Knitting Daily Posting

What's your sweater type?   With the Cooke Cardigan, Amy Herzog employs many of the principles of design for top-heavy women. This buttonless jacket, designed to be worn open, features a deep vertical neckline edged in a beautiful herringbone design that slims and lengthens the body. Long sleeves also flatter women with broader upper bodies. You know Knitscene is always full of fun and funky patterns, cool new yarny product reviews, and in-depth features about yarn producers and designers. What you might not realize is that Knitscene contains lots and lots of fascinating instruction, too! Take Julie Matthews' piece from the Fall 2011 issue, about designer Amy Herzog and her tips for figure-flattering sweater shapes. She asks Amy all about what types of sweaters work  best on different body types, and Amy's answers make perfect sense. Here's an excerpt from that article. Form & Fit by Julie Matthews We've all had the unfortunate experience of knitting a gorgeous pattern exactly as written, only to wind up with a sweater that falls short of making us look like the sample picture. The fact is knitwear designers need to draft patterns to fit some shape, so they choose a standardized average. Sadly, most women differ from this "average" in at least one way. That doesn't mean the rest of us should resign ourselves to lackluster sweaters—far from it! All of us deserve sweaters that perfectly fit and flatter us. Designer Amy Herzog finds beauty in everyone. “As women in this culture, it is impossible to see ourselves in an unbiased way,” Amy says. “Everyone who comes into my classes, regardless of her size or shape, is obsessed with some part of her body. What she doesn’t see are her natural assets.” Her remedy: teach knitters to make sweaters that enhance their attractiveness and de-emphasize problem areas. She encourages knitters to start by determining whether they are bottom-heavy, top-heavy, or proportionally shaped. Top-Heavy Shapes: Top-heavy women tend to have broad shoulders or  busts proportionally larger than their hips. Amy advises moving visual interest  to the bottom of the sweater. “Choose designs that incorporate eye-catching elements at the hem of the sweater or employ long vertical panels for the rest of the bodice,” she suggests. Bottom-Heavy Shapes: With bottom-heavy shapes, the hips or thighs are proportionally larger than the rest of the body. Amy counsels moving visual interest to the top of the sweater. “Choose designs that have colorwork, lace, or texture across the shoulders or bustline, and vertical or plain patterning at the hemline,” she says. Proportional Shapes: When a woman’s upper and lower body measure the same width, she is considered proportional. “The key to flattering proportional shapes is to preserve the balance between the shoulders  and bust with the hips and thighs,” Amy says. She recommends pairing a motif at the neckline with a similar design at the hips and cuffs. For example, yoked sweaters with colorwork repeated at the shoulders, sleeves, and hem particularly flatter a proportional form. —from the Fall 2011 issue of Knitscene For much more information about fitting and flattering your unique body shape, including how to modify for your body type (plus sweater designs  for all three figure types profiled), get the new issue of Knitscene today! Cheers,