What is Ease? (Or How to Choose the Size you Want)

What is Ease?

In a lot of knitting patterns for garments you'll find something that looks like this:

Sizes 41 1/2 (44 1/2, 47 1/2, 50 1/2, 53 1/2, 57)" bust circumference; shown in size 41 1/2", modeled with 8 1/2" of positive ease

If your pattern includes this, fantastic!

If it also includes something like intended to be worn with 8-10" positive ease, even better!

These two bits of information are going to be very helpful in choosing a size. 

Ease is all about Fit and Style

When I first started knitting, I thought you just picked the size closest to your bust measurement and went from there. That's certainly an option, but it probably won't get you the best fit. 

When I design a garment, I think about two things related to fit (well more than that obviously, but stick with me here) - wearing ease and design ease. Every body has measurements. These measurements are the basic starting point for a good fit, but then as a designer, I add extra fabric to those measurements for ease of movement and style.

Oakdale, designed by me, with zero ease

Demonstrating Negative Ease

Positive Versus Negative Ease

Positive ease means that the garment measurements are larger than your actual measurements. For example, a 40" sweater on a 38" bust has two inches of positive ease. A 37" sweater on that same 38" bust would have 1" of negative ease. A 38" sweater on a 38" bust would have no or zero ease.

Wearing Ease 

Wearing ease contributes to ease of movement. Think of cutting out a piece of sturdy paper to your exact bust measurement and taping it on. Now try taking a deep chest breath, or bending over to pick something up, or reaching forward. We move a lot and moving requires ease, or a little bit of extra space to allow for that movement.

Now a piece of paper is stiff and inflexible, woven fabrics can be fairly rigid too, which is why wearing ease is more important in woven garments. Fortunately knitted fabric has a bit more give, it stretches as you move, so you can get away with little, no, or even negative ease, depending on the flexibility of your knitted fabric. So that super snug, ribbed Lana Turner-esque sweater? The fabric has a lot of give, so you can still breathe, hooray!

But just because you don't necessary need wearing ease in the bust, doesn't mean that you wouldn't want in other places, like the sleeve and  armhole. Because we all like to lift our arms right?

Also, in general, I think that unless you're reinforcing your buttonbands, you want cardigans to have some positive ease so you don't have button-band gappage. (Because nobody wants that)

Cormac with 8 1/2" of positive ease

Toulouse with several inches of positive ease as modeled in Knitscene

Toulouse with slight positive ease as knitted by Orlaflo

Design Ease

If wearing ease is about how you move, design ease is about how you look. Fashion goes back on forth a lot on what silhouette is in. In the 1940's, like the photo about, the snug "sweater girl" look was the thing, and they used zero or negative design ease to achieve it. Nowadays, we sport a much more relaxed look, and to create it you need to add design ease on top of the wearing ease.

I recommend about 8" of ease for the Cormac sweater. Clearly you don't need 8 extra inches of fabric around your bust to move,  so this is largely design ease. If you want your sweater to look similar to the one in the mag, you're going to need to choose a size somewhere 6-10 inches larger than your bust measurement. The smaller your bust, the less ease you'd need proportionally than larger bust, i.e. a 32" bust would be fine closer to 6" extra, while a 42" bust would want closer to 9 or 10"  

For a good look at how ease can change the final look, check out the 200+ examples of the Toulouse pullover.  In the magazine it was styled with a great deal of positive ease, which result in a slouchy/boho look, but many knitters have chosen to knit it much closer to their actual measurements with very little positive ease, like the example from Orlaflo on the right.  Both options are equally "right," depending on what you want the final look to be.

One note of caution: if a pattern indicates a "to be worn with xx inches of ease" it usually means that the underlying body measurements used to design the piece are that many inches smaller. For example, if I design a 40" sweater to be worn with 4" of positive ease, it means that when I do my baseline calculations for that sweater I'm starting with the standard measurements that go with a 36" bust, so if you chose to do less ease or more ease than suggested it may not fit as well in the shoulders or arms. 

In Conclusion

With these two types of ease in mind, and good pattern information, you can confidently choose a size that will get you the finished fit you desire!

Cormac and Toulouse Photos courtesy of Knitscene/Harper Point

---

---

Introducing: Hemingway

It's August, but that doesn't mean its not sweater season at Ms. Cleaver Creations!

Hot on the heels of the Cormac release, I'm pleased to present, not one, but two new sweaters - Hemingway: Men's and Women's. Or as I call them, Him-ingway and Her-ingway. 

This design can be credited to power of the corkboard squares in my studio space. Sometime, a long time ago (before July 2012 at least), I had the idea of trying to design a pattern that used knit and purl stitches to make a plaid fabric. I was pretty happy with the way the swatch turned out, but I never quite figured out what to do with it. So it stayed pinned there on my corkboard for ages.  

Then I started playing around with a simple, pieced shawl-collar men's pullover. And thought, hey, that plaid thing just might work! The folks at Twist Collective seemed to agree, so much so that they asked to do a women's version too. I panicked briefly, said yes, and then started looking for my first ever sample knitter. 

The main differences between the two are that the women's has waist shaping and is generally shorter in the body, sleeves, and armhole depth, as well as narrower in the shoulders. The men's is straight through the waist (easy to lengthen for the extra-tall fellas) and has a slightly wider collar and ribbing. Both are worked in pieces and seams, with the shawl collar that is picked up and worked after seaming. 

The sample yarn used for both sweaters is Valley Yarn's Northhampton, which I really enjoyed knitting (the men's sweater) with. It's just a super solid 100% wool yarn. I just kep thinking, yeah - this is wool. Its not too itchy, but it's not so soft that you think it won't hold up in a few years and it comes in some really pretty heathered shades. 

If you knit this one up, I'd recommend choosing a size with 2+ inches of positive ease for the best fit. In the photos above the women's has about 4"/10 cm of positive ease and the men's has 2.5"/6 cm positive ease. Not sure what I mean when I'm talking about ease? Check back later this week for a post all about it!

Hemingway is now available for sale through Twist Collective. You can buy each pattern individually for $7.00 USD or get both for $10.00. You can also find the pattern on Ravelry.

All modeled photos courtesy of Twist Collective/Crissy Jarvis. 

---

Tried and True Review: A Big Bag of the Blues - Part II

A Tried & True Review, where I look back at old project and discuss how it's held up since I made it, both successes and closet rejects, in an attempt to show how my projects have stood the test of time and/or to learn from the mistakes of my yesterdays.

 I recently took a big bag of clothes, mostly handmade items, to a local consignment store and I thought, true to the spirit of the Tried and True Review, I'd take some time to share with you why I was ready to let them go. Also, if you're in the Portland (ME) area and want to grab something sewn or knitted by me, now's your chance!

There's a lot of items there, so I'm going to break it into two parts. Here is  Part II (Part I here). 

The Original: Cookie Monster Cardigan

Made/Age:  July 2012, 3 years old.

Update: Accepted for Consignment.

Fit:  It's just too big in the bust. I kept it around because I was pregnant at the time and though it would fit well later in the pregnancy, but it never did. Because it was that big. It looks okay in the photos, but I always felt like I was swimming in it. 

Style/Materials: Cookie Monster Blue Berrocco Vintage. Because it's a superwash wool/acrylic blend I couldn't even shrink it to fit. 

Construction: This sweater had it going wrong from the get go. I recalculated the yoke increases from the pattern, because as originally written it made the sleeve have weird "wings". It looked like a circular yoke construction, but all the increases were centered over the sleeves. I restarted the yoke again and finished the sweater, but I didn't have the heart to knit it again, when it was too big.

Final Verdict: When in doubt, rip it out. 

The Original: 4th of July Dress

Made/Age:  July 2010, 5 years old.

Update: Rejected from Consignment.

Fit:  The fit is fine (I think), the truth is I just didn't wear it all that much. I have another rather similar blue sundress (that I got at the consignment store oddly enough), that I preferred to wear. I can't really pin down why, but this one just never seemed as flattering.  I didn't need two, so off this one went.

Style/Materials: Quilting cotton. 

Construction: I added horsehair braid to the hem which was fun, but maybe made it a bit too costumey?

Final Verdict: This is another go with your gut one. There's no reason not to like it , but because I don't, there's no reason to hang onto it either.

The Original: Alexis Skirt

Made/Age:  December 2008, 7.5 years old.

Update: Accepted for Consignment

Fit:  This one always falls under my pencil skirt sewing deficiency. It sits too low on the waist to be flattering. 

Style/Materials: Some vintage brocade. Fabric was beautiful, but I find it harder to wear lighter colored items on bottom. Also it has a kangaroo pock on the  front, which makes it pooch out weirdly.

Construction: I seem to recall it being quite well made, but it was early in my sewing career, so it probably was less so. 

Final Verdict: I need to take a class on making a pencil skirt or something. it is my sewing waterloo. 

Bonus: The Walkaway Dress

Made: Sometime between 1998-2001

Update: Accepted for Consignment

Fit: To finish up, the bottom dress in that pile is actually one my mother made for me in high school. The photo on the left is from 2004 and may be one of the last times I wore it (for my original Ms. Cleaver portrait at that!) . The dress is actually pretty flattering on, but is generally impossible to wear due to the narrowness of the front skirt panel. One stiff breeze and you have an embarrassing situation on your hands. Also, the quilting cotton print made it look like it belonged on a preschool teacher. 

Final Verdict: If you can't wear something without fear of repeatedly exposing your underwear, you probably shouldn't wear it. 

---

Introducing the Cormac Sweater

More often than not, I'm a "come up with a design idea and try to find the right yarn" kind of designer, but in the case of the Cormac Sweater in the new Fall Knitscene? Completely the other way around. 

Knitscene had put out a call for submissions back in October for items featuring chainette-style yarn. Something, I'll admit to never having used before, but my curiosity piqued, I went down to my Local Yarn Store  and picked up a skein of Shibui Maai. They had a sample of it knitted up at the shop, a super cushy garter stitch scarf. But when I got the yarn home and began knitting with it, cushy didn't feel right to me. It was so springy and light, that I wanted to push it even further in that direction, the yarn screamed out "make me lace!" And so I did. 

A simple 4 stitch/4 row lace pattern was quickly decided upon and knit up on larger than usual (for me, anyway) needles. All air and lace and drape, but like eiderdown, the loftiness and halo of Maai fill in the gaps, meaning Cormac is a sweater that is both lacey and warmer than you'd think.

I wanted the fabric to be center stage, but also knew that the drapiness of the fabric could make fancy shaping a bit of a bear, so a boxy construction, with drop-shoulder sleeves made the most sense.  It seemed like something one of those impossibly chic girls would wear for a morning at the cafe, hair in a messy bun, oversized latte with foam art and a paperback novel near at hand. Easy to pull on and as comfortable as a sweatshirt, but a whole lot prettier. 

Because of the minimal shaping and the larger needles and the simple lace, Cormac is also a pretty quick knit. If I had to make one change, I'll probably make the sleeve cuffs a bit snugger and/or the sleeve a tad bit shorter, but when I had seamed the whole thing together and hung it on my mannequin, I thought - yes, that is just what I wanted it to be. 

Cormac, along with a number of other gorgeous designs like Annie Watt's Oddity Scarf, Nadya Stalling's Couturier Jacket and Courtney Spainhower's Caldwell Pullover, are available in the Fall 2015 issue of Knitscene, currently available digitally, and on newsstands on July 14th. In the meantime you can queue or favorite it up on Ravelry.

Do you have a favorite design in this issue? Have you ever worked with chainette yarn? Does your yarn ever get demanding with you like the Maai was with me? 

You can see some of my previous Knitscene designs here or on Ravelry. 

All Photos: Courtesy of Knitscene/Harper Point Photography

---

Tried and True Review: A Big Bag of the Blues - Part I

A Tried & True Review, where I look back at old project and discuss how it's held up since I made it, both successes and closet rejects, in an attempt to show how my projects have stood the test of time and/or to learn from the mistakes of my yesterdays.

 I recently took a big bag of clothes, mostly handmade items, to a local consignment store and I thought, true to the spirit of the Tried and True Review, I'd take some time to share with you why I was ready to let them go. Also, if you're in the Portland (ME) area and want to grab something sewn or knitted by me, now's your chance!

There's a lot of items there, so I'm going to break it into two parts. For now, let's take it from the top (of the pile)!

The Original: School House Tunic #3

Made/Age:  March 2012, 3 years old.

Update: Accepted for Consignment.

Fit: It's loose and tunic-y, which I think works better at a shirt length than a dress length for me. At least in this fabric, which was still a little stiff. 

Style/Materials: Beautiful chartreuse linen. I was short on fabric and cut the sleeves as long as I could, which ended being a weird length about 2 inches above my elbow. From pretty much the second wear, I planned on shortening the sleeves to a more flattering length, but I never did it and never did it and never did it. Don't get me wrong, I love my school house tunics (I have three more!), but between the sleeve length and a color that's not my best color, this one was always my least favorite. 

Construction: This is one of two School House Tunics to have pleats added and the only one without the addition of a front closure.

Final Verdict: If you don't fix something after several years of intending to, you probably don't like it that much.

The Original: Dr. Faye Lady Suit

Made/Age:  June 2012, 3 years old.

Update: Fabric salvaged from skirt. Jacket rejected from consignment and off to Goodwill. Those shoes are also at the consignment store.

Fit: The skirt was too big and ill-fitting from the get go. I've always had trouble getting "pencil skirts" to fit right. This was just a big square of terrible. The jacket fit better, but was still very boxy.

Style/Materials: Another beautiful linen. I love linen, but maybe I'm just not picking the right patterns for it. Separate or together, these pieces were just big, boxy and blah.  It's the boxy that did it in. If it was nicely tailored and fitted it would have worked, but probably not in linen. My lady suit dreams will have to wait. At least I loved the shirt pattern in the pattern envelope.

Construction: The jacket was fun to sew and I covered all the seams with bias tape. 

Final Verdict: Boxy just ain't my thang. Also, does anyone know of good patterns for linen?

The Original: Off to the Races

Made/Age:  June 2011, 4 years old. (Hey, I'm back to that hairstyle too!)

Update: Accepted for Consigment.

Fit:  It's my own fault, but I cut it with too little ease. I tried letting our the seams where I could, but it wasn't enough. It pulls terribly at the bust. 

Style/Materials: A fabulous checked stretch shirting material. A bow blouse. Fun buttons! It so perfect for me, except that it doesn't fit me. This is the one item that really broke my heart to give away, but it truly, honestly, just doesn't fit right.

Construction: Don't remember apart from the fact that I did the buttonholes horizontally, where I should have done them vertically along the button band.

Final Verdict: Button up items need bust ease! But I should remake this at some point.

That's it for this week. Next week I'll roundup the other 4 items.

---

What I'm Working On

I have so many ideas these days of things I want to design, make, create and only so much time and/or energy to do such a small portion of them. It's a bit frustrating, but better than having no ideas or motivation!

After two months of straight deadline knitting, my time has opened up somewhat, and I've picked up my long-neglected Lady Heartrose Cardigan, which is inching ever closer to being finished, though I'm nervous about running out of yarn and having a heckuva time finding the kind of buttons I want. I'm thinking about holding off publishing it to do a double photo shoot with that sage lace number, which is the next knit in my queue. It's in some gorgeous Shalimar Yarn that I can't wait to knit more with.  There are going to be a lot of sweater from me this fall. 

I've also been swatching and sketching, coming up with new ideas for sweaters and embroidery projects. I've been talking with yarn dyers and companies and am trying to figure out my schedule for designs, because I have so many projects now that I have to schedule things (which is awesome and a little bit scary).

In this midst of all this, I've managed to make a 30 minute skirt for Little Miss Cleaver in 40 minutes, which was a rip-roaring success that was worn three days in a row before I insisted it needed washing. (Fabric from BeautifulWork) and spend some time with friends, and even drop in on Thursday afternoon knitting at KnitWit, where my Belacqua Cardigan sample can be found hanging by the Quince & Co. yarns. 

It's a good time for making. :) 

(PS - all these photos are from my Instagram feed, if you're into that sort of thing).

Maine Fiber Frolic

Since I was either hip-holding or hand-holding a toddler for the majority of my time there, I didn't get many photos of this year's Maine Fiber Frolic, but I did have a great time. It's been a few years since I've been up to the Windsor Fairgrounds, (blog says 2012!) but it seemed like high time to return. 

I spent several days talking up the sheep and bunnies to Little Miss Cleaver and then picked up a few from my knitting group and we were on our way. The car ride was just long enough to have some good conversations about knitting and wardrobes and work and plans and lupine season in Maine always makes the highways so pretty. 

Doing anything with a small child is about expectations, so I knew that this visit would be pretty animal-centric. In any case, as I hardly need anymore yarn at the moment, my shopping list was brief. Bunnies were petted, and alpacas visited. I picked up a pretty shawl stick and some perfectly-matched vintage buttons for an upcoming sweater, ate a gyro and some fries and called myself content. That I got pie at the A-1 Diner and did some card-handing out/networking with local dyers/yarnies, was an excellent bonus.  

One of my favorite things about these types of events is seeing just how many crafters there are, and the variety of things they love. From the woman who weave masks, to the felters and rug hookers and spinners and knitters, there's a place for all. 

Did you make it up to the Fiber Frolic this year, or is there a great fiber festival in your area? 

---

The Work of My Hands

I'm always astonished when I meet people who are one-craft only people, they only quilt, or crochet, or knit - and that's it. I'm constantly having to stop myself from picking up yet another creative pursuit. In some ways I'm jealous of their devotion to a single art - when it's just one you can really dive deep and get really good, really creative.

But I have always been a generalist, polymath, utility player - call it what you will. I love trying out new things, giving them a go and I think it's served me well. When I was deep into theatre, I did a lot of things within the theatrre, writing, directing, set design, etc., but it was mostly just theatre (and a little dance). When I reached a point where theatre didn't really work for my life anymore, I found fabric and yarn made a good outlet for my creative needs. In 5 years, painting may fit right. 

I made my Memorial Day weekend extra long by taking Friday off and filled it with multiple trips to the park, food, family, and a wide variety of creating. I prepped my raised beds and planted seedlings; I learned to use a racheting pipe cutter (!!) and made LMC a portable ballet barre; I sewed an old table runner into a throw pillow; I made peppermint ice cream for our BBQ; and wore a recently finished dirndl skirt that had been hanging around in my to fix pile for too long. Not to mention all the furious knitting I did on a deadline project while watching The Time Machine and Anne of Green Gables.

After a long weekend of creating, my hands are weary, but my heart is full.

Tried and True Review: The Comic Book Dress

A Tried & True Review, where I look back at old project and discuss how it's held up since I made it, both successes and closet rejects, in an attempt to show how my projects have stood the test of time and/or to learn from the mistakes of my yesterdays.

The Original:  POW! The Comic Book Dress

Made: May 2012, 3 years old

Update: This dress is still unreasonably awesome, with a new and improved fit!

Fit: When I originally made the dress, I think it fit fairly well, but since I originally made the dress there's been a pregnancy and breast feeding and stopping nursing and life, and it ended up just too big in the bust and waist to really be wearable. But my love for this garment knows no bounds, and too big is always easier to fix than too small. Enter... shirring!  A quick review of this tutorial and I made my first attempt at shirring. One spool of elastic thread later, I had a new and improved dress, just in time to wear it to the annual Maine Comic Arts Festival to match LMC's "H is for Hero" Wonder Woman tee. 

Style/Materials: A mash-up of Colette Pattern's Parfait and a full gathered skirt (with pockets!), this is the perfect sundress for me.  As for the fabric, I only wish I had bought more of it  (though if you search "Camelot Cottons Girl Power" you can still find a second design printing of similar prints). It's quilting cotton, and its undeniably girly with the pink and the female superheros and it just makes me happy.  

Construction: In 2014, I replaced the original buttons with some fabric covered ones and made the buttonholes functional for nursing purposes. The inside is well finished, with a bias bound waist stay and facings in the bodice. It's held up perfectly well. The shirring makes it even more comfortable and wearable.

Lesson(s) Learned: Shirring is super easy and too big is often easy, and worthwhile to fix!

Final Verdict: This dress is the best. 

Spring in Southern Maine

It finally feels like spring! The grass is getting greener by the day. the daffodils and tulips are in bloom and I'm cleaning up flower beds and laying down mulch. The blueberry bush is pruned, the veggie garden fence has gone up, and the sand pit has been raked out and is ready for play. Free Comic Book day happened and we've pulled out the sunscreen and the Seadogs hat. 

It'll still be a while before its warm enough for shorts, but that didn't stop me from sewing a pair for Little Miss Cleaver. The pattern is the KID Shorts from Dana at MADE. While I don't love that all the sewing instructions are on her site instead of included in the pattern (meaning I'm following instructions off my phone), the fit seems spot on (I made a 3T, lengthened the to the 4T hem), and the finished product is uber-cute, if I say so myself. I even got to sew in my first Ms. Cleaver label!

It took about 1.5 hours to make from taping together the pattern to finished shorts, and I imagine future pairs will be even quicker, especially if I do the more straightforward versions. It warmed the cockles of my sewist heart when LMC wanted to try them on as soon as she got up from her nap and wear them over her pants for at least an hour before the need to put a ballet skirt on trumped it.

I'm hoping to sew two more pairs before shorts weather is truly upon us, and then I'm delving into some serious me sewing. I have some grey gingham that I got on vacation last summer that is calling out to be an Archer button-up and I picked up a Watson bra kit and some denim for Ginger Jeans from Grey's Fabric as well as Cascade Duffle pattern that I'll be sewing into my new winter coat come September or so.

I've been super busy with knitting projects of late (look out for a lot of new stuff this fall!), and haven't had much time to sew and I forget how much sewing means to me. To be able to single-mindedly focus on seam finishes and fabric selection and to make something useful and beautiful.