Since I now have proof someone likes my yarnarific reviews...

Fetching - These are mittens. Not gloves. Gloves have individual finger compartments and mittens do not. That aside, seeing that these don't really have wrist ribbing I have to wonder about their long term ability to stay up. Maybe if it was a 4x2 rib instead of 4x1? But I am glad to see that they have a real thumb, and not just a slit for the thumb - that looks so unfinished. My friend Amber just finished a pair of these last night and they are really cute when done. I'm just not sure about their functional-ness.

Carpathia - I really liked these, until I saw photos of a finished pair. By the time you block them well enough to show the lace, they're enormous, but if you don't block them they look bad. Also, maybe it's just because the temperature is so quick to change from swelteringly hot to frostbite inducing cold, but lace gloves seem really impractical. They aren't as nice as traditional white lace gloves (you always wear gloves when you shake a man's hand because you don't know where his hand has been traditional), and they'd be too warm to wear in summer, and too cold to wear in winter. And really, they're too open to keep your hands clean from subway grime.

Perdita - I'll be honest, I don't see the point of knit jewelry. Various metals just seem cleaner and prettier. Plus, the buttons seem like they'd constantly be poking you in the wrist if you tried to rest your wrist on something (like while typing). I think a bit of ribbing on the backside would make it better (although then there's the issue of the seam, I'm sure there's a good flat seam I'm just not particularly aware of. Perhaps provovisional cast-on and then grafting...)

Muff - As a stashbuster, I see this as a great idea. I don't find it practical (and even when I used to walk to work in the winters, I still wouldn't have found it practical) because I feel like you really need your hands when walking (pushing the sign for the crosswalk, getting out keys, pulling open doors, turning handles). You need your hands even more when driving. I suppose for a passenger in a car? Thrummed mittens just seem like a better idea.

Knucks - Although I know they're really as functional as fingerless mittens, I love fingerless gloves so much more. I haven't made finger-down gloves before, and they look like they could be interesting.

Reptilian Lace - I think it would look 100% better in a solid yarn - the stripes muddy up the lace pattern and I didn't even realize there were beads in there at first - if you're going to go through the effort of adding beads to your knitting, don't you want it to show? Also, I'd really like another view to see how (if) the pattern repeats around the leg, and how the heel looks.

RPM - Another one I think should be shown in solid color. I know the designer thinks the pattern is good for multicolored handpaints, and it is better than Reptilian Lace, but its making me dizzy. But maybe that's the point. I like that there's a version that's stockinette on the sole of the foot, and that she offers a short row heel and regular flap/gusset combo (even though her short rows could use some help, if you YO backwards on the purl side it will take care of those holes).

Widdershins - First, someone else told me the magic of this pattern is the whole gusset while working toe-up thing. Which Baudelaire uses as well, making this pattern basically just a tutorial for Baudelaire, even though that pattern has perfectly good instructions on working toe-up with a gusset. Also, I think short row heels are prettier, so this pattern is pretty pointless in my opinion.

Baudelaire - Know how I just said I prefer short row heels? All except here, because I think it's so cute how the line from the stockinette portion of the sole of the foot, and the line of the heel flap come together at the ankle and twist into a cable. A+ for Cookie! Even without that wee detail I think the lace pattern is really pretty, and I look forward to finding a good solid color yarn to make these.

Lickety Split - I think there's a conspiracy at Knitty - they show hip looking 20 and 30 somethings for designer photos, but I think they're secretly old men living in Florida. Who else wears socks with sandals? Or maybe people are really looking to Kevin Federline for fashion tips. Either way, they need to stop. (Yes, I know they're based on the traditional Japanese tabi socks. But I have a feeling that maybe .5% of people who make these will pair them with a kimono. The rest are going to emulate KFed and wear them with flip flops and it will be an abomination of the Holy Wool.)

Dancing Lady - I think they might look better in solid colors (real solids), and with the base being dark and the dancing lady being bright. The bright on bright-variegated is kind of painful. However, I do like the blue yarn (which the designer handpaints herself, and I think when the stash has been thinned I might buy some - Island Flower looks pretty, and I know someone who would like Tequila Sunrise. If it's superwash, anyway.)

Tulip Toes - Oh! So Cute! So Impractical (I mean, lots be honest, you have to tie them so tight that you cut off circulation, or else they're going to come right off), but so cute. I think if I were to make these I'd thread elastic through the eyelets and then tack the bow on as a purely decorative feature. Or possibly use the i-cord like casing, put the elastic in that, and again just make the bow a decorative feature. Or else find a way to hide the elastic within the bootie. It's just that using i-cord for a drawstring on baby clothes seems pointless - a quick tug and the bootie will bloom and fall off.

Lacanau - First, that's a crime against silk! Second, there are many a cute flip flop out there. You don't need to knit a shoe!

Halfdome - I would like this more if it was knit in the round. I love the look of the decreases, but don't see the point in seaming a hat when it's so easy to knit in the round. It would be like knitting a sock flat.

Maze - Not related to the pattern, but the designer looks so cute in her picture! Also, there's a guy in that first picture? Really? Anyway. Pattern, not people: I'm not sure this would stay on my head, but I like the wee roll on the side. The shaping on the crown is a little obvious for my tastes, but maybe I'm just not mod-enough for this pattern.

Crosspatch - I find it interesting that two people can write a pattern for a hat, being influenced by Barbara Walker books, and one is so much prettier than the other. I mean, I'm not mod-enough to pull off Maze, but it's so much prettier than this one. Maybe the lack of contrast between the brown and black hurts it, maybe it's the garter stitch-mosaic pattern (in the round - eesh!), maybe it's the alpaca content in the yarn (I'm working on a sweater in Creative Focus Worsted, and the alpaca gives it a major halo), but the pattern just doesn't inspire me.

Sock Monkey - The designer claims you love or hate sock monkeys. I'm neither. But I'll remember this pattern if I find someone who does love the monkey. Although, I hear the real monkey doesn't wear a hat.

Klein Bottle - I've heard it isn't really a Klein Bottle. Personally, I don't care. Someone tells me this is really a Klein Bottle. I still don't care.

Swell - There's a line just below the part where the waves start, and it bothers me. Also, check out the gauge - 4.1 st/inch on size 5 needles, with cascade 220. I get 4 st/inch on size 8s. But I do like the way it swirls together at the top.

Julie - Wow. Something that makes Perdita look useful and pretty. Jordana - please, make cute sweaters and handbags. There's no need to go all crazy and come up with things like this just to get your name out there. We've all seen your bags, and really, they're lovely. This isn't helping your cause! And if you must put these things out there, find another friend to model for you. This friend looks like the "necklace" might snap her neck at any moment. It dwarfs her, and that just shouldn't be.

Manresa - I'm glad GW girls don't knit. If they did, they would take this as a sign that you should really be wearing flip flops in December. When really, if it's cold enough for leg warmers, it's cold enough for socks and shoes. Unless you're a ballerina, in a studio. But like the tabi socks above, most people knitting these won't be ballerinas in studios.

Allete - In 7th grade we studied Greek mythology in Language Arts/Social Studies class. I did a presentation on Hermes, and we had extra points if we dressed up as our god/goddess of choice. The wings my mom and I made were about a hundred times better. No, they weren't knit, but sometimes things don't need to be knit, and are better when they aren't knit. But I'm sure someone, somewhere, has a 5 year old who will think these are the best things ever.

Lilies - I like fresh cut flowers myself, but I know other people don't. And sure, I've crocheted a fair number of pansies and daffodils myself, but they just don't really come close. I like keeping flowers small, and putting them on something (like my backpack) as opposed to stand-alones. I guess they aren't my cup of tea, but other people might really like them.

(How on earth can I find 4 pages worth to write about?!)

posted by Amber @ 7:12 PM

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