Mr Poopers Day Out

First off I have to say a huge THANK YOU! to the knitting community.  You guys sure know how to make a girl blush.  I received quite a few comments & even more emails & PM’s through ravelry about my February Lady Sweater.  It did make me quite happy that I have inspired a few of us bigger busted girls to jump on the band wagon, come on, there’s room, I’ll scootch over.

They, as I did, had obvious fit and style concerns reguarding this pattern.  Though brilliant and beautiful, when you have a bust line in the double letters you are naturally wary of any flair cardigan or top lacking in stucture.  I have to admit it, but some of us larger chicks have moved off to KWOM (knits with out measurements).  You know the kind, the ones where the measurement that really matters is length (more so than width). Socks, hats, scarves, shawls, mittens, arm warmers.  Anything and everything that does not stretch across the vastness of our bossom. 

The sucess of this sweater is really about coming to terms with myself.  Who I am, what I look like and being ok with both.  I can tell you openly that I have a 50 inch bust. I don’t play games on ravelry in the size category by placing “me size”. I think that’s a cop out. No one’s going to judge you in a knitting community, when I click on certain sweaters and see that it makes me really sad truth be told.  I clicked on you because I think your garment is beautiful, and that it fits you perfectly, why hide? Putting in your real size allows other knitters to see how it would look on them. You are not the only one out there with that measurement, and instead of being embaressed by it we all need to embrace it. So thus, my number is 50. (sometimes 48, but only if my gage is off).  When putting in your number think of it more as a way to enable other knitters to go as confidently as you have, show off what you have with no shame.

I have another thing to admit (while I’m in the admitting mood).  I was not always truthful with myself about that number.  I would search around the internet and blogs I had found and even on flickr for sweaters that somehow would make me look like the people modeling them.  Before Ravelry I can tell you I had never seen another woman in a cute, modern sweater (with waist shaping! Oh the humanity! Big girls can have waists too!) that had a bust above 36″.  This, as some others may know, is quite depressing.  There were a few failed sweaters in the begining days of my knitting that reflected my deep denial of my true measurements.  I thought “Oh what a stupid pattern, it doesn’t fit” not that I was trying to squeeze myself into a sweater 2 sizes to small because I wouldn’t admit to myself that the measuring tape was correct.

I have to tell you though, I was quite surprised that Pam extended her sizes as far as she did.  Beyond surprised, I was impressed.  Impressed more so than I’ve ever been by any designer to date.  Usually the 48-50 is the last measurement (but I have to tell you, the finished object rarely looks like the schematics, if you want an idea of this, look at the CPH for normal women & then at the large women one. It’s not pretty.), now admittedly she only went one size above that, but with a stitch repeat of 7 stitches you can easily up it.  What I was impressed by is that Pam is no large woman in any sense of the word.  That means that she put more thought into a pattern that became surprisingly popular and allowed for a vast majority  of knitters to enjoy it with ease.

So I want to thank the knitters out there for showing a big girl some love, and I want to thank people for all their questions.  I hope you all go on to knit fearlessly and honestly.  May all your knits be sucessful.