Our last post where we looked at bust, waist, and hip circumferences.
The #KnitPetiteProject plan.
All other #KnitPetiteProject posts.

The #KnitPetiteProject now has a Ravelry group. Join us!

…Youtube video coming soon…

The rest of May and June will be filled with very practical posts that will focus on:

• comparing petite measurements to “regular” CYC charts
• “diagnosing” fit issues
• helping us decide how we feel about fit
• determining tools to alter fit to our liking
• learning to identify patterns that work for our taste and/or are easily modifiable
• and very importantly, considering how we differ from a general sizing chart so we have a set of general rules to consider before we begin knitting a pattern¹

For some of you this information may be old news, and for others, it may be brand new. If you read this and believe something should be added or changed, please let me know in the comments! It’s important that we make the #KnitPetiteProject as comprehensive, accurate, and inclusive as possible.

I’m a large but short woman. Plus sized garment patterns are entirely too long in the arms, too deep in the arm-scye, and often too wide or low in the neck. I don’t mind the extra length on the body because I like to wear tops that are long, and I can adjust that length very easily. Patterns designed for shorter women usually do not accommodate heavier women.²

A few things before we jump in to this week’s topic:

I know if something doesn’t fit me! Why should we look at “diagnosing” fit?!

Please head to May 9th’s post to read my personal story of discovering the value in diagnosing fit.

Please consider joining the #KnitPetiteProject Ravelry group so we can enable this knowledge sharing and help each other to diagnose fit issues!

Remember, Fit is a moving target!

We’ve already touched on this in previous posts, but fit is incredibly complex, and is made more so by the fact that it is both subjective to your own tastes, and dependent on the style of the garment. In the examples below, please keep that in mind (particularly style considerations).

Over the next four posts, you may see a bunch of repetition

I hope that these posts will be able to stand on their own AND fit together, so that readers can take as comprehensive an amount of information from each post as possible. Please excuse the repetition!

Body Positivity

This is worth repeating: looking at the shape of your body and measuring it is not a contest, and it’s not a judgement on your worth as a human being. This is intended to empower you to get what YOU want out of your knits.

In May we’re looking at diagnosing fit, and seeing how our numbers and general “petite” numbers compare to the “regular” numbers of the much-used CYC charts.

Let’s get started.

Petite Plus; what are the issues, and how do they line up against sizing charts?

What Are the Issues?

Width tied to Length

I wanted to devote an entirely separate post to petite plus because from personal experience, information from the #KnitPetiteProject surveys, and my own research, the petite plus knitter is very under-served and because of the way sizing systems for knitting work, petite plus folks have some particularly compounded issues in sizing.

Ysolda touch on this somewhat in her blog post introducing her new sizing chart in February. In it, she wrote:

You’ll notice that some lengths are consistent across the size range. This is because the sizing chart is based on women of the same average height across the size range. Whether larger bust sizes should also be proportionally taller is a matter of some debate, and you may wish to make slight adjustments to these measurements.

The length of the underarm to neck area *will* increase between sizes, some designers handle this by reducing the sleeve and body lengths as the sizes increase. ³ (bolded emphasis my own)

She also stated that her charts are for “average” height, which, according to my research tends to be around 5’5″.

As for how Ysolda handles lengths and widths, she states:

Personally I prefer to keep sleeve and body lengths close to the same across the size range allowing knitters to make adjustments as required for height independent of bust size. The exception is for very close fitting garments where a little extra length is required to follow the curves of the body in larger sizes.⁴

From this you can see the leeway, and/or the designer’s interpretation, that can go in to determining size and length.

Widths being tied to lengths in charts means that those of us on the out-sized ends of sizing systems have our numbers skewed.

In my search for a more representative sizing system, or any detailed information about petite plus sizing, I found the accomplished sewing designer Kathleen Cheetham. We’ve looked at her charts in the past.

This week she’s been kind enough to answer a few questions for us here in the #KnitPetiteProject about her sizing system and petite plus folks. AND, give us a few coupon codes! Check them out at the bottom of her interview.

---

#KnitPetiteProject QUESTION: Your work in petite plus sizing is so important! I love how your Petite Plus Patterns® are designed specifically women with “narrow shoulders, D cup bra, rounded tummy!” With these fit aspects in mind, I’m wondering: What fit sacrifices does a petite person make when wearing a non-petite sized garment? What are some of the tell-tale signs that a garment (particularly tops) isn’t sized for a petite (and petite plus) body?

KC ANSWER: We often think of length as being the issue in fit for petite women wearing regular-sized garments. More than length though is scale and proportion – the width of the shoulders, depth of the neckline and armhole, the overall scale of collars, cuffs and pockets are all too big for the tinier figure.

#KnitPetiteProject QUESTION: I really appreciate that your resources are designed specifically for petite plus women! It’s difficult to find information on this topic, and I’ve found your book “Perfect Plus” to be a great help in understanding petite plus fit concerns. One of my favourite parts of your book is your body measurements chart.

For all the #KnitPetiteProject readers I’d love to know: how is your chart different from other charts and what sources of data did you use to create your sizing chart?

KC ANSWER: I developed my measurement chart from data compiled from a number of sources including, – standard measurement charts in place for decades within the pattern drafting industry and my own research, measuring actual petite women.

#KnitPetiteProject QUESTION: How is sizing in sewing different than sizing in knitting? Should a petite (and petite plus) knitter be concerned about the sorts of petite modifications you suggest in your book?

KC ANSWER: I am not a knitter, but I’m sure that the same concerns of fit with regard to length, scale and proportion will be of concern to knitters as to sewers.

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You can find more from Kathleen at her website here: Petite Plus Patterns

Join her Petite Plus Patterns Facebook

Interested in learning more from Kathleen? The Threads class, called Plus Size Petite: Tops and Tummies can be seen online or purchased as a video through Taunton Press’ web site. This link will take you to more information and a 20% off discount.

Kathleen has taught five classes through Craftsy, four which relate to fitting specific areas of the body and one that teaches how to grade patterns up and down in size.

Check out the classes:

• Create any Size, Pattern Grading for Sewers: Coupon Details: Get 33% off the full retail price of select Craftsy classes taught by Kathleen Cheetham. Cannot be combined with any other coupons. Expires August 1, 2017.
• Custom Fitting: Back, Neck and Shoulders: Coupon Details: Get 33% off the full retail price of select Craftsy classes taught by Kathleen Cheetham. Cannot be combined with any other coupons. Expires August 1, 2017.
• Adjust the Bust: Coupon Details: Get 33% off the full retail price of select Craftsy classes taught by Kathleen Cheetham. Cannot be combined with any other coupons. Expires July 20, 2017.
• Custom Fitting: Waist and Hips: Coupon Details: Get 33% off the full retail price of select Craftsy classes taught by Kathleen Cheetham. Cannot be combined with any other coupons. Expires August 1, 2017.
• Plus Size Pant Fitting: Coupon Details: Get 33% off the full retail price of select Craftsy classes taught by Kathleen Cheetham. Cannot be combined with any other coupons. Expires August 1, 2017.

Also, for us knitters, Kathleen recommends this Craftsy class:

• Sweater Modifications for a Custom Fit by Amy Herzog: Coupon Details: Get 25% off the full retail price of any Craftsy class. Excludes classes from our special Mastering in Minutes series as well as from our partner, The Great Courses. Cannot be combined with any other coupons. Expires August 1, 2017.

How do the issues line up against sizing charts?

CYC Sizing Charts

We’ve talked a bit about the CYC sizing charts here on the #KnitPetiteProject before, and I’d like to use them again here to illustrate some differences and act as a bit of a base level from which to operate.

We can’t assume EVERY knitting pattern we come across uses CYC! But many do, and if you find that you experience similar fit issues across knitting pattern designs then looking at the CYC charts may be helpful.⁵

As Palmer and Alto point out in their book Fit for Real People, going solely by measurement numbers can misrepresent fit; they note that you could pick a size that has the same measurements as your body, but you may still experience excess fabric, tight pull lines, or other fit issues because of the complexity of our body’s shape. For our learning exercise here, let’s take these numbers as a starting point as we put together the puzzle of fit and trying to determine what general fit alterations we can consider for knitting patterns before we start knitting them!

You’ll notice that these CYC charts have nine different points of measurement, and that they include sizes up to a 62″ bust circumference.

All these numbers can help you in estimating the shape of your body and the shape of the body in patterns designed using these charts. Remember: not ALL patterns use these charts, but many do.

Bust

Last week I prompted to you to take a closer look at the bust measurement, and try instead to use your high bust (or upper torso) measurement to select a size.

Pretending that this number is actually your bust measurement. Does that set of numbers come closer to your own measurements?

This piece of advice comes from a variety of sources including Ysolda and Amy Herzog; picking size based on upper torso instead of bust will let you know more about your actual frame, and may provide you with a set of numbers that is closer to your actual numbers. This is particularly of use for petite plus folks.

Sleeve Length

As you trace your finger along the chart to the larger sizes, you’ll see the sleeves grow inches longer. The same happens for the armhole depth. As Ysolda points out, larger sizes may indeed need longer lengths in the underarm to neck region. Is this number close to your own measurement?

Back Waist

Particularly, take a look at the back waist length. One of the larger sizes, the 50″ bust, is 18″ long. For comparison, the charts from Kathleen Cheetham give a back waist measurement of 14″ 7/8. Which sizing chart is closer to your measurements? Do Kathleen’s charts better represent your body?

Cross Back

Do the same with the cross back measurement from CYC and Kathleen’s charts. There’s a pretty stark difference in width! Which chart better reflects your size?

Question

As a petite plus knitter, what are your favourite sweater patterns?

Resources

• Petite Plus Patterns Facebook Page. Accessed May 8, 2017.
• Kathleen Cheetham. Petite Plus Patterns. Accessed May 8, 2017.
• Kathleen Cheetham. Petite Plus Patterns: Sizing. Accessed May 8, 2017.
• Ysolda’s Sizing Charts for Knitwear Designers, 2017. Accessed May 8, 2017.

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¹ Amy Herzog refers to this as well in her excellent Craftsy class, Knit to Flatter. She clarifies and defines “Miss Average”, and states that while you will differ from Miss Average, you’ll “always differ in the same way”, so getting your numbers is a big and important first step.

² Anonymous #KnitPetiteProject Fit Survey respondent.

³ Ysolda’s Sizing Charts for Knitwear Designers, 2017. Accessed May 8, 2017.

⁴ Ibid

⁵ I take that this is a good piece of advice because author Anne Marie Soto gives very similar instruction in her article “Petite Pizzaz” from Vogue Knitting Winter 92-93: “In patterns for home sewing…both Miss and Miss Petite sizes have been standardized. Thus, the measurements in home-sewing patterns can serve as useful guidelines for altering Misses knitting instructions to suit your smaller frame.” pg 16.

Save

Save

Our last post where we looked at torso length measurements and shapes.
The #KnitPetiteProject plan.
All other #KnitPetiteProject posts.

The #KnitPetiteProject now has a Ravelry group. Join us!

The rest of May and June will be filled with very practical posts that will focus on:

• comparing petite measurements to “regular” CYC charts
• “diagnosing” fit issues
• helping us decide how we feel about fit
• determining tools to alter fit to our liking
• learning to identify patterns that work for our taste and/or are easily modifiable
• and very importantly, considering how we differ from a general sizing chart so we have a set of general rules to consider before we begin knitting a pattern¹

For some of you this information may be old news, and for others, it may be brand new. If you read this and believe something should be added or changed, please let me know in the comments! It’s important that we make the #KnitPetiteProject as comprehensive, accurate, and inclusive as possible.

Of course, it’s unlikely that you’ll find every single one of your measurements is the same as the pattern, focus on the key measurements of shoulders, waist (for this purpose use the narrowest part of your torso not necessarily your natural waist line) and hip. Vertical measurements are generally easiest to adapt so don’t use those to determine the size you make but note any changes you’ll need to make, such as lengthening the body, moving the waist shaping higher, etc.²

A few things before we jump in to this week’s topic:

I know if something doesn’t fit me! Why should we look at “diagnosing” fit?!

Please head to May 9th’s post to read my personal story of discovering the value in diagnosing fit.

Please consider joining the #KnitPetiteProject Ravelry group so we can enable this knowledge sharing and help each other to diagnose fit issues!

Remember, Fit is a moving target!

We’ve already touched on this in previous posts, but fit is incredibly complex, and is made more so by the fact that it is both subjective to your own tastes, and dependent on the style of the garment. In the examples below, please keep that in mind (particularly style considerations).

Over the next four posts, you may see a bunch of repetition

I hope that these posts will be able to stand on their own AND fit together, so that readers can take as comprehensive an amount of information from each post as possible. Please excuse the repetition!

Body Positivity

This is worth repeating: looking at the shape of your body and measuring it is not a contest, and it’s not a judgement on your worth as a human being. This is intended to empower you to get what YOU want out of your knits.

In May we’re looking at diagnosing fit, and seeing how our numbers and general “petite” numbers compare to the “regular” numbers of the much-used CYC charts.

Let’s get started.

Bust, waist and hip circumferences; what are the issues, and how do they line up against sizing charts?

What Are the Issues?

You might be surprised to see this topic addressed in the #KnitPetiteProject, as I think I’ve been quite chatty about how we’re focusing on vertical measurements and modifications. But, as we’ve seen over the past few months (and the last couple of posts in particular) the collection of shapes and lengths and circumference of our body affect each other, so it’s important to touch on these circumference measurements as well.

Bust

It’s also important to reflect on these numbers because, as we read in March’s #KnitPetiteProject posts, circumferences, particularly bust measurements, are how sizes are selected, systems are structured, and are the number that you’ll likely find listed in the “sizes” section of your knitting pattern.

This has use, and any sizing system needs certain primary numbers to structure the rest of its sizing around. But for us, it’s important to remember that the bust number is only a starting point, and doesn’t have to be the ultimate signifier of your size.³

Some evidence that basing your size on your bust measurement gives you a knit that’s too large for your frame:

• you may have excess fabric around your neck and shoulders
• vertical measurements are too long
• any shoulder and sleeve cap seams dip down off your shoulders
• necklines are deeper than the pattern style demonstrates

Some evidence that basing your size on your bust measurement gives you a knit that’s too small for your frame:

• your knit may stretch and look and feel tight, particularly around your shoulders

Waist

This is another important circumference number, and within sizing systems is tied to the other numbers proportionally in that a hourglass or curvy shape is usually presumed. You may need more or less waist shaping for your garment, and determining this is fairly straightforward.

Locating one’s waist for measuring may not be as straightforward; you can check out the tips in this post from February for more info.

That said, seeing the waist circumference through a petite lens means that the shaping you may have to add or subtract may have to be done over fewer rows than a “regular” size.

Also of note: the studies we’ve looked at in earlier #KnitPetiteProject posts⁴ have research that shows the petite person may be more likely to have a smaller bust:waist ratio than “regular” sizes.  If this is the case, you may encounter fit issues in your sweaters where the bust fits, but the waist is too small.

Hips

Same goes for the hip circumference. Research has found that the difference in ratio between these three circumferences is smaller than in “regular” sizing, resulting in a straighter body shape for petite people than for “regulars”.

How do the issues line up against sizing charts?

CYC Sizing Charts

We’ve talked a bit about the CYC sizing charts here on the #KnitPetiteProject before, and I’d like to use them again here to illustrate some differences and act as a bit of a base level from which to operate.

We can’t assume EVERY knitting pattern we come across uses CYC! But many do, and if you find that you experience similar fit issues across knitting pattern designs then looking at the CYC charts may be helpful.⁵

As Palmer and Alto point out in their book Fit for Real People, going solely by measurement numbers can misrepresent fit; they note that you could pick a size that has the same measurements as your body, but you may still experience excess fabric, tight pull lines, or other fit issues because of the complexity of our body’s shape. For our learning exercise here, let’s take these numbers as a starting point as we put together the puzzle of fit and trying to determine what general fit alterations we can consider for knitting patterns before we start knitting them!

You’ll notice that these CYC charts have nine different points of measurement, including bust, waist, and hips circumference.

All these numbers can help you in estimating the shape of your body and the shape of the body in patterns designed using these charts. Remember: not ALL patterns use these charts, but many do.

Bust

Look at this chart: if you selected your size based on your bust measurement, how close are the other numbers to your own?

Now, take you upper torso (or high bust) measurement. Pretend that this number is actually your bust measurement. Does that set of numbers come closer to your own measurements?

This piece of advice comes from a variety of sources including Ysolda and Amy Herzog; picking size based on upper torso instead of bust will let you know more about your actual frame, and may provide you with a set of numbers that is closer to your actual numbers.

Waist and Hips

Check out the ratios of waist to hips. They hover around a 10″ – 12″ difference. Is this an accurate ratio for you? Perhaps your own petite body supports the evidence of the study noted below. Personally, my waist:hips difference is about 10″ (BUT, selecting a size based on my upper bust measurement at least brings some of the vertical measurements down and closer to my actual size).

In June we’ll be going over the details of tactics to petite your knits. For now, let’s all look at those numbers and pull those FOs out and see what evidence of fit we have. Ask yourself these questions:

1. What information do my numbers compared to the CYC numbers tell me?
2. Is that information supported in the fit of my handknits?
3. Is that information supported in the fit of my store-bought clothes?

Question

Does your high bust (or upper torso) measurement give you numbers that more accurately reflect your size in the CYC charts?

Resources

• Ysolda Teague. Little Red in the City. April, 2011.
• Youngsook Kim , Hwa Kyung Song , Susan P. Ashdown , (2016) “Women’s petite and regular body measurements compared to current retail sizing conventions“, International Journal of Clothing Science and Technology, Vol. 28 Iss: 1.
• Craft Yarn Council. Standard Body Measurements/Sizing. Accessed May 8, 2017.
• Anne Marie Soto. Petite Pizzaz. Vogue Knitting. Winter 92-93. pgs 16-18 and 105.
• Amy Herzog, Craftsy class. Knit to Flatter. Accessed on May 8, 2017.

---

¹ Amy Herzog refers to this as well in her excellent Craftsy class, Knit to Flatter. She clarifies and defines “Miss Average”, and states that while you will differ from Miss Average, you’ll “always differ in the same way”, so getting your numbers is a big and important first step.

² Ysolda Teague. Little Red in the City. April, 2011, pg 37.

³ Ysolda Teague. Little Red in the City. April, 2011. Ysolda’s book Little Red in the City goes into great detail about different sizes and shapes, selecting a size, and includes many designs that are created to be easy for you to modify to your own numbers.

⁴ Youngsook Kim , Hwa Kyung Song , Susan P. Ashdown , (2016) “Women’s petite and regular body measurements compared to current retail sizing conventions“, International Journal of Clothing Science and Technology, Vol. 28 Iss: 1, pg 56.

⁵ I take that this is a good piece of advice because author Anne Marie Soto gives very similar instruction in her article “Petite Pizzaz” from Vogue Knitting Winter 92-93: “In patterns for home sewing…both Miss and Miss Petite sizes have been standardized. Thus, the measurements in home-sewing patterns can serve as useful guidelines for altering Misses knitting instructions to suit your smaller frame.” pg 16.

Save

Save

Our last post where we looked at shoulder, back, and arm measurements and shapes.
The #KnitPetiteProject plan.
All other #KnitPetiteProject posts.

The #KnitPetiteProject now has a Ravelry group. Join us!

The rest of May and June will be filled with very practical posts that will focus on:

• comparing petite measurements to “regular” CYC charts
• “diagnosing” fit issues
• helping us decide how we feel about fit
• determining tools to alter fit to our liking
• learning to identify patterns that work for our taste and/or are easily modifiable
• and very importantly, considering how we differ from a general sizing chart so we have a set of general rules to consider before we begin knitting a pattern¹

For some of you this information may be old news, and for others, it may be brand new. If you read this and believe something should be added or changed, please let me know in the comments! It’s important that we make the #KnitPetiteProject as comprehensive, accurate, and inclusive as possible.

…patterns are designed for a height of 5’5″ – 5’6″. If you are 5’2″ and very long-waisted in proportion to your height, the pattern waist length may be fine. It won’t be, however, if your waist length is proportionally average or less than average for your height.²

A few things before we jump in to this week’s topic:

I know if something doesn’t fit me! Why should we look at “diagnosing” fit?!

Please head to May 9th’s post to read my personal story of discovering the value in diagnosing fit.

Please consider joining the #KnitPetiteProject Ravelry group so we can enable this knowledge sharing and help each other to diagnose fit issues!

Remember, Fit is a moving target!

We’ve already touched on this in previous posts, but fit is incredibly complex, and is made more so by the fact that it is both subjective to your own tastes, and dependent on the style of the garment. In the examples below, please keep that in mind (particularly style considerations).

Over the next four posts, you may see a bunch of repetition

I hope that these posts will be able to stand on their own AND fit together, so that readers can take as comprehensive an amount of information from each post as possible. Please excuse the repetition!

Body Positivity

This is worth repeating: looking at the shape of your body and measuring it is not a contest, and it’s not a judgement on your worth as a human being. This is intended to empower you to get what YOU want out of your knits.

In May we’re looking at diagnosing fit, and seeing how our numbers and general “petite” numbers compare to the “regular” numbers of the much-used CYC charts.

Let’s get started.

Torso Length measurements; what are the issues, and how do they line up against sizing charts?

What Are the Issues?

In her article “Petite Pizzaz” in Vogue Knitting Winter ’92 – ’93, Anne Marie Soto notes three separate zones in which a petite person may want to proportionately alter their knitted sweater to fit them better, particularly if that sweater is one that is intended to fit close to the body.

These three zones correspond with the torso roughly with the upper chest, the midriff, and the hipline. For the purposes of this post, let’s divide up the torso in roughly the same way the CYC numbers do: armhole depth, back waist length, and (an addendum to CYC) the choices you can make for the total length of your sweater.

Armhole Depth

This area can be long or short depending on a variety of factors; if you read the post from May 9 it will show you just how many different ways your shoulders and back can be shaped.

Those factors affect your fit as well as the ultimate depth of your armhole. How can you tell if you are shorter in the armhole depth than the pattern assumes you are?³

• necklines dip lower on your upper torso than the pattern image demonstrates it was designed to
• you may have gaping in the neckline; this is often seen in women who have a full bust and select their size based on the bust number, with the consequence being there is an excess of fabric at the upper chest and neckline (depending on neckline style)
• if yoke details extend down onto your bust, and/or the armpit of the sleeve is significantly lower on your body than the modeled images, you may have a shorter armhole depth than the pattern assumes

Back Waist Length

This is another area that many respondents to the #KnitPetiteProject fit survey noted they need to alter. As we’ve been over earlier this year, there are many different ways a person can be petite, and just because you’re shorter than 5’4″ doesn’t mean you also have a shorter-than-sizing-charted back waist length.

But, here’s some ways to determine if this is an issue for you:

• on a shaped sweater, where does the waist shaping hit you? How about the bust shaping? If the waist shaping is sitting down closer to your hips, you may have a short back waist
• as with any measurement, this is affected by all your other shapes, including bust circumference; while that is a horizontal measurement, it’s important to keep in mind that a larger surface like a bust takes up more length as well as width. This could cascade in altering where a sweater’s back waist lands on your body⁴

Hipline Length

This is not a measurement you’ll find on the CYC chart, but it is a number that’s quite important for the look of your garment. This is also likely something you’ve encountered before, with a hip length sweater ending up looking like a tunic, for example.

You might have a hipline length that is shorter than the pattern assumes if:

• a sweater picture in a pattern photo appear to end at the top of the wearer’s hip bone, but extends further down your body to create a more “tunic” length

How do the issues line up against sizing charts?

CYC Sizing Charts

We’ve talked a bit about the CYC sizing charts here on the #KnitPetiteProject before, and I’d like to use them again here to illustrate some differences and act as a bit of a base level from which to operate.

We can’t assume EVERY knitting pattern we come across uses CYC! But many do, and if you find that you experience similar fit issues across knitting pattern designs then looking at the CYC charts may be helpful.⁵

As Palmer and Alto point out in their book Fit for Real People, going solely by measurement numbers can misrepresent fit; they note that you could pick a size that has the same measurements as your body, but you may still experience excess fabric, tight pull lines, or other fit issues because of the complexity of our body’s shape. For our learning exercise here, let’s take these numbers as a starting point as we put together the puzzle of fit and trying to determine what general fit alterations we can consider for knitting patterns before we start knitting them!

You’ll notice that these CYC charts have nine different points of measurement, including armhole depth and back waist length. You’ll also notice, however, that they do not have information on total length, or length from waist to hipline.

All these numbers can help you in estimating the shape of your body and the shape of the body in patterns designed using these charts. Remember: not ALL patterns use these charts, but many do.

Armhole Depth

How does your armhole depth measure against these numbers? We went over taking measurements back in February, but there is no shortage of places where you can find good, reliable information on taking measurements including the incredibly comprehensive Principles of Knitting by June Hemmons Hiatt, especially in Chapter 24, Measurements and Schematics.

Is there a difference between your numbers, and can you see evidence of this in your FOs? Do you feel confident in “diagnosing” this fit?

Back Waist Length

In her “Petite Pizzaz” article for Vogue Knitting, Anne Marie Soto notes the back waist length as one of the ways in which petite sizes differ from Misses sizes (remember, Soto is basing her numbers and advice on the long established sizing charts for the home sewing industry). She states:

For petites, the back waist length (from the neck base to the waist in back) is 1″ (2.5cm) shorter.⁶

Hipline Length

Soto also notes that the hipline length is different for petites. Here, she writes:

The hipline (at the fullest part of the hip) is 2″ (5cm) higher – it’s 7″ (18cm) below the waist for Petites, compared to 9″ (23cm) below the waist for Misses. As a result, the length of a finished Petite sweater (measured from the waistline to the hemline at the center back) is 2″ (5cm) shorter.⁷

While 2″ may not sound like much, it really can make quite a difference, even if all else is equal. Those extra inches in length may make a sweater go from hip length to tunic, or nearly tunic.

And don’t forget if that waistline-to-hipline length is compounded by other short lengths in your sweater. If you are overall shorter in armhole depth, back waist, and hipline, length issues can cascade down and lower that hemline even further.

In June we’ll be going over the details of tactics to petite your knits. For now, let’s all look at those numbers and pull those FOs out and see what evidence of fit we have. Ask yourself these questions:

1. What information do my numbers compared to the CYC numbers tell me?
2. Is that information supported in the fit of my handknits?
3. Is that information supported in the fit of my store-bought clothes?

Question

Do you have expertise in fitting? Or maybe you have questions about determining your fit issues? If so, please hop over to the this #KnitPetiteProject Ravelry Group thread where you can share your questions, and provide answers!

Resources

• Craft Yarn Council. Standard Body Measurements/Sizing. Accessed May 8, 2017.
• Anne Marie Soto. Petite Pizzaz. Vogue Knitting. Winter 92-93. pgs 16-18 and 105.
• Patti Palmer and Marta Alto. Fit for Real People: Sew great clothes using ANY pattern. Palmer/Pletsch Publishing, 2006.
• Amy Herzog, Craftsy class. Knit to Flatter. Accessed on May 8, 2017.
• June Hemmons Hiatt. Principles of Knitting. Touchstone Publishing, 2012.

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¹ Amy Herzog refers to this as well in her excellent Craftsy class, Knit to Flatter. She clarifies and defines “Miss Average”, and states that while you will differ from Miss Average, you’ll “always differ in the same way”, so getting your numbers is a big and important first step.

² Patti Palmer and Marta Alto. Fit for Real People: Sew great clothes using ANY pattern. Palmer/Pletsch Publishing, 2006, pg 115.

³ Info for this section from Patti Palmer and Marta Alto. Fit for Real People: Sew great clothes using ANY pattern. Palmer/Pletsch Publishing, 2006, pgs 129 – 132.

⁴ Ysolda Teague. Little Red in the City. April, 2011, pg 53. As Ysolda writes in Little Red in the City, “In my experience, it’s actually more common for busty women to need … extra length, rather than any extra width, in order to achieve a good fit.”

⁵ I take that this is a good piece of advice because author Anne Marie Soto gives very similar instruction in her article “Petite Pizzaz” from Vogue Knitting Winter 92-93: “In patterns for home sewing…both Miss and Miss Petite sizes have been standardized. Thus, the measurements in home-sewing patterns can serve as useful guidelines for altering Misses knitting instructions to suit your smaller frame.” pg 16.

⁶ Anne Marie Soto. Petite Pizzaz. Vogue Knitting. Winter 92-93, pg 16.

⁷ Ibid.

Save

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Our last post where we compared the same knitted garments on a petite and non-petite person.
The #KnitPetiteProject plan.
All other #KnitPetiteProject posts.

The #KnitPetiteProject now has a Ravelry group. Join us!

The rest of May and June will be filled with very practical posts that will focus on:

• comparing petite measurements to “regular” CYC charts
• “diagnosing” fit issues
• helping us decide how we feel about fit
• determining tools to alter fit to our liking
• learning to identify patterns that work for our taste and/or are easily modifiable
• and very importantly, considering how we differ from a general sizing chart so we have a set of general rules to consider before we begin knitting a pattern¹

For some of you this information may be old news, and for others, it may be brand new. If you read this and believe something should be added or changed, please let me know in the comments! It’s important that we make the #KnitPetiteProject as comprehensive, accurate, and inclusive as possible.

…the design of the upper bodice areas of a garment – the shoulder, armhole, and sleeve – which are without question the most challenging aspects of a pattern.²

A few things before we jump in to this week’s topic:

I know if something doesn’t fit me! Why should we look at “diagnosing” fit?!

I want to share my own story with you about learning to really see the way something fits me in the hopes that it may be helpful or interesting to you.

My interest in fit was awakened a few years ago when I really started making a lot of my own clothes, both knitted and sewn. I would finish a project, happily try it on, and immediately notice all the places where it “looked weird”.

The result of this with my first few projects was a tedious and frustrating re-doing of things in a vain attempt to correct my “mistakes”. Because clearly I had made mistakes! The clothes I made looked weird and didn’t fit right!

It wasn’t until I decided to try on store-bought clothes I had owned and worn for years and compare them to my own finished projects that I realized something: the weird looking “mistakes” I had made in my own handmade clothes appeared in my store bought ones as well! It was a big revelation to me that the weird fit I didn’t like in my own handmade clothes wasn’t from my mistakes in making the pattern, it was representative of consistent issues I experience, even in store-bought clothes.

All my life I had ignored or innately accepted the fit of store bought clothes; but when the same issues came up with my handmade clothes, I only really “saw” them because I was being self-critical of my own product!

Once I had that realization, I focused on figuring out why those consistent “weird fit” things kept happening. And let me tell you, the answer wasn’t as easy to find, or figure out, or “diagnose”, as I thought it would be. It took a lot of digging and reading and looking at illustrations to even start to get there.

What I really want for these next few posts, and for the #KnitPetiteProject in general, is to save YOU from such a struggle to diagnose and alter those fit issues you may want to change. I want to share what I’ve read and learned, AND draw on the expertise of all you kind readers, to create this resource we as petite knitters can all go to. I think it would be amazing if those of us with experience in looking at and diagnosing fit can advise other who may not know or can’t figure out what their fit issues is.

Please consider joining the #KnitPetiteProject Ravelry group so we can enable this knowledge sharing and help each other to diagnose fit issues!

Remember, Fit is a moving target!

We’ve already touched on this in previous posts, but fit is incredibly complex, and is made more so by the fact that it is both subjective to your own tastes, and dependent on the style of the garment. In the examples below, please keep that in mind (particularly style considerations).

Over the next four posts, you may see a bunch of repetition

I hope that these posts will be able to stand on their own AND fit together, so that readers can take as comprehensive an amount of information from each post as possible. Please excuse the repetition!

Body Positivity

This is worth repeating: looking at the shape of your body and measuring it is not a contest, and it’s not a judgement on your worth as a human being. This is intended to empower you to get what YOU want out of your knits.

The next 4 weeks we’re looking at diagnosing fit, and seeing how our numbers and general “petite” numbers compare to the “regular” numbers of the much-used CYC charts.

Let’s get started.

Shoulders, back and arms; what are the issues, and how do they line up against sizing charts?

What Are the Issues?

Shoulders

Sweaters “hang” from your shoulders, and so achieving the sort of fit you want in that part of the body is important, and effects the way the rest of the look of the sweater on your body.

Petite people have shoulders of all different shapes and widths and heights and slopes. Every person’s body is different, and you’ll likely have other fit aspects to consider.

Taking shoulders alone, though, how can you diagnose fit issues?³

Square Shoulders

You might have shoulders that are more square than the pattern assumes if:

• any existing sleeve cap seam doesn’t sit on your shoulder’s protruding bone (it may be pulled closer to your neck), or looks different on you than the images in the pattern photo⁴
• the sweater feels tight across your upper back and upper chest; you may see pulling lines across the back of your shoulders

Sloping Shoulders

You might have shoulders that are more sloping than the pattern assumes if:

• any existing sleeve cap seam doesn’t sit on your shoulder’s protruding bone (it may dip down lower than your shoulder bone)

Uneven Shoulders

You might have shoulders that are more uneven than the pattern assumes if:

• the fit effects mentioned above happen on one side of your body but not the other
• looking at yourself in the mirror, the lower shoulder might make that arm appear a bit longer than the higher shoulder

Broad Shoulders

You might have shoulders that are more broad than the pattern assumes if:

• any seams on the shoulders appear to be pulling in towards each other across your upper chest

Narrow Shoulders

You might have shoulders that are more narrow than the pattern assumes if:

• any seams on the shoulders fall down off your shoulders
• the sweater has extra fabric bagging around your armpits, across your upper chest and back

Forward Shoulders

You might have shoulders that are more forward than the pattern assumes if:

• the shoulder seam line sits angled toward your back instead of toward the tip of your shoulder bone

Back

As you’ve probably already seen, determining the fit of shoulders and back are connected. Everyone will have their own unique collection of shapes in their body, some of which will interact directly with others. But, taking shoulders alone, what are a number of ways your back can be shaped differently from a pattern, and how can you tell what that shape is?

Broad Back

You might have a back that is broader than the pattern assumes if:

• when you reach forward, there is tightness across the front of the upper sleeve area
• any seams for the armhole don’t reach to your actual arm
• you may have tightness across your back that shows up as pull lines; this might be confused for broad shoulders, but THOSE pull lines will be higher on your back, closer to the top of your shoulders. In knitting those pull lines will show up as the fabric stretching, because knitted fabric generally has a degree of elasticity

Narrow Back

You might have a back that is narrower than the pattern assumes if:

• there’s excess material in the back of your sweater, which may appear as vertical lines running down your back; this issue might be familiar to full busted women who choose a size based on their bust, but have a narrow back
• any armhole seams might dip out onto your arm
• it may be easy to confuse a narrow back for narrow shoulders and vice versa; diagnose narrow back by looking at what the fabric is doing nearer to your armpits rather than up at the top of your shoulders

Round Back

Your back can be round in a variety of ways, including slightly rounded, rounded high, or very round. You might have a back that is rounder than the pattern assumes if:

• there’s gaping at your back armhole; you might have a slightly rounded back
• there’s gaping at your back neckline; you might have a high round back
• there’s large gaping holes at the arms and the front neckline might be riding up against your neck; you might have a very round back

Sway or Flat Back

We all have different postures and shapes to our spine, which will affect the way a sweater sits on our body. You might have a back that is more swayed or flatter than the pattern assumes if:

• you have excess fabric pooling in folds at the small of your back (this would be your back waist); you might have a sway back
• your hem is longer in the back than in the front; you might have a flat back

Arms

This is one area that many people have responded on the #KnitPetiteProject fit survey as something they alter. Making sleeves shorter may seem a simple modification, but there are lots of different things to consider. Just because you’re petite doesn’t mean you have short arms! Taking arms alone, what are a number of ways you can be shaped differently from a pattern, and how can you tell what that shape is?

• if the sleeve is tight around your arm, then you may have full arms
• if the sleeve is loose around your arm, you may have thin arms
• if the sleeve is a different length on your arm versus the pattern photo, you may have longer or shorter arms (depending on the info in the photo)
• if yoke details extend down onto your bust, and/or the armpit of the sleeve is significantly lower on your body than the modeled images, you may have a shorter armhole depth than the pattern assumes

How do the issues line up against sizing charts?

CYC Sizing Charts

We’ve talked a bit about the CYC sizing charts here on the #KnitPetiteProject before, and I’d like to use them again here to illustrate some differences and act as a bit of a base level from which to operate.

We can’t assume EVERY knitting pattern we come across uses CYC! But many do, and if you find that you experience similar fit issues across knitting pattern designs then looking at the CYC charts may be helpful.⁵

As Palmer and Alto point out, going solely by measurement numbers can misrepresent fit; they note that you could pick a size that has the same measurements as your body, but you may still experience excess fabric, tight pull lines, or other fit issues because of the complexity of our body’s shape. For our learning exercise here, let’s take these numbers as a starting point as we put together the puzzle of fit and try to determine what general fit alterations we can consider for knitting patterns before we start knitting them!

You’ll notice that these CYC charts have nine different points of measurement, but they don’t include certain things like shoulder depth or information on figuring out slope. They do have information about cross back width, armhole depth, upper arm circumference, center back neck-to-cuff and sleeve length to underarms.

All these numbers can help you in estimating the shape of your body and the shape of the body in patterns designed using these charts. Remember: not ALL patterns use these charts, but many do.

Shoulders

Here, you have limited information. Some designers may use Ysolda’s charts, which are more detailed, particularly for the shoulders. This is a great example of how you might not have the information on the schematic that you need to estimate fit before you begin, and this may be where some experimentation (or a trip to your FOs to examine their fit!) will help.

Back

Look at the cross back number, and compare it to your own. We went over taking measurements back in February, but there is no shortage of places where you can find good, reliable information on taking measurements including the incredibly comprehensive Principles of Knitting by June Hemmons Hiatt, especially in Chapter 24, Measurements and Schematics.

Is there a difference between your numbers, and can you see evidence of this in your FOs? Do you feel confident in “diagnosing” this fit?

Arms

Many respondents to the #KnitPetiteProject survey noted that they make sleeve alterations, particularly that they make them shorter.

One thing I’ve always thought was interesting was the amount of difference across the CYC chart in sleeve length from the smallest to the largest size. Also note, of course, that this chart assumes that if you have a 28″ bust your sleeve length will be 16.5″, whereas if you have a 56″ bust your sleeve length will be 18.5″. Do arms grow longer as bust size increases? This is indicative of the length issue we petite folks face, particularly petite plus knitters.

In her article for Vogue Knitting, Anne Marie Soto writes that many petite fit issues come down to length, but that:

In trying to translate standard knitting instructions for your size, you may be tempted simply to knit everything shorter, but this seldom really solves the problem. The reason is that length adjustments must be made in proportion to the total garment.⁶

She also notes some of the ways in which petite sizes differ from corresponding Misses sizes in back, shoulders, and arms (this is within the long established sizing charts for the home sewing industry):

• the sleeve length for petites is 1.25″ shorter
• the shoulder (from the back of the neck to the joint where the shoulder and upper arm meet) is 1/8″ narrower

In June we’ll be going over the details of tactics to petite your knits. For now, let’s all look at those numbers and pull those FOs out and see what evidence of fit we have. Ask yourself these questions:

1. What information do my numbers compared to the CYC numbers tell me?
2. Is that information supported in the fit of my handknits?
3. Is that information supported in the fit of my store-bought clothes?

Question

In the sewing book referenced in this post, “Fit for Real People”, the authors Palmer and Alto demonstrate how to make a “body graph” to help you be objective in determining your body’s shape.

A read-along for the #KnitPetiteProject might be fun, and we could include this book on the list.

My question is: would you be interested in creating a “body graph” in order to help you determine your shape? Should we add this to a possible read-along list?

You can “meet” Palmer and Alto in the video below.

Resources

• Craft Yarn Council. Standard Body Measurements/Sizing. Accessed May 8, 2017.
• Anne Marie Soto. Petite Pizzaz. Vogue Knitting. Winter 92-93. pgs 16-18 and 105.
• Patti Palmer and Marta Alto. Fit for Real People: Sew great clothes using ANY pattern. Palmer/Pletsch Publishing, 2006.
• Ysolda’s Sizing Charts for Knitwear Designers, 2017. Accessed May 8, 2017
• June Hemmons Hiatt. Principles of Knitting. Touchstone Publishing, 2012.
• Amy Herzog, Craftsy class. Knit to Flatter. Accessed on May 8, 2017.

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¹ Amy Herzog refers to this as well in her excellent Craftsy class, Knit to Flatter. She clarifies and defines “Miss Average”, and states that while you will differ from Miss Average, you’ll “always differ in the same way”, so getting your numbers is a big and important first step.

² June Hemmons Hiatt. Principles of Knitting. Touchstone Publishing, 2012, pg 481.

³ Information on diagnosing fit in this section is taken from “Fit for Real People“, pages 160 – 164. Back section is pages 117 – 128. Arms section is pages 166 – 176.

⁴ Important caveat: check out last week’s post and the ambiguity of basing your idea of fit on the pattern model! Because, not all pattern models will perfectly demonstrate the intended shape/style/fit of the design. This goes for all fit diagnoses.

⁵ I take that this is a good piece of advice because author Anne Marie Soto gives very similar instruction in her article “Petite Pizzaz” from Vogue Knitting Winter 92-93: “In patterns for home sewing…both Miss and Miss Petite sizes have been standardized. Thus, the measurements in home-sewing patterns can serve as useful guidelines for altering Misses knitting instructions to suit your smaller frame.” pg 16.

⁶ Anne Marie Soto. Petite Pizzaz. Vogue Knitting. Winter 92-93, pg 16.

Save

Our last post where we went over the results of the second #KnitPetiteProject survey.
The #KnitPetiteProject plan.
All other #KnitPetiteProject posts.

This month we’re going to be getting practical: looking at how our knits currently fit our bodies, deciding how we feel about that fit, assessing what we want to change through fit “diagnosis”, and beginning to consider approaches to petiting our knits for our bodies.

One of the (many!) motivations I had for beginning the #KnitPetiteProject was the simple fact that I, as a petite knitwear designer, happen to be the person who often models my design sample for the pattern photos.

A point of fact: I do NOT alter the design sample to fit me. I knit it straight from the pattern which, in my case at least, is usually based on the CYC numbers we spoke so much about in the last few months.

So, what effect does that have?

Well, I’m in the position to show you a few instances where I, as a 5’1″ person, wore either the very same item, or the same pattern in the same size knit by another person. That is because the size I’m asked to knit for publications also happens my own size, at least, according to the bust circumference.

Before we take a look at the examples below, I think it’s important to note that we’re looking at these pictures from a body positive, non-judgmental standpoint. Any differences in fit are intended to be viewed through the lens of how the same garment can look different/the same on two different bodies.  This is not an exercise in accusing CYC or anyone who uses it (me included!) as nefarious failures. And it’s important to keep in mind that there are of course a plethora of other ways, outside of height, that the bodies you’ll see below differ from each other.

I hope you enter into this examination with a critical eye and thoughtful, instructive spirit to begin thinking about how things fit YOU, how YOU feel about that fit, and what steps YOU’D like to take next to alter that fit with us in the KnitPetiteProject over the next few months.

For each example, I’ve added a note at the bottom about how I would petite the knit for my own body if I wanted to bring the garment in line, size-wise, with what the numbers in the CYC sizing guide dictate.

Writer’s Top

This design is intended to have nearly-elbow length sleeves, with a relaxed fit and gentle drape.

I don’t have the absolutely height for the Knitscene model on the right, but what I hope you can see is the difference in a couple of lengths between the model and I.

Look at the sleeve length on me (on the left): they are just a tiny bit longer than designed for. The consequence is that they have a very small wrinkle above my elbow from where I’ve moved my arms. On the model, the sleeve length is closer to the intended, designed-for length.

What I think you may also be able to see is the width of the neckline. I personally know that I have sloping shoulders, so you can see the difference in shoulder shape between the model and I.

NOTE: The shape of your shoulders, like many other fine points of fit, is something that certainly effects how clothes look on your body.  My personal experience is that I had no real knowledge of the slope and shape of my shoulders until I started looking more deeply into fit a few years ago. I hope that bringing up this point helps you to realize two things: there’s NOTHING wrong with your shape, and that there may be aspects of your body shape that you have never considered before, but do indeed have an effect on the way clothes look on your body.

What would I do to petite this knit for my body? I would consider shortening the sleeves by about 0.5″ and narrowing the neckline opening. With the side-to-side construction and relaxed fit, this would be relatively easy to do. Narrowing the shoulders, and even adjusting the width of the back to be narrower than the front, would be quite simple math. I would be concerned, however, not to narrow it TOO much, as that would pull the side seams backwards, and that’s not a look I’d want to go for.

Thrysos

A top down yoked blouse, Thrysos demonstrates a fit issue that was raised again and again by participants in the fit survey last month: yoke depth.

I designed this sweater with a lacy yoke. It was intended to be a layering piece, since the top part would be open work (that said, this is yet another area where taste and style are subjective; you can wear anything any way you want!)

The intention of the design was for the lace section to end at the sleeve depth; that is to say, the lace should not extended far down onto the wearer’s chest. The Knit Picks model on the left has a fit demonstrative of what I was designing for. The fit of the design on me (at the right), shows just how low that yoke reaches on a body that has an armhole depth measurement that is shorter than designed for.

In this particular case, I do not like the way the top fits me, and so do not wear it. My evaluation of the fit is that it is poor. This example demonstrates how the designer herself can be designed-out of the fit of a garment because she measures significantly differently than the sizing charts from which she works, even though she knit the design in her size, directly from the pattern.

What I hope you take away from this example is that petite fit and vertical sizing issues are valid concerns that are sometimes more complex than simply “make it shorter”. I also hope you take away an appreciation that while it’s valuable to know the size (usually listed as bust size) of the model and the size she is wearing, it is also valuable to know, or at least consider, that the model you’re looking at may have very different vertical measurements than you do, and to plan and prepare accordingly. We’ll get into those plans in May and June!

What would I do to petite this knit for my body? I’d have to redo what might be relatively complex math¹ to shorten the yoke length. This would require a reassessment of 1) the length of yoke I need, 2) row gauge and how that effects the lace repeats, 3) the width of the neckline either through a total math re-do or trying to make it one size smaller,  4) and ensure I end up with the correct circumference at the sleeve separations.

Lady Bat

This pattern is intended to have a very drapey, over-sized fit. The two examples below demonstrate how fit, style, and taste are a moving target and quite subjective! Because the style of this garment is over-sized, it’s pretty easy to argue that the fit is perfectly fine/flattering/awesome on all three individuals, regardless of height.

In the first example below you’ll see the same garment on me and on Holla Knits’ model Kristen (who is around 5’5″). The difference in height is only about 4″.

And below is an image of the same pattern in the same size, but knit by a different person. I wrote a post about this comparison way back in 2013.

Looking at these two images, you need to know: the person on the left is 10″ taller than the person on the right. I ask you: could you tell? Did the garment give you any clues to that information? Or did you presume the individuals were of similar height, or had knit totally different sizes?

With such an over-sized fit, that drapey look is achieved for both individuals regardless of height, though to slightly different effect.

What would I do to petite this knit for my body? In this case, I’m pretty happy with the vertical fit and the amount of drape. If I wanted it less drapey, the side-to-side construction would allow me to make it shorter relatively simply. Another consideration about my own body and the CYC chart sizes is my hip circumference. As this isn’t a vertical measurement I won’t go in to it too much here, but that circumference dictates a lot of size decisions in this design and because I have wider hips, the top can’t be pulled down as low as it could on someone whose hip circumference matches, or is smaller than, the sizing chart numbers.

Beach House

I designed this pattern to hit approximately at the waist in the front, and dip down about 2″ in the back. It is also designed with a suggested 3″ of positive ease because I wanted it to be something loose and summery.

In the image below you see the very same garment modeled on people of two different heights: there’s me on the left at 5’1″, and my pal Leah on the right at about 5’9″.

As in the Lady Bat example, the looseness and airiness of the design gives a good degree of leeway in regards to style, fit, and taste – all subjective, of course! You’ll also note that Leah, on the right, is wearing the top over a shirt, whereas I on the left have it over a bathing suit.

All that said, the top very clearly hits me on my body at a much lower point than Leah on her body. My hair is covering it a bit, but I think you can also see that the width across the shoulders on me is a bit wider, dipping down just a touch past the prominent bone on my shoulder.

Let’s assume you like the way this design looks on Leah. And let’s say you saw the image of it on me. Would you believe it was the very same garment? Would you alter your plans for knitting the garment?

What would I do to petite this knit for my body? Personal preference-wise, I’m quite happy with the way this fits me. But, if I wanted to bring this in line with how it would fit the body it’s designed for with the CYC measurements, I would have to consider 1) shortening the body length, which in this case is simple to do, 2) decide just how I would narrow the shoulders. as this knit has no shaping through the body and the mesh on the front would make it a bit bothersome and visible to add in bust short rows upon choosing a smaller size to knit.

Geo Delight

I designed this pattern to be a relaxed, open-front piece you could easily throw on over a casual outfit for an extra layer of texture, colour, and warmth. I intended about 5″ of positive ease based on bust circumference.

The image below shows you the same garment on two people of different heights. I’m 5’1″, and the model Laura (at the left) is 5’9″.

To reveal my own bias, I just really have a soft-spot for this design, so I subjectively believe the design fits both wearers.

That said, you can objectively see that the front length and the textured area around the shoulders ends at a different part of the body on each person. Of value to our discussion is the question: would you prefer one fit over the other? Consider the impact the model has upon the formation of your opinion and expectations of a design.

I hope ALL of this helps you feel that there is NOTHING wrong with your body, and that all of this reveals the incredible intricacies we have to navigate in the complex system that is clothing design and creation.

What would I do to petite this knit for my body? Again, I’m pretty happy with the fit as-is, but if I wanted to bring this more in alignment with shoulder widths catered to in the CYC numbers, I would have to consider 1) tactics for narrowing the shoulders which cascade consequences for design elements such as the mesh and the colourwork on the back, 2) shortening the textured top section, which wouldn’t be difficult to achieve, 3) possibly reduce the width of the neckline ribbing, as it rides up my neck and covers the front of my torso more than the body it’s assumed to cover. (Incidentally, I happen to really like the look of how the neckline rides up my neck, but, that’s a point of taste!)

Stay Tuned…

I’ll be posting some feedback from a brief interview I had with Kathleen Cheetham, creator of the line of sewing patterns Petite Plus, in the coming weeks. For now, you can “meet” her through this Craftsy class video.

Question

When selecting a sweater pattern to knit for yourself, do you find that you’re attracted by the official pattern photo, or a photo of the design on an individual knitter?

Resources

• Craft Yarn Council. Standard Body Measurements/Sizing. Accessed April 25, 2017.
• Canary Knits. Sizes: A Manifesto in Parts. May 30, 2013. Accessed April 26, 2017.

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¹ I’ve footnoted this because I want to emphasize that I said relatively complex math. I know there’s loads of you out there laughing at the idea that the division and multiplication involved in this is complex, but I hope you can appreciate that more work and moving parts are involved here than, say, simply removing 1″ of stockinette.