I am so blown away, all I can do is tell you to go there NOW and read the entire thing. It’s the Fit to Flatter series, by Amy Herzog on Stash Knit Repeat.

After you read the whole series (and take pictures of yourself…and measure yourself), check out her Fit to Flatter review of the new Twist. It’s a fabulous explanation of how to take the principles of picking-the-right-pattern and to apply it to the patterns you already love.

If you want to chat about knitting sweaters that fit, check out the Ravelry group (I’ll be there!). And if you’re looking for some sweater patterns that will look great in handspun yarn, check out this list of handspun sweater patterns.

But let’s get personal…

According to some incriminating photos of my in my yoga pants + tank top, I have a slightly bottom-heavy (but just slightly, the line is like, 1 cm bigger on bottom), so I need sweaters that have more interest near my face. Because I appreciate anything slimming, I should look for sweaters that create vertical lines (like, an open cardigan that hangs straight).

Have I been choosing the right sweaters?

Let’s have a look:

My very favorite sweater is my own pattern and I call it Cabled Satisfaction. It’s based on Elizabeth Zimmerman’s bottom-up sweaters. Knit in the round, with big cables up the fronts and little cables at the raglan decreases that join in the cabled top border. I think it fits all the requirements!

Right now, I’m working on the Apothecary Sweater, which has an entrelac panel at the neck and down the front. The bottom hem is plain, as are the sleeves. I actually only have one sleeve left and now that I’ve read the series, I’m going to make sure that the hem of the sweater and the sleeves end at different points (and that it’s not my widest point!)

The unfinished sweater I’m most excited about is Amelia. Her front panels of vertical lines and the fact that I’m going to wear her open (not buttoned at the top like the pattern shows), are flattering. I’ve lengthened the waist band (to hit my natural waist and highlight it). If I had read the series first, I may have skipped the strong horizontal border of garter stitch. (I’m way past the point shown in the photo..I need to take some more pictures!)

What are you knitting? Is it flattering?

Tell me in the comments!

If you missed it then, you can still get a (free) shawl pattern, by purchasing a skein of banana yarn from the Boutique, in the next week. (Offer ends 8/1)

The pattern is mostly the wrap-stitch (did I make this up? I don’t know!) and it’s a little hard to explain verbally, although it’s super-simple to perform.

Here’s how you do it!

And the bind-off is basically a crochet bind-off…but with your knitting needles. Here’s what I mean:

(behind the scenes note: I am wearing the same skirt in the photoshoot for the patterns and in the tutorials. Different days, same skirt.)

If you have any questions or comments (would you like to see more videos?), leave them in the comments!