the yarn.
    That said, grab your Elmer Fudd hat because it seems to be wabbit season there in Toronto. . .:-)!

  31. Stephanie, I feel your size issue! and I’m so glad you posted about it. Thank you! I too am bigger in front than in back, even in the pants department. I routinely subtract the 1″ extra ease in the pants back pattern. Your post is a GREAT reminder of how to fix the problem of size standards for non-standard size women. DD’s unite 🙂

  32. I recently made myself a vest. And I checked the sizing for the back section and the front section as I went. Results? I’m a large in the back, and a 2XL in the front. And it fits – and looks – better on me than anything else I have ever made OR bought! Good luck with the sweater, and all future sizing choices.

  33. Okay. I will be the first to admit I make lots of beautiful things for other people because my body shape drives me nuts. It no longer matters that there are books to help with this. I want to make stuff for me. Since I figured out my figure is holding me back, and I am living on kale and grapefruit.
    There, I said it.

  34. Hi,
    You are so much fun to read. When I’ve been in a knitting slump I can always cound on you to inspire! Would you mind tellng me what the light color threads running up your sweater are for? Is it a counting device? Thanks!!!

  35. So timely, Some time ago I dyed a fleece to make Omelette. It has sat in a bin. I’ve been spinning some roving for a sweater. A friend of mine started Omelette. It made me think. So now I am carding and blending the fleece (a BFL/Romney cross an amazing fiber, loose curl and sheen). And oh yes, we will both get both things done. And a few other things beside.

  36. Finding you can do exactly what you want, with materials you already have on hand…priceless!
    Now if we could suddenly find out there are an extra 4 hours in a day…that would be a miracle!

  37. I’m on the small bust side too but my hips are the “I like to cheese” variety. Yet I can’t bring myself to modify my handknits for my hips and longer waist…Still I do it often in my sewing life. It’s easy two inches in the middle of the pattern of a skirt or a dress to make it longer in the waist. And a little more flare on the sides for the hips. All done quick and easily with a ruler.

  38. The top and the green yarn are lovely. Thank you for the words on Amy’s book; it sounds like it belongs on my shelf, and I’ll grab a copy at either the New Hampshire or the Massachusetts Sheep and Wool shows.
    Thanks also for waxing poetic about angora-blend yarn. I love angora, but as a beaky, graying nearly-60-year-old (that means I’m 59), I can’t always imagine the yarn I make is meant for me. Yet it’s so warm and soft! When I blend for spinning, I keep the angora content to about 20% by weight. There can still be a slight halo, and you get all the benefits of warmth and softness.
    For a little while I told myself that for warmth and softness without so much fluff, qiviut was the best material. That is, of course, correct, but it wasn’t a program I could stick with for very long. Was worth trying, though. 🙂

  39. I love that book! I have the opposite assets that you have with a broad back and smaller … front. 😉 I love how she teaches how to find out what category you fit in, how to identify your “sizes” and then how to accommodate our real-life measurements with strategic decreases and increases. So awesome! My goal is to incorporate these ideas with Ann Budd’s top-down (and bottom-up, for that matter) formulas to make no-sew garments. Knitting just keeps getting better everyday! P.S. Spinning with angora is gloriously soft!

  40. I just love how creating garments is such an art and a science. I knit, crochet and sew for my own wardrobe, and my proportions are similarly non-standard. I have an appreciation for well-fitting beautiful garments, and find that most people would benefit from having their off-the-rack garments altered to fit, but who does that anymore. Well, I will continue to do so, anyway. And I love how with knitting you really can have the freedom to custom-fit as you go.

  41. I saw that baby sweater too. It was so sweet. I picked it up, petted it and said to the person that I was with, “Can you just imagine the first time that baby spits up on this sweater?” – BUT then we both agreed that every baby should have an angora sweater just like it.

  42. I really want to hear more about your thoughts on working with angora (both spinning and knitting). I haven’t worked with it much, and feel vaguely sceptical of it for some really weird reason I can’t place. Maybe the halo reminds me of mohair (to which I’m allergic) and that puts me off? Anyway, I’m eager to hear your thoughts– I’d love to be converted!

  43. Make a packinglist, including all you missed on this trip, tape it to the inside of your travelbag/whatever and keep including to it things you missed on the next three trips. Then make two definite lists, one taped inside your travelbag, one inside your chestdoor (the bag might go missing!). Thus, everyone in your house will be able to pack your bags, mission accomplished. BTW I have a list, but might travel once in five years, so, without the list I would not know what to pack at all.

  44. Add me to the list of folks who would like to know about the light colored threads running up the work…

  45. My hat is off to you for choosing to make your angora blend. I love blending fibers on my drum carder, but after trying angora once I decided, “Never again!” It refused to disperse nicely into the wool, no matter what I did. Maybe it was the type of angora, I don’t know, but it was disappointing since a pinch of angora can really spice up a blend. I’m eager to see how your sweater turns out…

  46. I’ve been saying for YEARS that women knitters should stop thinking they are 0 shaped when really, most are D shaped (looking down from above). Sewists know this, why don’t knitters? I may be a 44″ (well, used to be), but what that actually meant was a 26″ front and 18″ across the back, not 22″ for each half.
    Don’t forget to add a few short rows to the bust.
    In sewing, you measure your “high bust” and use that size, then adjust the pattern (full bust adjustment, FBA) to make the front bust bigger. Same thing in knitting 🙂 We’re just creating fabric, after all!

  47. If you measure 37.5 and your back is a size 34, then your front is a size 41.
    Your back is half of 34, 34÷2=17.
    37.5(total)-17(back)=20.5(front)
    That front is half of 41 (20.5×2)

  48. Stephanie, I am always so pleased when I click on your Ravelry links and the pattern shows up on a guest page, rather than asking me to log in. I certainly can log in to Ravelry, but the flow of reading your post is so much better when I don’t have to take the time out to type in my name and password, but can click, look, and then go back to reading. Thank you!

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