interweave fug redux

I feel a little guilty for what I am about to do: trash talk Interweave Knits again. I can't help it. I'm critical and judgemental. I never intended to turn this blog into a rant, but when I see wrongness, I just have to point it out. Mind you, no evil enjoyment intended.

OK. The Summer 2008 issue came out. Eunny says it's all about color. Color is good, but does being colorful require that you spew color as if you ate paint:

Or perhaps this model is graduating from clown college. Some of the designs in this issue rival those of Knitters for cluelessness. They are LOUD, although I will say the IK designs tend to have better shapes.

Now that I've got that off my chest, I will say that I really like some of the designs from this issue, mainly the cover piece, the lace hoodie, and the plaid halter. The lace designs are nice in general. But this post isn't about the good.

Here (right) is another loud and bizarre design from the current issue: I include it because I recently came across a related design in a different publication, the book More Big Girl Knits by Jillian Moreno and Amy R. Singer. This book contains, in my opinion, a lot of outstanding designs that any one of any size would want to wear. Here is the Big Girl version below:

Not my favorite design from the book, but , you have to agree, much saner than the IK one.

I have to ask - What is Eunny thinking? She must be thinking of differentiating herself from her predecessors, making her mark, changing the style of IK. This is clear when you compare covers over the years.

Under its first editor, Marilyn Murphy, IK was a bit dour and frumpy: Under Melanie Falick it developed a crunchy granola warmth that I like the best. I think its style made it stand out from other knitting and fashion magazines even if I don't think its design standards were the best:

Today's IK? Trying to be slick.

And why did they inconveniently separate the garment photos from the pattern instructions? Is it more slick that way? And I miss the model who looks a little like a beautiful camel. You know who I mean. OK. I'm done ranting.