Fall 2011 Knitting Magazines

Okay, as promised, I am taking myself to my local Barnes & Noble every few months, to look through all the knitting magazines, take notes, and snap a few shots of the plus size knitting patterns I find.

This month was wild! I could not BELIEVE how many knitting magazines I found!
EIGHTEEN of them!

It took two trips for me to carry the stacks of magazines from the shelves to the Starbucks counter in the middle of the bookstore.

With so many magazines to view, I knew I'd better settle down in a comfy spot and get a tasty beverage. So, I ordered a large hot tea. I think it was called "African Autumn". Anyway, it was a very yummy flavor, especially with some no calorie sweetener and a squeeze of honey. :)

My trip to the bookstore lasted a VERY LONG TIME this trip. It took over FOUR HOURS to look through all the magazines. I ended up taking over 140 photographs!! And my one cup of hot tea was not enough to get through the entire session. By the third hour, I was ordering a large coffee, and buying a "healthy" snack bar and a banana.



It was a very long day, but I'm SO glad I did it. I found 84 plus size knitting patterns this time!
O M G !!!!!! Can you believe it?

Finally, the knitting pattern designers and publishers are making a good effort at providing patterns for us. But, they still need to do a little more work. Most of the patterns I found only go up to size 2X. That's okay, but doesn't fill the need for all of us. I think that they should provide designs all the way up to size 5X.

I was so happy with two particular designs, so they get the award for:
BEST PLUS SIZE KNITTING PATTERNS
(in a magazine), FALL 2011
We are ECSTATIC to see knitting patterns that include sizes up to a 59 inch chest!!! :D

This design is called "His and Her Rollnecks", and can be found in the "Knitting Today" Oct/Nov 2011 issue. (Ravelry Link)



Apparently, they are proud of the design as well, since it's featured on their cover.




Next is "Cardiff Coat", found in the Fall 2011 issue of "Interweave Knits".  (Ravelry Link)



Once again - this design is featured on the cover. :)


THANK YOU FOR LISTENING TO PLUS SIZE KNITTERS, KNITTING TODAY and INTERWEAVE KNITS!!! :)

In contrast to those fine accolades, I am sad to report that there are still knitting designers and publishers who refuse to believe that plus size people are worthy to wear their designs.
BOO!!! :(

So, our THUMBS DOWN RASPBERRY goes to the following:
Debbie Bliss, Verena, and Filati 
What's the deal with you guys?
Don't you realize that you are cutting yourselves off from most knitters?
HELLO!!! ANYONE HOME??

I cannot believe that I wasted my time looking through those particular issues. I wanted to throw them in the trash!! But alas, Barnes & Noble might have been upset with me for doing that. So, I just took them back to the shelf, and made a few derogatory comments as I was placing them with the others. Luckily a few knitters were looking at mags, and heard my comments. ;)

As I mentioned before, I found 84 plus size knitting patterns this time. So, I've decided to do things a little differently with this month's post. Instead of one long post, I'm going to break up the posts into SIZE categories. I will start with the largest size patterns, then move on to the smaller ones.

So, stay tuned for the "rest of the story". (those of us who are older than 35 know who used to say that.)