Tuesday, February 22, 2011

New direction

Well folks, I've got a major writing assignment due and some discussion board questions to post to, so naturally I'm writing a blog post.  I've found that when I have a project that requires a little creative thinking to complete, it kick starts the rest of my creative juices and I get all these fantastic ideas for all the other areas in my life...the one's that I don't have time to really explore right now.  That being said, I've decided that I really need to focus my designing attention toward a niche that can be uniquely my own.  One that I'm very familiar with.  So I guess I'm announcing here on my beloved (but hardly well read) blog that I'm going to be focusing my designing skills to design patterns specifically for tall women.  I'm going to make socks for bigger feet, hand-warmers and mittens for longer hands, sweaters and vests with longer sleeves and deeper arm-hole depth, and decreases that hit lower on the body.  These are just a few of the sizing issues that tall knitters (like myself) have to adjust any time they knit any pattern.  Wouldn't it be nice to just pick up a pattern and go...not having to add five additional inches to that arms and wonder if the arm-hole will hit where you like it and not end up right in your armpit?  Wouldn't it be nice to be better able to estimate how much yardage you need for your project because the extra inches you normally have to add into a pattern would already be accounted for?  I think it would, and I think that there are many other knitters out there who would agree with me.  I mean, aren't fashion models tall?!  And yet clothes are still made in average sizes and if I want a dress-shirt or pair of pants that fit I have to order them online.  If I wanted a sweater that fit, I had to learn to knit and spend the next 8 years making mistakes and learning how long was long enough and where the decreases should hit my body before I finally got a sweater that fit me correctly.  So, that being said, I'm going to be focusing my design energies toward designs for tall women.  How tall is tall?  Well, I'm trying to work out the minimum height but based on the group for tall knitters that I joined yesterday on Ravelry, I can see that I'm only average height in the tall woman world (at a respectable 6') so tall should probably extend out to accommodate woman up to 6' 5".  If I find that there is a need for patterns even taller than that...well I'll cross that bridge when I get to it, lol.  If you are tall (meaning that you have to buy tall sizes when you shop for clothes), please leave me a comment telling me how tall you are so I can get a better idea of my demographic.
Oh, and ladies with thick curly hair...I haven't forgotten you either.  Hats designed for our particular hair will also be on the agenda.  No more hat-head, or being forced to wear your hat all day because it gets frizzier every time you have to put it on and take it off.  Now, back to my regularly scheduled homework assignment.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I have an interesting observation...tall doesn't mean tall all over.

I have a friend who is 6'4"...and she's ALL legs. Her inseam is 37" and her body is shorter than mine and my body is very short!

My SIL is just a bit taller than me, but her body is very short and all her height is in her legs. Standing up she's almost taller than her husband...sitting down, she's 3" shorter.

So "tall" isn't based on over all height. Just an observation.

Cambria said...

Thanks for your comment. I'm actually familiar with the whole mess that is "being tall". I'm 6' and my father was 6'2". His pants were too short on me because I'm all legs and have a short upper body. My husband is 6'2", and when we sit for photos, he looks shorter than I do so I ask them to put him on a lift. That's the trouble with looking for an average.