New Pattern - Sahara
Stitch Diva's Sahara by Wendy Bernard.
I love Wendy's patterns, I actually knit two "Essential Stripes" and I purchased the kit for the "Somewhat Cowl" but I never knit it because I didn't like how the neck turned out for some people, and I still think it could be beautiful but I just think I lack the skill to make sure the neck comes out properly.
Enter my Tilli Tomas yarn that I knit the whole body for the Simple Knitted Bodice (Another Stitch Diva pattern). It was really too big on me, and the center lace panel was anything but flattering. It just wasn't meant for my body type, and most of the people I see it on, it's just huge on them. I had no urge to finish the sleeves. Then a few weeks ago the preview for this pattern was on Wendy's site and I gasped. How perfect! I think my body shape is fairly similar to hers which might be one reason the stuff she knits is stuff that might look good on me. So I will be frogging tonight, frogging all my lovely Tilli Tomas yarn (Hopefully the lace will come out okay, those sequins make it a bit hard).
When I put the SKB on, I simply didn't get that feeling of excitment. It just wasn't there. I didn't like how the center lace panel felt, and I didn't think it was slimming, and I knew if I pulled on it to much the whole sweater was going to stretch out another few inches. This yarn is freakin expensive, and I want to *love* wearing it.
(Please note that this photograph is not straight on, because the photosgraphs from straight on were not as flattering)
Now the SKB was a Stitch Diva pattern as well, so I am going to give here a little review about how I feel these patterns are presented. I am strictly speaking about Stitch Diva, not the pattern authors. I always love how Wendy's patterns are presented in PDF format. With that said, Stitch Diva puts a password on the file, and it really pisses me off. I purchased the pattern, paid money for it, I should not have to keep a separate password file or even need to enter a damn password just to look at the pattern I now own. If I wanted to be evil I could simple screen cap each page and create a new PDF and send it out into the world. I do not participate in copy write infringement, I'm just saying I dislike when people put little locks on things to avoid it, when there is always a work around or hack for it. Like when people disable right click on a website, makes me very angry. I can very easily steal your pictures if I wanted to. Anyone who really wants to be doing something devious, well they will find a way.
So yeah, the password really makes me angry, and then the info inside the first file which seems very important to be in the pattern itself also annoys me. It has yarn substitutions and gauge information. Also the pattern itself is not the way Wendy's patterns normally appear, hers always have lots of white space almost like a very good magazine page layout. Stitch Diva smooches everything into to tight a space, and it's just not as easy to scan or read. Don't get me wrong, Stitch Diva brings us many beautiful designs, but so far the 2 I have purchased have been from Designers who I in the past have purchased from directly.
Regardless, it's a stunning design and I can't wait to frog my SKB and knit this. Can you imagine my deep Jade colored yarn paired with black pants, and funky green shoes to match, at some Holiday party? I'm planning on the short sleeve version (the pink one, the white one has less of a sleeve cap), maybe there is a chance I could actually finish it in time for Paris and wear it on Christmas Eve!