Projects
Savage Heart Cardigan: Living Its Best Life
Dear Ann,
Is there anything more awkward about our chosen profession of knitwear journalism than posing in our FOs? I vastly prefer to be on the other side of the camera. I’m sure some of this is vestigial Teenage Low Self Esteem, but as I generally think I look Out of This World Fabulous, I don’t think shyness is what’s holding me back. I think I just can’t be bothered. The sweater is done, it fits, and I expect people to take my word for it, and we can all move on to our next! exciting! project!
On the Other Hand
On the other hand, as a consumer of knitting journalism, of course I always want to see a modeled shot of the finished sweater. I am never truly content with a flat shot, or a mannequin shot, no matter how artful or well lit. I want to see the sweater living its best life, being worn by a human. And when I know the knitter personally, I want to see my friend looking foxy in her new sweater, living the I Am a Knitter Who Finishes Stuff dream.
Here We Go: The FO Show
Place: fowler’s Beach, Southampton, New York.
Time: The Golden Hour.
Pattern: Savage Heart Cardigan by Amy Christoffers.
Yarn: Elemental Affects Cormo Worsted; color: Oyster.
Pattern and yarn rating: 14/10 would knit this cardigan over and over in this exact same yarn.
One nice thing about being on vacation with old friends is that you have supportive photographers close at hand. My thanks to Maria-José Humeres-Hubert, University of Nebraska at Omaha Class of 1980, for her yeoman work with the iPhone, and also for putting cortisone cream on bug bites in hard-to-reach places.
Love,
Kay
Love your sweater, love your wonderful green dress and love your hair in beachy waves! I’d far rather see the sweater modeled by your gorgeous real self then a teen-aged stick model. I can see how flattering it is on a real person.
Well said!
Ditto! Gorgeous! Every bit of you and the sweater.
I can’t say it better than that 🙂
Ditto!
Exactly what I was thinking!
Add my agreement and I rarely ever leave comments! Both sweater and model are perfect!
Absolutely agree
hubba hubba
I love the sweater. Seeing it on you, a real person, makes me actually think about making it. Especially since you weren’t doing any weird body twist to hide problems with the cardigan. that always makes me suspicious in mideal shoots. You look great!
Well said! Agree! I can actually see me in this as well!
It looks lovely on you. I’ve now added the pattern to my Ravelry queue, although i’ve no idea when I’ll get around to knitting it!
That looks like just about the world’s most comfy sweater, and stylish too! Just finished the “warm-up” by knitting the baby version, so I understand how it goes together – now it has to wrestle for a spot in my queue!
Lovely, lovely, lovelly!
Yes, you are indeed living the dream! The knitter’s dream! Thanks for the photos–the sweater is lovely.
LOVE IT. I have a test knit to finish and then I am casting this ON!
It’s so much better to see a sweater in action. It looks great, and the beach photo shoot is beautifully styled, right down tot the wind tousled hair!
Your choice of location is superb:the sand matches the color of your cardigan! Hope you enjoyed your vacation and your new sweater.
It’s lovely!!
Lovely FO! And the pics during what we refer to as the shank of the day are simply stunning. Love your style! Just cast on my own Savage Heart cardi enjoying the rhythm of the construction.
I love seeing knitters in their own FOs because how many of us really look like Rowan models? You look damn fine in your Savage Heart cardi.
Yes, indeed!!!!! ………and I also want to know more about your wonderful dress! Can’t wait to cast on Savage Heart. I’ve loved reading about it. Hope you’ve had a wonderful time at the beach, where life doesn’t get much better!
Me too! Lovely pix, lovely sweater, lovely dress and lovely lady!!! Thanks for posting
Hello, Gorgeous! Beautiful sweater and I love the beachy, wavy hair!
Thanks for photos of you wearing the great sweater. There are 22 bagged up next projects stacked waiting for fall. (This is my year of top down yoked sweaters with lots of color work . Evidently. Since I have them all lined up!) But I am seriously thinking I should throw this/ or the baby version in to the next up que!
You are brave and beautiful in all your beach glory
Thank you, thank you! You have pushed this to the from of my queue! I appreciate your sincere comments and sharing.
Thank you so much for modeling the sweater for us. Its as beautiful as you are! I love it.
Looks wonderful on you! And I so appreciate seeing it on you, rather than on a hanger. Especially considering the unusual construction. Besides, looks like you were having fun!
Kay your modeling makes me want to knit the sweater!
I love it on you!! I, too, am from the class of 1980 from a small college in the midwest. One of my very best friends lives in Omaha, so I love your references to the city. There’s a great yarn/frame shop there.
It looks great! Love the design, and could all that you have on, be more perfect for a later beach stroll!
Yay for a FO and a fantastic FOto shoot! We need more people modeling their handknits. I keep hearing this is the year of the woman. Let’s make it the year of the middle aged woman in handknits!
Kay did you have this photo shoot preplanned? Your gorgeous sweater in Oyster matches the sand perfectly!
Great pics of you and your Savage Heart Living your Best Lives!! Beautiful cardigan AND beautiful model 🙂
Kay-the only thing more awesome than the sweater is you! I love your style sense!
Tres chic. Lovely finished object. The model is superb. And the golden hour is the best but damn those green flies!!
LOVE LOVE LOVE!!! It looks fabulous on you!!!! I am currently making this sweater for my granddaughter! She wanted one to be twinsies with her baby sister, who will get the baby sized version (when I finish that!) Thank you for sharing your beautiful FO!!!!
I love seeing the sweater on you! You, and the sweater, look great.
Totally agree with Wendy D. Johnson.
I’m just surprised you didn’t melt during the photography session.
I actually needed the sweater!
THANK YOU FOR KEEPING IT REAL!!!!!!!
PERFECTION! XO
Thank you, Kay, for taking time away from knitting to model your beautiful sweater.
Kay I love your sweater and I have a question could this be made out of a fingerling weight and if so what would I have to do to get gauge? I found some lushious Intonation Fingerling by Elann that I think would be stunning in this pattern. please email me with suggestions
One consideration is to hold the yarn double or triple for an easy way to get gauge without math.
This.
Hi Barbara, this would be wonderful in a fingering weight but you would have to do some math to get the size you want at this gauge.
It looks great and hats off to you for knitting in during some very miserably hot weeks in the New York area. I think I need this sweater.
Looks great on you! It’s so hot here in the Midwest, it’s hard to think about sweaters, but I love this one and will put it on my list of things-I-will-make-if-I-live-long-enough. Now, back to my ease-y Picket Fence blanket.
Any hour would be the Golden Hour with gorgeous you in that gorgeous sweater! Thumbs up Kay for following “the other hand”!
How do I get this pattern..love you modeling..at last a REAL model I can relate to in my normalness! Please..I want to knit this!! HELP!!!!!!!!
Click on the link to the Savage Heart Cardigan pattern on Ravelry. It’s a wonderful pattern.
Gorgeous sweater and photos!!
You look fabulous! So does the sweater! You make the best model! I love it!
Sweater looks wonderful
The sweater looks great, and you’re right — seeing it on a real, live human makes a difference. Guess you are one of those Knitters Who Actually Finish Stuff! Well, some stuff, at least — is the Big Floral Damask Thing still locked in the basement?
Perfectly perfect, all of it!
Gorgeous sweater modeled by an equally gorgeous East Coast California girl! I have to make it!
Looking at your posts has made me want to learn how to knit !you’re all having so much fun I want in on it
BARBARA IT IS SO FUN
Tell it Sister, your opening thoughts on Knitwear Journalism ( and its BFF Knitwear PhotoJournalism ) are so true.
Brava on this cardi and beach modeling !! Xox
Add my loves to those above! Gorgeous model, sweater, location, lighting…perfect. So tired of seeing really awesome photography with “studio” lighting, dark yarn on darker background, Rembrandt lighting…what about the knitting? How does it look on from all angles? Hope this starts a movement.
I’m so liking your cardi. It looks very cool but also fantastically comfy. I think I want one. But, even more, I want to go to the beach!
So Diane Keaton contemplating her script. Better than a turtleneck.
Nicely done and it looks awesome!!!
Absolutely Fabulous
Oh, dear. Patsy or Eddie?
Don’t take this the wrong way, but I love the back of this sweater–I fell in love with that lacy bit down the middle and the slightly batwing (or is it dolman?) sleeves. Also love the shout out to your friend/photographer. Attribution is important!
The sleeve opening is very big, and that is what gives it not only great roominess for the arms, but kind of a box pleat effect on the back. It’s the opposite o f a set-in sleeve in terms of fit. Kind of a “set-out” sleeve. I love it. Also, it stays on well, which was a bit of a worry due to the lack of fasteners.
Fabulousness in scenery, knitting and the knitter. Thanks for sharing.
So inspirational!! Beautiful modeling job, too. Now I have to make one. Thanks for sharing!
I love this! You look great, your cardigan looks great and you have got great gams! And, in the “funny and wonderful” category, I especially enjoyed “our chosen profession of knitwear journalism,” and ” living the I Am a Knitter Who Finishes Stuff dream.” In fact, one of my favorite parts of monthly Knit Night is seeing the finished object that I first saw on the needles in previous months. Seeing a mannequin or flat shot of finished knitting is like watching a cooking show where the chef/cook doesn’t take a bite of the dish they’ve just created. (I’m looking at you, Martha Stewart on PBS’ Martha Bakes!)
Love the sweater and the model but smile! It’s a FO and looks great!
The smile is on Instagram
Well, you certainly are looking foxy!
This looks great on you! I really want to make it but have no idea when I’ll have time. What if we all banged out one of these in February? I mean, I know y’all are going to rope me into trying to bang out some sweater or other in 28 days, and this one looks doable!
Hmmmm. It’s definitely bang-outable due to (1) fairly heavy gauge and (2) super-quick finishing. We will have to wait until February….
What a beauty! Like the new sweater too.
You’ve set a new standard for showing off a finished object! Thank you for showing the cardigan on a real person. Both the sweater and model are lovely. The photographer also did an excellent job! I’m going to add savage heart cardigan to queue.
Kay, I love seeing photos of you because we are body twins!!! So I can say, right on, that sweater will look AWESOME with my boobs-n-legs. Muah!
May I just say you have a rockin’ bod and I’ve never even met you.
It’s so fabulous, Kay!! YOU look fabulous!
I’m anxious to get back to work on mine.
You look beautiful, and so does your sweater! And yeah for old friends with good camera skills 🙂
It’s nice to see knitwear modeled on a “real” woman I can identify with! You look beautiful in your new sweater.
Please share a link to the dress already! And tell me it has sleeves! (The cardigan is fab, perfectly cutting that special/wearable line.)
It has short sleeves that are just like the sweater, i.e., not set in. They are rather like the sleeves on Sonya Philip’s Shirt No. 1 pattern.
I got the dress off the end-of-season sale rack at my local Eileen Fisher in either 2016 or 2017. It’s cotton and has pockets and it’s probably 2 inches too short for anywhere but the beach. I wish I had another couple of them as it is very easy to pop it on this time of year and goes well over white jeans.
Love the pics!! You are a great model for this gorgeous sweater. The beautiful beach in the background makes me envious. Glad you had a nice vacation.
Love a real sweater on a real person. Please don’t hang your sweaters on a hanger to model them, who is built like a hanger?
Beautiful!
I keep coming back to these pictures of you modeling at the beach. As a beach person myself I am being lured into knitting this gorgeous comfy looking cardigan! My fall project after playing with log cabin knits this summer
I love your sweater! How can I get the pattern?