Debbie Bliss Magazine Fall/Winter 2014: A Review

Debbie Bliss Magazine has released its Fall/Winter 2014 issue. Let's have a look at it, shall we?

Ballet Slippers. These are nothing special. A quick search on Ravelry would produce a number of much more accomplished ballet-style slipper patterns.

Blackberry Stitch and Cable Sweater. The stitchwork used here is attractive, but the shaping of this item is really pretty awful. Also, if you make this sweater in this colour, you might want to avoid wearing a black bra under it as the model has done.

Cable and Moss Stitch Sweater. Classic cabled sweater with decent shaping.

Cable socks. A simple yet pleasing sock pattern.

Cabled Armwarmers. These look too much like upcycled sweater arms.

Cabled Mitts. Upcycled sweater arms, take two.

Cabled Shoulder Cape. This is actually pretty cute. The texture is good and the style has a certain piquant charm.

Cabled Shoulder Cape and Ribbed Top. I'm torn about this one. I think the idea of a cape and sweater set is a great new concept, but I'm not thrilled with this particular execution of it, which looks kind of like the model was putting on a sweater and skirt set and got the skirt stuck around her neck. This cape needs to look a little more like a cape. Adding a collar would help.

Cabled Swing Tunic. The shape of this one is totally unflattering even on this professional model.

Chevron Cowl and Handwarmers. Not thrilled with this set, which has a rather schlumpy look to it. The handwarmers again look like sections of sweater sleeves. A better fit through the wrist (and dare I say it, finger coverage) would help with that.

Cocoon Club. This is quite a nice piece. I'd want to try wearing it pinned it in front with a shawl pin for a more fitted, stylish look, though it's fine worn open.

Cropped Cable Sweater. It's hard to go wrong with a classic cabled turtleneck like this one. If the cropped length or waist-emphasizing deep waistband isn't for you, those design elements can be easily altered.

Dramatic Drape coat. This jacket definitely has great texture and a certain style, though I would suggest wearing it over something fitted and/or with a belt for a more flattering look.

Extra-Wide Multi Cable Tunic. My goodness, this is a sweater so unflattering the Debbie Bliss Magazine editors even acknowledged as much in the name of the design. I mean, not only is the the sweater huge, but there are two dropped shoulder seams in each sleeve. Horizontal stripes are notoriously hard to wear and this designer went with horizontal cables, and then there's the way the front panel protrudes. Don't take this to mean that I think every last woman's sweater needs to be some fitted little number. Sometimes a woman just wants to wear something relaxed and roomy, and if she wants all her sweaters to have that kind of fit, that can look just fine too. But there's a relaxed, roomy fit and then there's fitting like a house. This is definitely the latter.

Fair Isle Beret. Very pretty and classic child's hat.

Fair Isle Legwarmers. Legwarmers can look so fetching on a young girl, and this is a nicely worked pair.

Fair Isle Sweater. Lovely little sweater. There is something so appealing about fair isle patterns on a child.

Fair Isle Yoke Jacket. Love this pattern, which has a good shape and nice detailing. And you'll achieve the charm of a fair isle piece with far less work than an all-over fair isle pattern.

Hottie Cover. I don't know how practical this is, but then I never use a hot water bottle. I suppose it's cute and easily whipped up if you think you will use it.

Jacket With Contrast Band. Hoo boy. This looks like one of those dreadful beginner projects that reduce everyone but the gloriously oblivious maker to cringing and hoping that the light of realization will dawn on her at some point. And if it ever does, she'll first delete or destroy all photo or video evidence she can get her hands on, and then sit up all night behind drawn window shades, ripping the thing out and wondering if she'll have plausible deniability once the yarn is knitted into a different style.

Lacy Shawl. Very pretty lace shawl.

Moss Stitch Turban. Does anyone really wear this sort of thing for occasions other than filming a facial cleanser commercial?

Ombre Sweater. Ooh, really like this one. There's nothing quite like a gradient colour scheme when it's done right, as it is here. The mohair yarn used here really helps blend the colours.

Pajama Case. As with the turban... I don't know who would use this item. I for one do not want the bother of folding up my pajamas and putting them in a fussy little case every morning. And it's nothing special from a design perspective.

Parka. This is a little on the rough and ready side, like it needs more work to look finished. It looks cute on this child model, but then anything would.

Pink-Edged Sweater. Nice simple pullover. The contrast cuff and neckline is a nice touch, though there are much better colour combinations to use than the one employed here.

Shawl-Collared Sweater. Lovely, classic piece.

Short-Sleeved Sweater. This is a nice, simple piece. A large part of its charm is that it's knitted in Debbie Bliss's Angel, which is a kid mohair and silk blend and a really luscious, beautiful yarn.

Sleeveless Top. This is another one of those designs that have that crude and unflattering "beginner project" look. Even if you are a beginner knitter, there are better patterns out there for you.

The Sun and Moon Cushions. This is a cute concept that deserved a better, more artistic execution. These are just too simplistic to be appealing.

That's a Wrap. Hmm, this has some style, and the texture is good. Make this in a beautiful yarn and it will serve you well.

Toasty Tunic. Nice piece. The texture and shape are good and it'll work well with leggings as it is styled here. That neckline sits rather low, but it's easily raised if you'd prefer that it lie higher.

Tweed Coat with Back Pleat. Love this piece. The shape is good and it has polished little details like the buttoned straps on the cuffs and, apparently, a back pleat, though we can't see it here.

V-Neck Tunic. Very simple v-neck pullover in Angel. Again, it's the Angel yarn that makes it.

Tying on Some Knitting

A few days ago when I was searching for shares for my Facebook page, I came across this image. It's from the 1964 Sears catalogue. Just think, if you'd been a knitter back in 1964, this snazzy apron could have been yours, in your choice of red or aqua, for a mere $1.98. A few years back when I was at Fabriclands and browsing through their pattern catalogues, I came across a pattern for a scrapbooking apron, about which I joked with a friend who, like me, does not get the whole scrapbooking thing. But I never knew knitting aprons existed. The googling I did to try and track down some info about this ad led to my discovery that knitting aprons are actually a thing.

This illustration of and directions for making a knitting apron come from the May 1860 issue of Peterson's Magazine, which seems to have been a publication similar to Godey's Lady's Book in that it included fashion illustrations or "fashion plates" which women could use to plan their wardrobes for the coming season. I can understand why a nineteenth century housekeeper, who would have worn an apron half the time anyway, would find this a useful item. Such an apron must have been a good way of keeping one's knitting handy for those spare moments while one waited for bread to bake or while the baby napped.

Here's a vintage knitting apron that was listed on Etsy and has been sold. I can't find out how old it is, but am guessing it dates from the mid-twentieth century, say somewhere between 1930 to 1960. It reminds me a lot of an apron my grandmother used to have, which had an clothesline, clothes, and basket of laundry and clothespins depicted on it in a similar style of embroidery. Naturally Grandma Swan wore it only for hanging the wash up on the clothesline in the back yard. What else could she have worn it for? And what else could this apron be for but for knitting? Having the yarn come out of the centre of the embroidered yarn ball is very witty if a little impractical. It always amuses me to come across vintage or historical references to the fact that knitters have been fending cats away from their yarn for probably as long as knitting as existed.

There are knitting aprons available for sale these days, though they are handmade rather than mass produced. The one above is made by Etsy vendor KoalaCaddie, and is convertible from apron to bag and back again. It's a pretty clever idea, and you have the option of special ordering it from KoalaCaddie in a variety of cute fabrics, or, if you sew, whipping one up for yourself.

I can't see myself wearing a knitting apron, as I never wear aprons and wouldn't care to begin in order wear my knitting around the house. I generally will only knit during phone calls and while watching TV in the evening, and I can just fetch my knitting for that, though we were still living in the era of corded phones, I might feel differently. For me, knitting aprons are like yarn bowls — an interesting curiosity, though not logistically compatible with how I personally knit. But perhaps they will work for you.

Yarn, Paper, Scissors

In the animated short Yarn, Paper, Scissors written, directed and animated by Rebecca Olson, a yarn creature living in a crafted world must save his friend from a malevolent pair of scissors.

Knitter's Magazine 116: A Review

Knitter's Magazine has released Issue 116. Let's have a look at it, shall we?

The Morphing Cables vest. This is a nice piece overall (it's hard to go wrong with classic cables), but I do have reservations about those open lower front edges. That fashion of not only leaving them open but having them sheer away from each other is never very flattering and tends to make a garment look like it's too small.

The Gutsy Grape jacket. This is not a bad piece. It is a bit bulky but the overall lines are good. I'd run the buttons all the way to the bottom for the reasons mentioned in my review of the piece just above this one.

The Alita Dress and Bolero. Oooh, love this set. The lines are good, the stitchwork is good, and the idea of making a coordinated dress and bolero set like this is an inspired one, as boleros work best over a dress. I'm gnashing my teeth that I don't have the right figure for these two pieces.

The Chocolate Ribbons hat, cowl and fingerless glove set. The cowl and the gloves are pretty good, but the hat has a rather odd shape to it.

The Hey Sport cardigan. Nice classic, wearable piece with good lines.

The Well-Grounded cowl and mitts set. I'm going to give a qualified approval of this set — qualified because I'd like to see how that cowl looks when worn as a cowl usually is, i.e., hanging down in front rather than being used by the wearer to play peek-a-boo. I do like the stranded colourwork effect.

The Power of 2 cardigan. This is quite a smart, eye-catching piece. The horizontal stripes around the waist isn't all that flattering, so this may not be the right piece for a wearer who doesn't care to emphasize her waist/hip area.

Three-to-One Windows hat and mittens set. I do have reservations about the deep brim on the cap, but that's easily changed and this is undeniably a really pretty set. The pattern and the colours used here work beautifully together. It does remind me a little of that open arches set piece from the opening sequence of The Muppet Show, but then that's a good thing.

The Layer Me Jacket. I'm not all that taken with the stitchwork and colourwork used on the body of this jacket, but the overall shape and particularly of that notched collar is excellent. I'd be inclined to knit this jacket up using the shaping from this pattern and using a colour chart from any other pattern that especially pleased me.

The Tempting Twists Coat. Lovely, classic piece overall, though I must admit that slightly asymmetrical collar bugs me a little. It looks like a mistake.

The Strategic Strands pullover. Not too impressed with this one. The front placket and the collar sit so poorly that the design looks rough and amateurish.

The Empire Shawl. Very pretty piece. The yarn used here is lovely.

The Rasta Braids top. This is quite a cute little piece. I'd be inclined to ditch the stripes and go with a beautiful solid or subtly flecked colour. This little cardi has plenty of visual interest in its lines and stitchwork and the stripes feel like overkill.

The Jazzed cardigan. I very much like this design overall, but I would totally knit this in another colourway. That candy floss pink and blue combo would be pretty difficult for an adult to carry off.

The Artist Smock. This one is too busy and boho for my tastes. It's not going to be all that flattering either. It might work on a artsy type, but I think even then I'd say that there are better uses for the lovely silk yarn used to make this item.

The Enchanted Cables cardigan is a beautifully detailed piece.

The Oh! Jackie suit. This hasn't been at all a bad issue, but it does not end well. From the unflattering lines to the mottled-looking yarn to the tacky and tattered-looking edging, this pattern is uniformly bad. The pattern description says, "The clever loop stitch at the borders adds a designer touch much like what Coco would have used", but I think Coco wouldn't have used this border and would have fired anyone else who did. All I can say is that at least this is an aptly named design. If your friend Jackie came toward you wearing this, you would almost certainly say, "Oh! Jackie."