Woolly-Wits Reviews Wool People Vol. 7

Ivar by Anne Hansen

Generally, I am not a fan of Brooklyn Tweed patterns.  They skew towards heavily cabled, worsted weight  designs, and the excess visual weight of either highly textured or heavier weight fabric is not flattering to my fluffy figure.  Great for hipsters; not so great for middle-aged suburban ladies.

But this time, there is a real winner that I have to talk about - Ivar by Anne Hansen.  Such a classic but modern look - great for work or more casual wear, as pictured.  It features long, slimming vertical lines in the textured diamond panels, as well as the button bands.  It also has a v-neck, which also slims by visually lengthening the neck.  And, I am currently really into the longer length.  What's a drawback?  The yarn - fingering weight.  Wait, don't panic - it is worked on larger gauge needles, size 6, for more openness and drape, just what you want in a sweater that can be trans-seasonal.  The other potential misstep is that it may or may not have waist shaping.  Hard to tell from the photos, and, being an on-line purchase, there's not access to a schematic without paying first.  But, since the decorative panels are set in from the edge, it should not be difficult to decrease a few stitches coming up to the waist, and then add them back on the other side.  I might also have to add pockets to my version, since I am currently pocket-obsessed, but that would be a fun alteration - probably adding them in centered on the textured panels. This is definitely going in my queue.

Natsumi by Kazekobo

What doesn't work so well in this collection?  The most dangerous sweater in the lot is the Natsumi pullover by Kazekobo.  It is also a fingering weight with lovely drape, but it features too many strong horizontal design lines - slightly scooped boat neck, ribbed hem, and, most prominently the patterned band across the upper bust.  The shape is also very boxy with no waist shaping and dropped shoulders.  Who would this sweater work for?  The strong horizontals do visually broaden the shoulders, which helps balance larger hips and thighs.  But, they would be unflattering to a larger bust.  It also lacks any vertical design lines to visually lengthen the slim the figure, so I really can't recommend this design to anyone but those with the slim, youthful figure to wear any garment well.

Vector by Tanis Lavallee

While we are still chatting about Wool People, I have to mention the Vector scarf/shawl by Tanis Lavallee.  I am a sucker for diagonal design lines, and I am also lately a sucker for generously-sizes rectangular-ish wraps.  So, this one has also been favorited, if not queued by me.  Love the gradient, although I would definitely work mine in color.  The pattern calls for fingering weight, but I think this could also be great with leftover sock yarns.  This might be my next take-to-meetings mindless knitting project.

With two hit-out-of-the-park designs, Vol. 7 is my favorite Wool People collection, ever.