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July 11, 2017 Leave a Comment

My Expertise Might Be Right To Help You

Expertise: Fit takes timeHow might my expertise help you? The thing is that I’ve been working on this project–designing, construction, teaching–for a long time, and it is hard for me to judge what I know in comparison to what others know.  I know I know more than the average knitter, but it is easy to forget just what that entails. Wow, it is revealing when I am asked to answer questions by someone else!

So first, you can read this really interesting post on the KnitPetiteProject. There are a lot of great resource references, plus I give quite a bit of information on fit and the challenges of making things fit.  I won’t repeat that here as Teresa Gregorio did a great job of putting together information for anyone interested in petite knits. It is mostly applicable to others too.

My Expertise in Fit

I have general expertise in fit which I deploy in making sizing charts, teaching grading, and mostly in how I make my knit garment patterns fairly flexible in the body types they fit. I have taught classes at FIDM that taught technical design for the fashion industry. For this, I relied quite heavily on my past personal sewing, industry garment construction, and industry pattern making education and experience.  I used to say to students that I can visualize pattern pieces and how things fit together. I can stand behind someone in line at the post office and mentally fix all their fit problems. This expertise is based on my intense interest in fit.  My original interest in fit resulted from being tall and lacking a standard figure. Everything I made had to be adjusted.

My Expertise in Fiber

I am, by no means a true expert in fiber, but I do know about a variety of fibers and I have knitted a lot of swatches! My four week swatch workshop was just a taste, and I added a week on plant fibers alone, which I plan to expand. Having a nice working knowledge of fiber can help make choices for your projects. I am always striving to learn more, and continue to be interested in fiber development.  I was particularly interested in this article on polyester. Disclaimer: I have never been a fan of polyester, and try to understand the convenience as a motivator for others. Frankly, to me it is just wearing a plastic bag.

My Expertise in Fabric

My expertise: How do you find out what will happen? Swatch!The process of knitting takes yarn (which has its own inputs of fiber, twist and ply) and adds stitch pattern to create a variety of fabrics. This is not that different from making woven fabric, which is made from yarn and adds type of weave to create a variety of fabrics. Most of us do not know the technical elements of yarn, and it isn’t strictly necessary to, except how it impacts our outcomes. It is good to make note of some details of yarn if you are wishing to replicate or avoid a result.

My Expertise in Shape

Usually we are creating shape at the same time in knitting and may be working beyond the actual skill set of many knitters. This is not the fault of the knitter, but it can impact choices.  I am always very specific in calling out techniques to be used, and it is because I am looking to create a very specific shape result.  Changing a decrease or increase, or method of picking up, casting on, or binding off, can change the result.

Most importantly though, the shape we are creating needs to fit the body that goes underneath the fabric. It is all well and good to see the measurements on a schematic, but it is also essential to know what the measurements of the body are so that proper fit can be achieved.

My Expertise and You

I would love to do an in-depth fit workshop. However, I think we need to step back and do a short workshop on taking measurements and analyzing schematics. Most people seem to be unwilling to take their measurements and use them. Measurements are merely a tool and there is really no judgment in taking them. Of course women have all sorts of judgments about themselves, but we can get past that! Just the facts.  This would be done online.  No one but me would need to see anything unless you use a measuring partner. Email me if you want to know when I do this.

My expertise: What shape are you? I'm a Rectangle (but really a square)

I am a fan of taking your own measurements, but this could be done with a partner.

  • The benefit of taking your own measurements is that you don’t have to share your truth with anyone.
  • The downside is that you have to be flexible enough to get the tape measure where you need it.
  • The benefit of a partner is that they can adjust the tape measure and don’t have to contort to make adjustments.
  • The downside of a partner is sharing, and for some the proximity of someone in their personal space.

I can do this in August, or in the Fall. Email me if you want to do this and tell me when you would like to do it.  This is likely just two or three hours of time. A video or two, some questionnaires, some worksheets.

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Filed Under: Blog, Classes & Workshops, Technique Talk, Workshops & Classes Tagged With: body, create, expertise, fabric, fiber, fit, measurements, pattern, shape, workshop, yarn

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