5.12.2015

Not The Boss Of Me

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Sweater: Effervesence Cardigan by Olga Buraya-Kefelian; madelinetosh pasmina in citrus; my notes and modifications on Darling Clementine
Dress: Lilly Pulitzer; not a lot from Lilly this season that's similar save this one, however check out this Jessica Simpson and this A.B.S. for your strapless summer needs
Shoes: Manolo Blahnik; I would seriously buy ALL of the following orange sandals if I could justify it: floral lace heels by Kurt Geiger, espadrille wedges by Charles David, this brand doesn't fit me well but I still think they're great Schutz strappy sandals, trying to find any justification to buying these Charlotte Olympia sky high platforms which are available in my size and my size only, these amazing and bizarre MSGM mixed media-looking things, and these reasonable high and reasonably priced Lauren by Ralph Lauren multi-colored jobs
Lips: Yves Saint-Laurent Volupte Tint-in-Oil in Crush Me Orange
Toes: Essie in Blanc

Only a dreadful spoilsport would advise against matching one's cardigan, shoes, and lip color. And I am not a dreadful spoilsport. I am a woman who is deeply deeply pleased that winter is over, that summer is coming, that this dress still fits me despite a metabolic catastrophe that not even 30 days of consecutive sweatyoga can arrest (and I am not pregnant, this I know), that I actually do look decent in orange lip gunk, that I am about to go on vacation. Everything is pretty much coming up Millhouse.

I still kinda hate cardigans, though. I am nearing the end of the body on my Grace, the cardigan everyone I am friends with already has and which I needed to have to so that I could fit in. I tried knitting it a size bigger (which will also help since I am at least a size bigger myself) and I've determined that anything below high hip for a cardigan I plan to wear with dresses is too long. Still, I have a bunch of fingering weight lying around the house and I have been toying with the idea of turning some of it into a cardigan design. If I try to make myself a cardigan from the ground up and I still hate it, I can just write off cardigans (tailored cardigans at least, there is still plenty of room for gee it's cold in here cardigans) altogether. So I've been looking at stitch dictionaries and trying to assess what I hate about my existing goes-with-dresses cardigans. Here's a short list:

  • Neck too high
  • Neck too low
  • Shoulders all kinds of arsed up
  • Fronts too narrow --> button band gaping
  • Fronts successfully wide enough, back ridculously oversized
  • Too precious
  • Non-uniform length all around
  • Terrible button band ribbing at complete odds with aesthetic vibe of the rest of the sweater
As I regard this cardigan, I think I might find it the perfect length and am now pretty sad I didn't bring Grace to work because I could know right now, at this very second, if it was long enough to start ribbing. I also worry about a design element that will be pleasing to the eye, interesting enough to knit, but not prohibitive in its application: some stuff is just too cutesy for the boardroom. I know people love allover lace patterns, but in addition to their making the garment less warm, I also feel like allover lace looks "knitterly" for lack of a better word. Unless it's crochet and it's boho, you don't see a lot of allover lace in fashion. I'm pretty sure there's a reason for that.

So I'm in the thinking stage of a cardigan. I have two lovely SQs, one from Western Sky Knits and one from Plucky, both of which would make perfectly nice cardigans. I'll let you know how that progresses. In the meantime, All Hail Orange!

6 comments:

  1. Bright blue with orange is one of my all-time favorite color combos. Adorable shoes, fantastic dress, cute cardigan, great hear and lip game. You look smashing. Almost makes me wish I still went into the office. Almost. :)

    You've perfectly articulated most of my issues with cardigans too (the oversized back thing, especially. whyyyyyyy?). Overall, they just don't do it for me, and I likewise have been toying with designing my own. I have the vision, but do I have the skill? :P

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    1. Jessica: it's just math. Seriously. Get the math right once and you've kinda got the math for good. I'm working on a raglan design right now which means new math and while it is a little terrifying, I realize that once I get the base math, all future raglans will be mostly ok!

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  2. Uh, that should be "hair," not "hear." Someone needs more coffee this morning.

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  3. +50 points for a Simpsons reference.

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    1. If only I could have written this post from the Hammock District :)

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  4. I do love orange and it looks great on you!

    I have an opposite problem with cardigans, in that I DON'T wear dresses, so I have a hard time finding a good length to wear with jeans. A little butt coverage is good, but I don't want to go full-on sack. Help me, Obi-Wan Yelena!

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