Spring + Summer Knitty already?

[pinesandmaples]

Yes, indeedy! I'm as surprised as you are (but I never know the date, so this might just be me).

Knitty Spring + Summer 2011 logo! Click the pic!

My journal has my usual (mildly useful) pattern rundown as well as some commentary that I'm reproducing here.

First:

"Both Knitty and Twist Collective pushed new issues out into the world for all to see in the past few days. Neither was as bad as I'd feared, but I'm starting with Knitty because it's the better of the two. (This time, at least.)

Traditionally, spring and summer are very weak times for knitwear designers. I don't really understand why spring is a hard season to do because there is a lot of need for knitwear in the global north during the spring season. Living in Mississippi and Louisiana, not so much. But when I lived in Pennsylvania and Sweden, it was absolutely essential to temper my lovely, light and airy clothes with cardis and shawls and little cotton hats that looked swingy and cute. I'm happy to trade spring knitwear for a spring climate that doesn't actually call for knitwear, but plenty of people do not live where I do."

Since y'all will understand, I really am shocked at the missed opportunities for spring knitwear. Even in New Orleans, an interesting featherweight cardigan would not go awry. And my rooibos always has a chill, despite our location. There is a piece of the puzzle missing, I think.

Second:

"I'd also like to have a chat about KnittySpin.
KS makes me feel like I'm an aberration among spinners, even though I know I'm not. Every KS pattern seems to be spewed forth from either the Sheep Sniffers (everything aaaaaaaaallllllllll natural and sheep-colored and must include fleece from every breed of sheep available) or the Spilled Dyepot (my fleece has every color of dye available, wheeeeeeeeee!). I know there are spinners like me because I read their blogs. I see their handspun. We make yarn that rivals commercial yarn. We make yarn that is beautiful and doesn't look like an afghan from 1972. We can spin consistant, attractive skeins of yarn. We can spin artful yarn. We can spin a lot of things so why does KnittySpin only manage to be this weird subset of spinning?"

I'd love to hear from other spinners about their impressions of recent KS patterns.

Comments are welcome here in knitting or in my journal.

Comments

[laughingrat]

What you're expressing in the last bit is a preference, not some kind of objective, verifiable absolute. I think it's possible to advocate for different patterns and more tech-oriented spinning articles in KnittySpin without slagging off others' spinning styles/aesthetics (or, possibly, beginners' skills). For instance: "I'd like to see patterns for handspun that is spun evenly and doesn't pool." I mean, there you go. Says what needs to be said without acting like your idea of what's attractive, challenging, or interesting is the only acceptable option, and everything else is an insult.

[pinesandmaples]

Your comment is so hostile that I refuse to discuss this with you.

[kauricat]

For what it's worth I thought this was a very reasonable comment.

[shelli]

I totally disagree. Nowhere do I see a claim of objective or absolutes. Just lots of hyperbole and a feeling of under-representation.

[laughingrat]

When you state bluntly that "X is attractive," that is, in fact, stating an opinion as an absolute.

[pennyplainknits]

I'm a terrible spinner; I don't have space for a wheel so everything is done on a spindle, and I in no way produce even yarn. I also feel that if my aim is produce yarn that looks 'commercial' I may as well save myself the effort and time and buy commercial yarn, which will always be smoother and more regular. I like the knittyspin patterns because they show that even my imperfect yarn can be knitted into something beautiful and worthwhile and I think that is important in keeping me, and other spinners who spin like me, going and not giving up in the face of imperfection.

As for the bright colours, well, that's just the yarn that that particular knitter chose to use. There's nothing stopping you knitting it in a different colour, so I don't really see that that's an issue?

[fyreharper]

I suppose they might be assuming that if you're spinning nice consistent "yarn that rivals commercial yarn", you probably don't need specialized "handspun" patterns, because you can use any of the more-numerous patterns designed for commercial yarn. I spin only rarely, with a drop spindle - if I were to make something from my handspun, it better not be something that was designed for nice consistent commercial yarn, because that's not what I'm spinning ;)