Woolly-Wits Reviews Vogue Knitting Winter 2013/14

Design #8 by Deborah Newton

This issue of VK is a little light on garments (lots of accessories - and accessories masquerading as garments -  as well as some afghans), so that means my review will also be a little light.

The story line which I find most interesting is the moto trend with three designs by Debbie Newton.  They all feature v-necks, an asymmetrical zipper as a closure and another for a pocket.  Two are worked in the same same yarn, and all three are at the same gauge.  So they make a good case study in how to vary a basic pattern for better figure enhancement.

The garment working the hardest to give a lengthening line is #8, the asymmetrical vest.  I really like the longer length, and you can too, as long as you don't consider your lower thighs to be danger spot.  Love the deep v-neck, as always and the strong off-kilter diagonal lines of the two zippers.  My one complaint is that there is no waist shaping, but that's a situation that and thinking knitter with a tape measure can fix.

Design #9 by Deborah Newton

Designs #7 and #9 have the advantage of side shaping already built into the pattern, and you can see they are definitely highlighting the waist more than #8.  Generally I am a fan of color blocking, but the combination of the color block and the shorter length make #9 seem a little too boxy.  I think I would like it better if lengthen to match #7.

#7 is a design that I would love to see hanging open.  Unfortunately, although VK360 does have a long shot of it being unzipped, there is only a brief flash of part of it unzipped.  Many times double breasted sweaters look awkward when open.  If done in a lighter weight yarn they could look fine - kind of Eileen Fisher.  It would be interesting to see the effect with these zippered sweaters.

Design #7 by Deborah Newton

And, in the spirit of full disclosure, I have a design in this issue, too.

Design #6 by Theresa Schabes

 I will leave its review to you.